Is ADHD actually a sleep disorder?

Could ADHD [be] a type of sleep disorder? After all, the brain pathways involved in paying attention have also been linked to sleep. And there’s some evidence of similarly disrupted patterns of chemical signalling in the brains of people with sleep disorders and ADHD.

This idea inspired Eric Konofal at Robert-Debré Hospital in Paris to try using a drug for narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness to treat ADHD.

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In their clinical trial, Konofal and his colleagues gave either mazindol or a placebo to 85 adults aged between 18 and 65, all of whom had previously been diagnosed with ADHD. Within two weeks, ADHD symptoms had reduced by more than 50 per cent in just over half of those who tried the drug.

These results are better than those in trials using conventional ADHD drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall, says Daryl Efron at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne.

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However, although mazindol improved many ADHD symptoms, it did not boost the quality of the volunteers’ sleep, nor reduce the daytime sleepiness they experienced.

[Read the full study here (behind paywall)]

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