10/24/2026
Women with ADHD are losing almost nine years of life.
That number comes from a UK study of diagnosed adults, and the gap was bigger for women than men. Then this month two more studies landed. One pooled 19 studies and nearly 16 million people and tied ADHD to about 70% higher risk of dying early. The other followed 187,000 adults over 50 and found more than four times the risk of memory problems or dementia.
Before anybody panics, more than 93 out of 100 people with ADHD in that dementia study never developed it. These are links, not destiny. And people who were treated had about 25% lower risk of dying early.
ADHD isn’t just a focus problem. It’s a whole-body condition and it deserves to be treated like one.
Part 1 of 3. Part 2 tomorrow is why it hits women hardest in their 40s.
Send this to the woman in your life with ADHD who thinks she’s just scattered.
Want to read the studies yourself?
1. Life expectancy, British Journal of Psychiatry 2025: doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2024.199
2. Mortality review, JAMA Network Open 2026: doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.39448
3. Dementia risk, JAMA Psychiatry 2026: doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2026.3165