By DR MARTIN SCURR

Published: 17:09 BST, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 17:09 BST, 29 June 2026

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Is there anything I can do to stop my eyes constantly watering? I blamed the cold weather, but it’s summer now and nothing has improved.

Chris Peat, Accrington.

Dr Martin Scurr replies: Watery eyes, known as epiphora, can be triggered by a range of causes. One of the most common is dry eyes, a condition which, paradoxically, means you produce more tears than normal.

Dry eyes are the result of a problem with the meibomian glands, the tiny oil glands located along the lash line of the eyelid; these produce an oil, called meibum, which lubricates the eye surface and stabilises the film of tears that coats the eyeball.

If the glands are blocked, the tears become more watery, causing teary red eyes.

The symptoms can be eased by regular use of lubricating drops, but long term the better remedy is to improve the function of the meibomian glands with meticulous eyelid hygiene and massage (to unblock them).

Wipe the eyelids twice daily with a cotton wool bud dipped in diluted baby shampoo. With your eyes closed massage the lids with a warm compress (such as a flannel or cotton wool soaked in water).

Watery eyes can also be caused by impairment or blockage of the nasolacrimal ducts, the tiny channels on either side of the nose that allow the tear film to drain into the nasal sinuses.

Dry eyes are the result of a problem with the meibomian glands, the tiny oil glands located along the lash line of the eyelid

Or it could be ectropion, a condition that’s usually age-related, where the lower lid droops outward. As a result the tear film overflows rather than draining into the nasolacrimal ducts.

Treatment for blocked nasolacrimal ducts would involve syringing to clear any blockage. This means seeing a specialist who can also assess the eyelid function for signs of ectropion.

My advice would be to ask your GP or optician for a referral to an NHS ophthalmologist for further investigations.

My recent NHS health check said I had a 20 per cent chance of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years (I’m 71) and my GP has suggested taking a statin. But I’m concerned about possible side-effects.

A. Collins, Tamworth, Staffs.

Statins are very effective at lowering the overall risk by controlling cholesterol but many patients have side-effects such as muscle stiffness

Dr Martin Scurr replies: GPs use an online tool to assess the risk of heart disease or a stroke, based on factors such as lifestyle (e.g. smoking) and medical history (such as diabetes).

The main risk factors, which none of us can control, are age and family history. But others can be controlled very effectively to lower that risk – these include weight, blood pressure, blood sugar levels and cholesterol.

Statins are very effective at lowering the overall risk by controlling cholesterol. But every week, I see patients with similar concerns as yours about the drugs causing side-effects such as muscle stiffness.

We hear a lot about these kinds of adverse reactions, particularly on social media, but most people who take a statin do so without experiencing any significant problems. In fact, in trials a proportion of symptoms said to be statin-related occurred in patients taking a placebo.

This may simply be because statins are mostly prescribed to middle-aged and older patients who are more likely to get pains and stiffness due to age. It is all too easy to wrongly blame these symptoms on the drug.

My advice is to take the statin, and if there are adverse effects you can always stop and these will abate, after which you might be treated with a different statin, or perhaps a different drug altogether, such as ezetimibe – which also lowers cholesterol and any side-effects are often mild and temporary.

Former NFL player Chris Johnson revealed the first symptom he experienced of ALS after announcing his shock diagnosis on Monday. 

The former Tennessee Titans, New York Jets running back and 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year had teased a big interview with fellow football icon Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, but fans were left stunned when the reason for the broadcast was revealed.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – is a progressive neurological disease that slowly destroys motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord over time.

Johnson – who was one of the fastest running backs in NFL history – was only diagnosed last year at the age of 39, but has already lost the ability to speak, using his eyes to trigger a voice machine as he sat alongside his wife for the ABC interview.

He said he noticed something was off about his health when he felt his right hand become weak. He said the first subtle signs were ‘little things, like my grip didn’t feel right, and I wasn’t as strong as I’ve always been.’

Johnson, now 40, and his wife said they expected the issue to be related to his long football career, with his wife Brittany adding: ‘I thought because of football and, you know, his career, that it had to be something with that.

‘Maybe … a pinched nerve or something along those lines, but never ALS.’

NFL icon Chris Johnson can no longer speak, a year on from being diagnosed with ALS

Brittany, Johnson’s wife, said during the interview that the family’s previous life was a ‘thing of the past’

The ex-NFL star was in what he describes as the ‘prime of his life’ when he received the diagnosis and had been working out every day and spending time with his wife and four children. 

