Association of lead exposure to ADHD symptoms

ADHD or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is one of the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders among children.  In fact 3 to 5% of children worldwide have symptoms commencing before the age of seven years old.  ADHD is commonly defined as a neurobehavioral development disorder commonly occurring among children with 30 to 50 % of those diagnosed during childhood has enduring symptoms even through adulthood.  Despite of the prevalence of this behavioral problem in children more specific causes of this disorder remains to be told.  Several studies pointed out the role of genes, environmental triggers, and now certain food additives like artificial colors and preservatives in some of the common causes of ADHD in some children.  Recently two studies were published; one from the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry January issue and the other is in the February issue journal of Current Directions in Psychological Science, which provides evidences on how lead may be one of the responsible reasons concerning occurrence of ADHD. 

Lead is usually fatal to both children and adults when they are present at a very high level in an individual’s system.  Lead poisoning can cause neurological symptoms such as seizures, coma, and may even lead to death.  Continuous exposure to lead can be chronic and are more hazardous to a child’s health.  Researchers have evidences on the association of elevated lead blood levels to learning, behavior, and health problems among children.  Lead, being a neurotoxin is potentially harmful especially on children and as a common metal present in our environment and home, lead exposure can be one of the big causes of ADHD among kids.  

Despite of the imposed government regulations regarding environmental lead exposure like automobile fumes and leaded paint, there are still potential sources of lead for which kids can be at risk from.  Certain levels of lead are found to be present in children’s toys, costumes, jewelries, soil, and some imported candies. 

According to Oregon Health and Science University researcher Joel Nigg, co-author of the above mentioned research studies; there is a link between lead exposure and AHDH diagnoses.  The subjects of his first study are 236 children ages six and 17 years old diagnosed with ADHD.  When measurements were compared to control group of children without ADHD symptoms, they have found out that children diagnosed with hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms had slightly higher blood lead levels.  In their second study the research team surmised a stronger link between blood lead levels and reported ADHD symptoms among children as stated by their parents and teachers. 

A question regarding the explanation for how lead causes ADHD arises but Dr. Nigg has his own explanation regarding this.  He believes that lead attaches to specific sites of brain striatum and frontal cortex which causes some genes to remain inactive.  This further causes disrupted brain activity and leads to changes in psychological processes which contributed to hyperactivity and lack of vigilance. 

The information brought by Dr. Nigg’s studies about the possible link between lead and ADHD symptoms has come up with a more clear explanation of the untoward effects of lead into our children.  Because of this helpful information, we now understand that parents should be informed of the hazardous effect of lead on children’s behavior and learning abilities as well as the development of ADHD symptoms.  In this case parents should be more aware of their child’s exposure to lead and the concept of prevention comes in the picture.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), parents must be aware that houses built before 1978 used lead-based paint in which case they people must avoid old paint flakes and paint dust when they remodel.  Moreover, old houses uses lead water pipes or plumbing in which tap water can become a source of lead.  A child’s diet is also important and in order to absorb less lead in the body, children should eat foods rich in calcium and iron.  Calcium rich foods are milk, yogurt, low fat cheese, tofu, spinach, collard greens, and green leafy vegetables.  Foods rich in Iron are lean red meat, dried beans and peas, raisins, cereal, and breast milk.  On the other hand, Vitamin C helps increase the amount of iron in the blood and should also be included in the diet.  These foods are orange juice, grapefruit juice, and dark green leafy vegetables, potatoes cooked in skin, broccoli, cabbage, and strawberries. 

REFERENCES:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention-deficit_hyperactivity_disorder

http://www.naturalnews.com/028175_lead_poisoning_ADHD.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19941632

http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/lead/faqs.html

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