Study Summary — Iron Deficiency in Children With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Link to the Study - Iron Deficiency in Children With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Key points:

• Evidence suggests that symptoms of ADHD may be caused by low iron levels.
• In the study, normal children and children diagnosed with ADHD had their serum ferritin levels tested. The group of children with ADHD showed significantly lower levels than the normal group, suggesting that low iron might be a cause of some symptoms of ADHD.
• This means that, in some cases, dietary interventions may be able to reduce or eliminate the need for ADHD medication.

Excerpts:

• “Iron deficiency causes abnormal dopaminergic neurotransmission and may contribute to the physiopathology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
• “The mean serum ferritin levels were lower in the children with ADHD (mean ± SD, 23 ± 13 ng/mL) than in the controls (mean ± SD, 44 ± 22 ng/mL; P < .001). Serum ferritin levels were abnormal (0 ng/mL) in 84% of children with ADHD and 18% of controls (P < .001).”
• “These results suggest that low iron stores contribute to ADHD and that ADHD children may benefit from iron supplementation.”

If you’d like to learn more about the link between iron and ADHD, check out this article on Webmd: Study Links Low Iron to ADHD

Or this study from the US National Library of Medicine: Higher Prevalence of Iron Deficiency as Strong Predictor of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children