{"id":1316,"date":"2026-07-14T13:19:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2026-07-14T13:19:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T13:19:32","slug":"the-physical-signs-of-adhd-that-most-people-miss-according-to-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-sciencefocus\/2026\/07\/14\/the-physical-signs-of-adhd-that-most-people-miss-according-to-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"The physical signs of ADHD that most people miss, according to doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Health<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The physical signs of ADHD that most people miss, according to doctors<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

From hypermobility to heart disease, the condition impacts the whole body, not just the brain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Hayley Bennett<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Most of what we talk about when we talk about ADHD (attention-deficit\/hyperactivity disorder) focuses on how it affects people\u2019s mental abilities and emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s the hyperfocus, the creativity and the ability to perform under pressure. And then there\u2019s the impulsiveness, the racing thoughts and the emotional dysregulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But ADHD doesn\u2019t just change how people\u2019s brains work. The latest evidence suggests it comes with physical health effects that extend to the whole body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent studies link ADHD to an increased likelihood of everything from gut symptoms and asthma to obesity and stroke \u2013 symptoms that people may never have thought to connect to their ADHD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Dr Jess Eccles, who studies brain-body interactions and the overlap between neurodivergence and hypermobility at the University of Sussex, Brighton, the disconnect is partly because we view our mental and physical health as two separate entities. \u201cWe\u2019re stuck in these sort of silos between the brain and the body.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Eccles, who has ADHD herself, points out, better awareness of some of these connections could help simplify things for some people, allowing them to link multiple physical problems they have to an existing diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo instead of thinking that you\u2019ve got 12 unrelated issues, you\u2019ve actually got maybe one\u2026 and there\u2019s a reason why you may be more likely to have these problems,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we don\u2019t fully understand yet, though, is this: why do people with ADHD face an increased risk of so many different health issues? If we could answer that, it might lead us to a better understanding of what\u2019s behind ADHD in the first place. Thankfully, the question is now being asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Your trips to the doctor’s office could be a big clue to whether or not you have ADHD. Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Whole-body problems<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

ADHD is more complex than the stereotypes we find on social media might suggest. Not everyone has all the hallmarks, like hyperfocus. And some people will be more bothered by their symptoms than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, not everyone with ADHD is going to have a host of different physical health issues as well, but it\u2019s becoming clear that, on average, they may have more than a neurotypical person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large study<\/a> in 2021 linked ADHD to a whole heap of different physical issues. Based on the medical records of 4.8 million people, researchers found that 34 out of the 35 physical conditions they looked at were diagnosed more often in people with ADHD than in people without ADHD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of these conditions, 13 of them \u2013 including type 2 diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease, kidney infections, dementia, back pain and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) \u2013 were at least twice as common in those with ADHD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, a UK study<\/a> published this year showed that having more ADHD traits at age 10 was associated with worse physical health at age 46. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 2024 review paper<\/a> including studies from 36 countries found evidence that ADHD was linked to headaches, bone fractures, rhinitis and vision problems, as well as a host of neuropsychiatric and mental health complaints, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list of conditions associated with ADHD makes for pretty concerning reading. But given what we already know, doctors could now be looking at the connections being made in scientific studies to help them spot co-occurring health problems in people with ADHD \u2013 and treat them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Swedish study incorporated people from the same families to show that shared genetics played a role in most physical diagnoses, as they do in ADHD. But there are also behavioural and lifestyle factors that can help explain some of the links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Prof Jonna Kuntsi, professor of developmental disorders and neuropsychiatry at King\u2019s College London, who studies ADHD and conditions that tend to co-occur with it, they are \u201clikely part of the picture\u201d in obesity and heart disease, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ADHD can impact the way people behave, leading to unhealthy habits that impact the heart. Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAdults with ADHD are more likely to smoke and some are physically less active, and some of the core symptoms of ADHD, such as impulsivity, may contribute to dysregulated eating,\u201d she says. \u201cA combination of such factors may then contribute to a higher risk for obesity and heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Kuntsi is careful to emphasise that it\u2019s still brain-based biological differences that may lie at the root of these behaviours. For instance, ADHD is linked to dysregulation of the dopamine system \u2013 the reward centre in our brains, \u201cwhich may also be linked to binge-eating and other cravings\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can imagine that brain differences (linked to genetics) might also partly explain why people with ADHD face higher risks of addiction, depression, suicidal thoughts, sleep problems, epilepsy and migraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, for other health issues, the roots are harder to trace. Why, for example, are people with ADHD more likely to have asthma? Why do they more commonly suffer from connective tissue disorders? And what causes higher rates of gastrointestinal (GI) issues, like inflammatory bowel disease or gastritis, in people with the condition?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Connecting the dots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Eccles has a theory that could clear up some of the seemingly weird coincidences, and it relates to her own experiences. While at medical school, she was given the outdated diagnosis of \u2018joint hypermobility syndrome\u2019 for her swayback knees and more generally flexible joints. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, when she decided to specialise in psychiatry, she was approached by mentor Prof Hugo Critchley, chair of psychiatry at the University of Sussex, who wanted her to help him explore an overlap he was seeing between hypermobility and neurodivergence \u2013 by scanning hypermobile people\u2019s brains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018Have you heard of hypermobility?\u2019\u201d Eccles recalls. \u201cSo, I said, \u2018Well, I don’t know a lot about it but I am<\/em> hypermobile, and probably most of my family members are too.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While some hypermobility can be harmless, it can lead to sprains, strains and even dislocations. Photo credit: Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She ended up doing a PhD on the subject, revealing structural differences in the brains<\/a> of 36 people with hypermobility that affected the regions of the brain involved in attention and processing emotions. These brain differences were reminiscent of some of those seen in neurodiverse people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responses to questionnaires also suggested that hypermobile people were more acutely aware of internal body signals. Eccles and Critchley speculated that this heightened awareness could predispose them to pain and gut conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their studies were small, but in the meantime, wider evidence of a link between neurodiversity and hypermobility was emerging from the Swedish patient registers. In 2016, researchers concluded<\/a> that hypermobile patients were nearly six times more likely to have ADHD (and seven times more likely to have autism).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly does Eccles think connects the two conditions? The common denominator, she suggests, may be connective tissue \u2013 what she describes as the \u201ccling film\u201d that binds everything in the body together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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