‘We hoped it was something else, but after thorough testing, they finally came down with a diagnosis of ALS,’ Johnson explained. 

‘They told us about a medication that might extend life by a few months, then they told us to get our affairs in order.’

Brittany went on to reveal that she was initially ‘in denial’ about the diagnosis, and that her thoughts immediately went to their four children. 

‘You want it to be anything else, you want the doctors to be wrong,’ she revealed. 

‘The life that we previously had is now a thing of the past, but we’re still hopeful that a breakthrough will happen, and that God, a miracle will happen.’

Johnson added that Brittany ‘hasn’t left my side’ since the diagnosis, and that his children give him reason to carry on. 

‘It’s continued to progress much faster than I imagined,’ Johnson explained. ‘I want people to understand just how quickly ALS can attack your body. 

Johnson spoke through the machine alongside his wife during the ABC interview at their home

Johnson retired in 2017 and was previously the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2009

‘Just over a year ago I was picking up my seven-year-old daughter so she could make a wish with her birthday cake. Today, I couldn’t do that.’

When asked why he had chosen now to share his story, Johnson revealed: ‘Because if sharing my story helps even one person get diagnosed sooner, inspires more research or gives another family hope, then it’s worth it.’ 

‘First, I want people to know that I’m still me,’ he began. ‘ALS has changed what my body can do but it hasn’t changed who I am.’

His rapid decline left fans in tears as they watched him explain his diagnosis and the subsequent effects on his body. 

Johnson has no history of the disease in his family and doctors believe his condition to be a case of ‘sporadic ALS’, which is the most common form of the disease and occurs randomly.

Johnson holds his Offensive Player of the Year trophy in February 2010 alongside Phil Simms

Johnson on vacation before his ALS diagnosis changed his life last year

‘It can happen to someone who never expected it,’ Johnson revealed. ‘I don’t know if you can ever fully process it. 

‘At first you’re in shock, then you realize you have two choices: you can give up or you can fight. I chose to fight.’

After his diagnosis, doctors recorded Johnson’s voice, so that even when he is using a machine to speak, it still sounds exactly like him. 

Johnson ended his professional career in 2017 after three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, totaling 11,000 yards in his ten years in the league.

He is best known for his six seasons in Tennessee, during which he was voted to the Pro Bowl three times and won Offensive Player of the Year, before moving to the New York Jets.

For Cole Nicholson, he started drinking the way many teenagers do – out of curiosity, more than anything.

At 14, the Tennessee high schooler would sneak the occasional drink from his parents’ well-stocked liquor cabinet: a bottle of beer or a swig of liquor mixed with whatever he could find in the fridge.

It felt harmless at first. A gentle push at boundaries – nothing more than that.

But word spread quickly.

With his parents often out, Nicholson’s home became a magnet – the ‘party house.’ Drinking wasn’t a problem; it was a rite of passage, something he and his friends did for fun – a way to loosen up and fit in.

‘Like most teenagers, I experimented,’ Nicholson, now 38, told the Daily Mail. ‘A couple of beers here or a couple of mixed drinks there.’

It wasn’t until college, with fewer restraints to keep him on track, that things began to unravel – and what started as youthful experimentation gradually became a downward spiral of alcohol dependence that came close to destroying his promising young life.

Like nearly one in ten Americans, Nicholson found himself caught in addiction. Today, however, he is a different man – thanks in part to a $3-per-day pill some are calling the ‘Ozempic for alcohol,’ which he credits with dramatically reducing his cravings.

Cole Nicholson, 38, managed to overcome his dependence on alcohol with the help of a medication called naltrexone

Nicholson, pictured as a teenager. He started experimenting with alcohol at age 14, which progressed into alcoholism during his college years

He has chosen to speak out in the hope it might help others still struggling.

‘I heard a saying not too long ago: “You need to recover out loud,”‘ Nicholson said.

‘I try to live by that. This isn’t just about me – it’s about the person out there who’s still hurting. If they can see someone getting better, that might give them something to hold on to.’

But this is all a far cry from his younger years. At the University of Mississippi – Ole Miss – drinking wasn’t occasional; it was woven into the fabric of campus life. 

Saturdays began at sunrise, tailgates already underway, coolers cracked open before the day had started. Nights at his fraternity house were a blur and Nicholson took pride in being able to outdrink those around him.

‘At that time, it was mainly beer, then bourbon and vodka,’ he said. ‘But I’d drink pretty much anything.’

