Posted on 06/10/2025 5:21:31 AM PDT by Jonty30
Researchers have found a genetic link between the nighttime production of the sleep hormone melatonin and ADHD symptom severity in children. The study enhances our understanding of the complexities associated with this prevalent neurodevelopmental condition.
Sleep disturbances, including insomnia, restless sleep, and daytime drowsiness, are common in people with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. It’s been hypothesized that people with the condition have a disrupted circadian rhythm. However, the exact mechanism connecting sleep problems and ADHD has remained elusive.
A new study led by the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan may have provided the answer. The researchers found an association between the production of melatonin at night, a naturally produced hormone that regulates the body’s sleep-wake cycles, and the severity of ADHD symptoms in children.
“Our findings indicate that disruptions in melatonin secretion may contribute to the difficulties children with ADHD face in maintaining regular sleep patterns,” said lead and corresponding author Associate Professor Nagahide Takahashi, MD, PhD, from the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine.
(Excerpt) Read more at newatlas.com ...
I’m sure they have a drug for that...let’s get them into our children fast...if that doesn’t work...we’ll find another and another.
There are lots of things to try before you resort to drugs, but that seems to be the biggest contributor.
Wouldn’t that be great!
A big contributor to poor sleep that people in the past were never subject to is the light from computer screens and cell phones.
Babysitting kids by letting them have smart phones and iPad’s and play games all the time will mess up circadian rhythms.
Most “ADHD” children don’t have bedtimes, and the parents don’t parent them. Instead, they feed them a steady diet of junk, fast food and screens. No exercise, no fresh air.
One of the biggest farces is “oppositional defiance disorder” what was once called a “tantrum” and the “belt” usually got rid of this pesky problem.’
I say this as an experienced (at one time divorced/single) mother of two successful adult children, one of whom (my son) was always full of energy, extremely intelligent and easily “bored.” Others wanted me to drug him...um no. I did not fail to discipline and train my children.
Funny how they don’t have this problem in the Amish community, just mostly single moms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2jOlOPiOgo 4:51
Flame suit ON!
This article makes sense. Two of my grandkids (12 yr old girl and 9 yr old boy) have ADHD. They are hockey players and are on the ice at least 3 times a week at least…hockey camp in off season. Melatonin helps my granddaughter. Nothing else helps her.
Melatonin is readily available otc as a supplement. Seems like it would be an easy fix if that’s the problem.
“So, basically a huge contributor to ADHD is an inability to get a sound sleep. Treat that and most ADHD sufferers might have their symptoms minimized.”
As someone with ADHD and who has been through just about every treatment known, I come up with this hypothesis. Children get ADHD from distraction. A public school classroom contains more distractions than I care to list. To fix ADHD, go back to a number line, the alphabet both cursive and print. Don’t put pictures and crap on the walls. Don’t give teachers the power to force families to put their kids on ADHD medication. And let kids be kids.
All the pressure from teachers not teaching but lecturing has to be the most boring thing a kid can experience and then they are expected to thrive under the pressure. I didn’t thrive. I was up all night worrying, I couldn’t do homework which forced my parents to get upset with me and when I played sports, which I excelled at to a point of being recruited by colleges while in junior high school for multiple sports, I would quit out of boredom.
I know this doesn’t apply to most kids today, but my son also went through this the same way I did. Could be genetics. I honestly do not know. But coaching youth ice hockey for 19 years I’ve seen it all.
Ok, here’s my perspective. I have ADHD. I also am a fitful vivid dreamer. I’m a night owl. I didn’t have tv time or screen time as a kid, because there was only one tv, and it was only turned on if a parent allowed it, even in my teenage years.
I was an excellent student, a bookworm if you will. However, I have trouble remembering sequences unless I write them down. So…a visual learner, not an auditory learner. As a child I had a regular bedtime. 8 pm lights out. As I got older that increased by an hour every few years.
As I’ve gotten older, getting a good night’s sleep is very important to me. I feel like it’s my body trying to reset or repair itself. I take melatonin and magnesium (with calcium) every evening before I go to bed.
I am very disturbed by changing the clocks twice a year. If I travel in a car and cross time zones, it’s not as bad as arbitrarily changing the time on a clock. So I do think there’s a circadian rhythm issue.
I still tend to go to sleep later than most people, and I have trouble falling asleep. Perhaps not every night, but many nights.
I do not view ADHD as a disorder but more as a difference. I also don’t think it’s that I don’t have a deficit of attention. I think it’s a surplus. I notice too many things to pay attention to, and I don’t know always which is most important to pay attention to. In the classroom, it was easy. Pay attention to the teacher. Other times, it’s important that I pay attention to several things. We now call that multi-tasking.
Oh, and by the way, the belt never was able to change the way my brain worked very much. It just made Dad feel better.
Sometimes it’s caused by a deletion/duplication in genes responsible for neurodeloopment.
Sometimes this can affect circadian rhythms:
https://www.kegg.jp/pathway/hsa04713+23236
That’s certainly part of it for sure and that should be one of the things explored to help the child establish healthy sleeping habits.
Yet another reason that it is largely caused by technology: TV, computer games, phones, etc.
Sometimes, a lack of discipline in the home is part of that. However, there are other issues that could be at play, like addicted parents or dysfunctional homes, bullying at school that creates anxiety around bedtime knowing what you have to face the next day.
When I was in school, it was basically 8 hour of abuse during the day and teachers were allowing it.
If that’s a solution that works, sure.
One quality of ADHD is the inability to prioritize activities in terms of their productive outcomes. It can all the same to them, where playing with a game has the same priority as that big test tomorrow.
That would be part of my problem, as I was never taught how to manage that and had it enforced.
I’m personally a very light sensitive person. I have to have my room mostly blacked out or I will focus on that pinhole of light that is leaking through.
Wearing sunglasses before bed might help you fall asleep faster, but the evidence is indirect and depends on how they’re used. The idea stems from reducing exposure to blue light, which can suppress melatonin production—a hormone that regulates sleep. Blue light from screens, LEDs, or bright indoor lighting can trick your brain into thinking it’s daytime, delaying sleep onset.
Sunglasses with blue-light-blocking lenses (like those with amber or orange tints) can filter out some of this light, potentially mimicking the effects of a darker environment. Studies suggest that reducing blue light exposure in the evening—through blue-blocking glasses, screen filters, or dim lighting—can improve sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) and quality. For example, a 2017 study found that wearing blue-light-blocking glasses for a few hours before bed improved sleep in people with insomnia.
However, regular sunglasses (without specific blue-light filters) may not be as effective, as they reduce overall light intensity but don’t target blue wavelengths specifically. Also, wearing sunglasses indoors could feel awkward or overly darken your environment, which might not be practical.
For best results:
Use blue-light-blocking glasses designed for evening use (not just any sunglasses).
Wear them 1–2 hours before bed.
Combine with other sleep hygiene practices, like avoiding screens, dimming lights, and maintaining a consistent bedtime.
“That would be part of my problem, as I was never taught how to manage that and had it enforced.”
Now, imagine experience this as a project manager who works on projects valued in the tens of millions of dollars.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.