Many of the conditions that co-occur with ADHD, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and addiction, are well understood.
Less clear is ADHD’s curious association with asthma, allergies, autoimmune disorders, gut issues, and hypermobility.Can the overlap between these diverse physical health problems and ADHD teach us anything about the condition and its underpinnings?
A growing body of research seems to highlight the role of chronic inflammation and dysautonomia, a disordered autonomic nervous system function that controls heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and body temperature.Central to understanding these connections may be ADHD’s strong overlap with joint hypermobility, caused by overly elastic connective tissue.
Strikingly, about half of people with ADHD are hypermobile. While many experience no issues, some develop hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) or Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD), in which lax connective tissues in the skin and around the joints, blood vessels, and gut trigger symptoms across multiple systems.
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