Still, he held things together. Over four years, Nicholson made the Dean’s List and took on leadership roles on campus.

But by the end, alcohol had become as routine as his morning coffee – and, in his mind, just as harmless.

‘There were no consequences,’ he said. ‘So I didn’t think I had a problem.’

The first cracks began to appear at 25.

Nicholson was pulled over by police after driving erratically – a moment that could have been a turning point.

He was charged with driving under the influence then convicted, and was sentenced to a year of probation, ordered to pay a fine, undergo regular alcohol and drug testing, and report consistently to a probation officer.

But even that wasn’t enough to stop him.

‘I knew how to manipulate the system,’ he said. ‘I knew that I could not drink 24 hours before going into probation court and pass the screenings.’

Nicholson told the Daily Mail that as a college student at Ole Miss, tailgating and frat boy culture made excessive drinking feel like a norm. In his junior and senior year, he was drinking every day

Seen in his early 20s, Nicholson said he didn’t view drinking as a problem until he got a DUI at age 25

It wasn’t until a year later, at 26 years old, that things finally came to a head.

After a physical attack left him shaken, Nicholson spiraled into near-constant drinking, struggling to cope with the aftermath.

That was when he sought help, admitting himself to an inpatient recovery program in Memphis.

‘I just didn’t know how to cope,’ he recalled. ‘I was barely holding things together. I knew I needed help.’

Nicholson spent a year attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings while undergoing cognitive behavioral therapy. 

He stayed sober for eight months after that – until a relationship with a sommelier derailed his progress.

‘Wine was never my problem, so it started with one glass at dinner, then two, then three,’ he said.

‘Before long, I was back on hard liquor and not maintaining sobriety at all. I was drinking like I was in college again. Back then, I could get away with it. But being older, it wasn’t so easy.’

‘I had the hangovers, the shakes, the tremors, the night sweats – the full set of withdrawal symptoms,’ he continued. ‘I’d just be waiting for the morning so I could have another drink.’

Over the following months, things began to fall apart. His partner ended the relationship, and managers at his catering job complained of alcohol on his breath – lingering from the night before, despite repeated attempts to mask it with toothpaste and mouthwash.

At 27, Nicholson admitted himself to a 30-day rehab program in Georgia. From there, he was sent to Los Angeles for intensive outpatient treatment – and doctors recommended he try a medication called naltrexone.

First approved in 1984 for opioid dependence and a decade later for alcohol use disorder, naltrexone targets the brain’s reward system – specifically the opioid receptors linked to pleasure and learning.

Under normal circumstances, drinking alcohol triggers a surge of feel-good chemicals such as dopamine, creating a sense of reward that encourages continued drinking. Naltrexone interrupts that feedback loop, dampening the pleasurable effects so alcohol no longer delivers the same payoff.

Over time, specialists say, this helps retrain the brain – weakening the learned association between drinking and feeling good, reducing cravings and making it easier to quit.

‘It’s essentially taking the reward out of drinking,’ Jessica Steinman, an addiction specialist and chief clinical officer at No Matter What Recovery, told the Daily Mail. ‘It removes the sense of euphoria, escape or numbing that many people are seeking.

‘When that starts to disappear, the desire to drink does too.’

Nicholson was nearly 28 when he was sent to a treatment program in Los Angeles, where providers introduced him to naltrexone

A 30‑day supply of generic naltrexone tablets typically costs between $25 and $100 without insurance 

Some experts say it may work in a similar way to GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, which curb appetite by dialing down the brain’s reward response to food.

‘GLP-1s turn the noise down with food,’ Steinman said. ‘That’s very similar to what drugs like naltrexone can do for people who struggle with drinking. It doesn’t eliminate the urge entirely, but it takes the edge off.’

The drug, which can be taken as a daily tablet or as a monthly injection, starts working ‘pretty much immediately’ alongside other treatments like therapy.

For Nicholson, who later switched to the injection, it was like flipping a switch. ‘I just stopped thinking about alcohol,’ he said.

‘I lived in West Hollywood, which is very much a party scene, working in catering and constantly surrounding by drink.

‘But it just didn’t seem to affect me. The alcohol was there, but I didn’t feel like I had to partake in it.’

A 30‑day supply of generic naltrexone tablets typically costs between $25 and $100 without insurance, meaning each pill costs $3 or less. Discounts, however, can significantly bring the price down, ranging from $30 to $50 for a month of the drug – or as low as just a few dollars, depending on the insurance plan. 

