A new study epublished today in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology confirmed that children with ADHD are at increased risk for breaking a bone. I was not surprised. There have been many times when I wished that I could peel my daughter out of the tree in our front yard, or the bookcase in our living room, and place her, lovingly of course, in a padded box.
The study is a step in the right direction, and one of several that have noted increased risk of injury in children with ADHD. What is needed, though, is a study to demonstrate what it is about ADHD that increases the risk of fracture? Is it only that ADHD kids are more hyperactive, that they are inattentive to potentially dangerous situations--in which case medicated children would be expected to have a lower fracture risk?
Could brittle bones be a side effect of medication? Another study done in 2012 suggested that chronic exposure to methylphenidate caused bones to weaken in adolescent rats. No other studies have taken this direction of inquiry, but perhaps it needs to be done.
Until then, I guess I'll need to encase my child in toilet paper or something else soft to keep her out of the ER.
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