Sleep Problems and Melatonin Deficiency and ADHD Inattentive

ADHD Sleep Problems caused by Melatonin Deficiency

Sleep problems are common in people with ADHD Inattentive as well as in all types of ADHD.. A new genetic study out of Sweden has found that people with ADHD have a "melatonin signaling deficiency" and that this genetic difference likely accounts for the sleep problems seen in adults and children with ADHD.

The Swedish study looked at the genes that regulate Melatonin in over 300 individuals of which 100 had a diagnosis of ADHD. They found significant changes in the melatonin signaling pathways only in the ADHD patients and not in the controls.

This is the first study that  confirms that ADHD sleep problems are not related to medication effects or hyperactivity symptoms but rather are the result of melatonin deficiencies.

Melatonin, according to the authors of this Swedish study, is a "powerful antioxidant and a synchronizer of many physiological processes". It is unknown how much of a role melatonin deficiencies play in the presence of  the inattention seen in ADHD Inattentive but it is clear from many other studies that inattention, loss of concentration and loss of focus  in people with and without ADHD Inattentive or the other types of ADHD can all be the result of sleep deprivation.

I have noticed improved attention in myself and in my ADHD Inattentive son when we are well rested. It is encouraging that researchers are getting to the bottom of the sleep disturbance issues that are a common problem in people with ADHD.

Genetic variations of the melatonin pathway in patients with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders.  
Chaste P, Clement N, Botros HG, Guillaume JL, Konyukh M, Pagan C, Scheid I, Nygren G, Anckarsäter H, Rastam M, Ståhlberg O, Gillberg IC, Melke J, Delorme R, Leblond C, Toro R, Huguet G, Fauchereau F, Durand C, Boudarene L, Serrano E, Lemière N, Launay JM, Leboyer M, Jockers R, Gillberg C, Bourgeron T.
Journal of Pineal Research. 2011 Apr 27.