Addiction expert Jessica Steinman (pictured above) compared naltrexone to GLP-1 medications like Ozempic

The long‑acting monthly injection, sold under the brand name Vivitrol, is far more expensive – usually costing between $1,000 and $2,000 per dose without insurance.

With coverage, however, many patients pay as little as $0 to $100, depending on their plan.

Approximately one million prescriptions for naltrexone are filled every year in the US, and experts estimate 300,000 patients fill these annually for alcohol use disorder.

Nicholson had one more wobble, at 30 years old, when he stopped taking Vivitrol and tried to go back to drinking moderately.

‘I just decided one day, it’s been enough time, I can go back to drinking. I miss it,’ he said.

‘That’s a problem, too. I like drinking not just because of the effects of alcohol, but the taste. I enjoy both.’

Over the course of the Covid pandemic, Nicholson found himself in another downward spiral, struggling to hold down catering and events jobs and go a day without drinking.

It wasn’t until the fall of 2025, at 38, that Nicholson decided to try recovery one more time. 

‘I know a sober me is a better me,’ he said.

Vivitrol is an injectable form of naltrexone that is given monthly, though it can be more expensive

Nicholson entered another recovery program and got back on Vivitrol two months ago. His cravings, once again, have vanished.

‘Things have been going well,’ he said. ‘There are no cravings. I feel healthy and I think I look it too.

‘I make sure that I get at least seven to eight hours of sleep at night. I get a little bit of exercise. I just take it day by day.’

Nicholson is also attending support group meetings to make sure he stays on track.

Steinman added: ‘If people are going to be on naltrexone in any form, they really should also be in some kind of therapy or support network.

‘Because it’s one thing to dampen the brain’s reward response, but people turn to alcohol and drugs for much deeper reasons – trauma, underlying wounds, negative self-beliefs.

‘It’s imperative to do the work, not just put a Band-Aid over it.’

While long-term use of naltrexone or Vivitrol is generally considered safe, it is not typically intended as a lifelong solution. Experts say its role is to help stabilize patients and reduce cravings while they build more sustainable coping strategies.

‘As someone moves further into recovery, the intensity of those cravings usually fades,’ Steinman explained. ‘I can see a place for these medications over a couple of years, but beyond that, you’d ideally want to see reliance on them begin to taper off.’

Nicholson described naltrexone and Vivitrol as his ‘insurance policy’ – a safeguard that helps keep him on track.

‘If there’s something that can help take that pressure off, why not use it?’ he said.

An estimated 2.6million people in the UK already use fat jabs to tackle their weight problems.

But that could be eclipsed by demand for new versions of the drugs in pill form.

The first of these, an oral variant of the Wegovy jab, was approved earlier this month by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and is available privately at around £100 a month. In the US, where the Wegovy pill was given the green light earlier this year, there were three million prescriptions in the first five months alone.

Meanwhile, Foundayo, another weight-loss pill version of the fat jabs (made by the company that produces Mounjaro), is expected to be available in the UK later this year.

While 2.6 million people in the UK use fat jabs already, that number could be eclipsed by demand for new versions of the drugs in pill form

Wegovy Pill 

What is in it?

Contains semaglutide – the same drug used in the Wegovy jab. It is made by Novo Nordisk.

How do you take it?

Once a day on an empty stomach with a little water and at least 30 minutes before eating. You start on a dose of just 1.5mg but, depending on how you respond and only on doctor’s orders, this can be gradually increased every 30 days to a maximum of 25mg.

How does it work?

Like the jab, it contains semaglutide, a drug which mimics the action of our GLP-1 gut hormones – telling receptors in the brain to reduce appetite and slow gastric emptying, making you feel fuller for longer.

However, it also has a special ‘carrier’ molecule – called salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), which protects the drug against the harsh acidic environment of the stomach so it can be fully absorbed into the bloodstream (the jab version goes into subcutaneous fat and passes directly into the bloodstream).

How much weight can you lose?

It can vary, but an average 16.6 per cent of bodyweight. For example, if you weigh 16st 7lb (106kg), you could expect to lose around 2st 7lb (17.7kg) over 64 weeks on the highest dose of 25mg a day, according to trial data in the New England Journal of Medicine last September.

This is slightly less than the overall average reported for Wegovy jabs (19 per cent on a once weekly 7.2mg jab). However, a third of the obese volunteers in the pill trial managed to lose 20 per cent or more.

