How Many Seniors Are Misdiagnosed With Alzheimer’s—When It’s Actually ADHD?

Many older adults are being told they have Alzheimer’s disease, when the real issue might be something else—undiagnosed ADHD. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder isn’t just a childhood condition. For some, it continues into adulthood and even into old age. The problem is that its symptoms—like forgetfulness, lack of focus, or trouble organizing—can look a lot like early dementia.

This overlap makes it easy to misdiagnose ADHD as Alzheimer’s, especially in seniors. People may be given the wrong treatment or misunderstood by loved ones and doctors. According to a published article, ADHD in older adults is often overlooked or mistaken for age-related memory loss.

As ADHD becomes more recognized across the lifespan, it's important to ask: How many seniors are living with the wrong diagnosis? Understanding the difference between the two conditions could help many people get the right care at the right time.

ADHD Doesn’t Always End With Childhood

Many people think ADHD is just a childhood condition, but that’s not true. In reality, ADHD can continue into older adulthood and often goes unnoticed for years. Some adults are only diagnosed after they retire or start having memory issues. Here’s why it often gets missed:

• The signs of ADHD change with age—hyperactivity becomes less obvious.
• Older adults may blame forgetfulness or poor focus on getting older.
• Many never got diagnosed as kids because the symptoms weren’t severe or recognized.
• Coping strategies that worked in younger years may stop being effective with age.
• Life stress, retirement, or illness can make ADHD symptoms worse in seniors.

According to a review, adult ADHD shows different patterns than in children, making it harder to detect later in life.

Shared Symptoms Create Diagnostic Confusion

ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease may seem very different, but they can look surprisingly similar—especially in older adults. This overlap often leads to confusion during diagnosis, even among trained professionals. Both conditions affect how a person thinks, remembers, and functions day to day.

Some of the most common symptoms that overlap include:

• Trouble paying attention or staying focused
• Forgetting names, appointments, or tasks
• Losing items or getting easily distracted
• Difficulty planning, organizing, or managing time
• Emotional outbursts or poor impulse control

These shared traits can make it hard to tell one condition from the other. A senior who forgets directions or misplaces keys might be showing signs of ADHD—not Alzheimer’s. But without careful screening, it’s easy to assume it’s dementia.

According to experts, the cognitive patterns in adults with ADHD often mimic early dementia, especially when ADHD has been undiagnosed or untreated for years.

Evidence of Misdiagnosis and Overlap

There is growing proof that ADHD in older adults often gets mistaken for Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia. Many doctors are still not trained to spot ADHD in seniors, so they may jump to the wrong conclusion when memory or focus problems show up.

Recent studies confirm that the overlap in symptoms causes real problems in diagnosis. Experts found that many older adults with ADHD are misdiagnosed simply because ADHD isn’t expected at their age.

Some key findings include:

• Adults with ADHD were nearly three times more likely to be diagnosed with dementia later in life.
• Doctors often miss ADHD when it appears as forgetfulness, slow thinking, or disorganization.
• Early signs of ADHD-related cognitive issues can be mistaken for early dementia.
• ADHD is rarely screened for during dementia evaluations in seniors.

One published article, it explains that some people spend years on dementia medications before realizing ADHD was the real issue all along.

Studies Linking ADHD and Dementia Risk

More researchers are now looking into the link between ADHD and dementia—and the results are surprising. People with ADHD may not just be misdiagnosed with dementia. They may also be more likely to develop it.

A large study published over 109,000 older adults in Israel. It found that those with ADHD had a 2.77 times higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia later in life.

Other findings from research and a cohort study support this connection. Even after adjusting for conditions like depression or heart disease, the risk stayed higher for people with ADHD.

Here’s what studies suggest:

• ADHD may weaken the brain’s cognitive reserve, making it more vulnerable to decline.
• Poor lifestyle choices linked to ADHD—like lack of exercise, smoking, or poor diet—can raise dementia risk.
• Some genetic factors may be shared between ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease.
• ADHD-related stress and emotional problems may slowly wear down brain health over time.

This doesn’t mean ADHD causes dementia, but the connection is strong enough to take seriously. Understanding this link can help doctors and families take early steps to protect long-term brain function.

Role of ADHD Medications and Lifestyle

Treatment might make a big difference in how ADHD affects the brain over time. Some research suggests that people with ADHD who receive proper care may not face the same dementia risk as those who go untreated.

In one published article, experts explained that when adults with ADHD are given medication, the link between ADHD and dementia becomes weaker. This could mean that treatment helps protect brain health. Or, it might show that people who get diagnosed and treated have more severe but better managed symptoms.

Lifestyle also plays a huge role. ADHD often comes with impulsive choices that can hurt long-term health. Some examples include:

• Eating poorly or skipping meals
• Getting little or no exercise
• Smoking or drinking too much
• Ignoring chronic health issues like high blood pressure

All of these factors are known to increase dementia risk. According to findings, managing conditions like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension can lower the risk of both ADHD-related decline and dementia.

Good brain health isn’t just about medication—it’s about daily habits, early detection, and getting the right kind of help. For seniors with ADHD, the path to clarity often begins with proper support and lifestyle change.

Why Seniors Deserve Better Screening

Many older adults go through memory testing without ever being checked for ADHD. That’s a serious gap in care. Better screening could help seniors avoid misdiagnosis, get the right treatment, and improve their quality of life.

Here’s why improved screening matters:

• ADHD is still underdiagnosed in people over 60.
• Dementia evaluations often miss signs of lifelong attention issues.
• Doctors may assume all forgetfulness is age-related.
• Seniors with ADHD may be labeled as non-compliant or confused instead of misunderstood.
• Misdiagnosis can lead to unnecessary medications or care plans.

A review noted that few dementia screening tools are designed to detect ADHD-related cognitive patterns. This oversight can cause delays in identifying the true source of symptoms.

When doctors ask the right questions, they can tell the difference between ADHD and early-stage dementia. A proper history of attention problems, emotional struggles, or past academic or work difficulties can offer major clues.

Wrap Up

Many seniors showing signs of forgetfulness or disorganization may not have Alzheimer’s at all, they could be living with undiagnosed ADHD. Because the symptoms of both conditions can overlap, it’s easy to mistake one for the other. But getting the diagnosis wrong can lead to the wrong treatment, missed opportunities for support, and more stress.

That’s why better screening matters. If you or someone you know is struggling with focus or memory, don’t assume it’s just aging. Could it be something else? Asking the right questions might lead to the right care—and a clearer path forward.