@article{725e6ddab8e644fd9647c06d26129796,
title = "Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and thyroid function",
abstract = "Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought to have a biologicbasis, but the precise cause is unknown. It is one of the neurodevelopmental abnormalities frequently observed in children with generalized resistance to thyroid hormone (GRTH), suggesting that thyroid abnormalities may be related to ADHD. We report a prospective screening study for thyroid abnormalities in 277 children with ADHD by measurement of serum levels of total thyroxine, free thyroxine index, and thyrotropin. Fourteen children with ADHD had thyroid function test abnormalities: six had a normal free thyroxine index and elevated thyroxine level (group 1); three had a high free thyroxine index and a normal thyrotropin level (group 2); and five had a low free thyroxine index with a normal thyrotropin level (group 3). GRTH could not be demonstrated in a detailed study of four of the subjects in whom it was suspected (groups 1 and 2). Although the prevalence of ADHD in subjects with GRTH has been reported to be 46%, the overall prevalence of GRTH must be less than 1:2500 because we failed to detect GRTH in the 277 children with ADHD studied. We conclude that the prevalence of thyroid abnormalities is higher (5.4%) in children with ADHD than in the normal population (<1%).",
author = "Weiss, {Roy E.} and Stein, {Mark A.} and Barbara Trommer and Samuel Refetoff",
note = "Funding Information: Although attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is presumed to have a biologic basis, its precise cause is unknown. 1-3 Thyroid abnormalities such as hyperthyroidism are often included in the differential diagnosis, and yet no study has systematically examined thyroid function in a large cohort of children with ADHD. 4 Evidence of a relationship between thyroid hormone dysfunction and ADHD comes from the observation that 46% to 70% of children with generalized resistance to thyroid hormone had ADHD 5, 6; language disorders have also been associated with GRTH. 7 GRTH is characterized by decreased responses of Supported in part by U.S. Public Health Service grants DK-17050, DK-02081, and RR-00055, by Morris and Cynthia Belzberg, and by the Smart Family Foundation. Submitted for publication April 22, 1993; accepted June 10, 1993. Reprint requests: Roy E. Weiss, MD, PhD, University of Chicago, MC3090, 5841 South Maryland Ave., Chicago, IL 60637. Copyright | 1993 by Mosby-Year Book, Inc. 0022-3476/93/$1.00 + .10 9/20/49279 target tissues to thyroid hormone associated with mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor beta gene, usually inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. 6 The clinical features are variable, though most untreated patients are clinically euthyroid. Thyroid function tests are usually obtained because of a goiter, short stature, or hyperactivity. Thus the",
year = "1993",
month = oct,
doi = "10.1016/S0022-3476(05)80947-3",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "123",
pages = "539--545",
journal = "Journal of Pediatrics",
issn = "0022-3476",
publisher = "Mosby Inc.",
number = "4",
}