Thread by @jenbrea

Thought:
– people with EDS have tethered cord syndrome and intracranial hypertension at higher rates
– many also report ADHD

#NEISvoid

– attentional awareness involves modulating blood flow to different areas of the brain
– but tethered cord syndrome causes hypoperfusion, and thus, hypoxia (so does intracranial hypertension)
– could ADHD be an **adaptation** to chronic hypoxia?

– could “distractability” be the state of shifting your attention and in so doing, shifting blood flow to other parts of the brain so as to avoid prolonged, reduced oxygenation of other parts?
– could this also related to “brain fog?” and cognitive PEM

– Some ADHD meds are vasoconstrictors. So is caffeine.

I am spitballing but reflecting on some of the cognitive changes I’ve experienced since my surgeries. (I don’t have ADHD, but someone in my family does.) When they told me about vasoconstriction in ADHD, something clicked.

Curious if people with #ADHD, #EDS, #MECFS or all of the above have any experiences or insights into this?

The personal context for this is while I don’t have ADHD, I do have some of the above conditions and I *expect* I might have other neurodivergent traits that help to protect neurons, in particular under conditions of hypoxia.

If tethered cord syndrome is genetic and “subclincial” in the vast majority of people who have it (as mine was before my infection and MCAS storm), but causes mild hypoxia, then it’s plausible genetic adaptations to compensate for hypoxia might also co-occur.

What we call ADHD might be one of these adaptations (variations) but so might other neurodivergent traits and their expressions. (My intent here is NOT to medicalize neurodivergent traits but rather to better understand my own experiences and what we observe in our communities.)

For clarity: I am not saying any of the above CAUSES ADHD, but rather, genes associated with ADHD (and possibly other neuro divergent traits, including some that may not have medical definitions) may occur at higher rates in populations where these traits may be NEUROPROTECTIVE.

That is my hypothesis/question.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your personal experiences and references!