Any other health benefits?

As with GLP-1 jabs, patients on the Wegovy pill experienced significantly improved HbA1c (a three-month average of the sugariness of their blood), lower blood pressure and a slimmer waist.

Blood pressure, for example, dropped by an average of 6.8mm/Hg for systolic (the top number, which measures the maximum pressure your blood exerts against artery walls when your heart beats) and 2.7mm/Hg for diastolic (pressure between beats).

Average waist circumference declined by 12.2cm (or almost 5ins), and fasting plasma glucose – or the amount of sugar in your blood after not eating or drinking for eight hours – dropped by 6.6mg/decilitre.

Meanwhile, total cholesterol scores came down by an average of just over one per cent, and levels of triglyceride blood fats – known to raise the risk of heart disease – dropped by just under one per cent.

Like the jab, the Wegovy pill contains semaglutide, a drug which mimics the action of our GLP-1 gut hormones

Side-effects

Trial data found 74 per cent of those on the Wegovy pill had gastrointestinal side-effects compared with 42 per cent in a placebo group.In most cases these were mild and this is comparable to jabs, including Wegovy. Seven per cent quit Wegovy pills due to side-effects such as nausea, sleep disorders, vomiting, abdominal pain and indigestion. But the drop-out rate was almost the same – six per cent – in the placebo group.

When will it be available?

Private online pharmacies are now supplying the Wegovy pill. Availability on the NHS would depend on approval by NICE, so the earliest it could be prescribed would be 2027.

Cost

Asda’s online pharmacy, for example, charges £98.97 a month for 1.5mg doses and £118.97 for 4mg. Higher doses are coming soon – these will cost £128.97 a month for 9mg and £188.97 for 25mg.

Pros

Greater weight loss than Foundayo (up to 20 per cent over 64 weeks, compared with 12.4 per cent for Foundayo over 72 weeks).

Cheaper than Wegovy injections.

Lowers blood pressure and glucose levels.

Cons

Has to be taken at least 30 minutes before eating. ‘Otherwise less of it will be absorbed as food dilutes the SNAC protective layer,’ says Professor Yeo.

Must be taken daily (the jab’s once a week).

Likely to be more expensive than Foundayo because of its manufacture – it’s a modified peptide hormone which is more difficult to make; Foundayo is a white powder drug made by chemical reaction, therefore cheaper.

It can affect other medications that need to pass through the stomach quickly because it slows down stomach emptying.

Patients on GLP-1 jabs experience improved HbA1c (a three-month average of the sugariness of their blood), lower blood pressure and a slimmer waist

Foundayo, another weight-loss pill version of the fat jabs (made by the company that produces Mounjaro), is expected to be available in the UK later this year

Foundayo Pill

What’s in it?

Contains orforglipron. Made by Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lilly.

How do you take it?

Once a day and at any time of day. The starting dose is 0.8mg but this can be increased every 30 days up to a maximum dose of 17.2 mg.

How does it work?

Like the Wegovy pill, orforglipron (the active drug in Foundayo), mimics GLP-1 but, unlike Wegovy, it is a small molecule drug that’s chemically stable. This means stomach acid doesn’t destroy it, so it doesn’t need a protective coating.

How much weight can you lose?

An average 12.4 per cent of bodyweight (27.3lbs) over 18 months, so less than the Wegovy pill, according to trial data. However, those who had previously lost weight on jabs but then plateaued managed to maintain 75 to 80 per cent of their weight loss up to 52 weeks by then taking Foundayo instead.

Any other health benefits?

It reduced volunteers’ waistlines by an average 4.4ins (11.1cm) and lowered systolic blood pressure by an average 6.7mmHg (comparable to the Wegovy pill).

Levels of harmful blood fats called

triglycerides fell 21.6 per cent and non-HDL cholesterol (which includes ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol) readings dropped by 8.5 per cent.

Side-effects

Between five and 10 per cent of patients – depending on the dose – quit the drug due to nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting, indigestion and stomach pain, though most said the effects were mild to moderate.

Others included headache, tiredness, belching, heartburn, wind and hair loss (these are similar to those reports for Wegovy).

Professor Yeo says it’s not fully clear if one pill has more adverse effects than the other – as there are currently so few Foundayo users.

‘I’m not concerned for now, and time will tell if there are actually more side-effects.’

When will it be available?

it is expected to become available privately in the UK in later this year and is currently being reviewed by the medicines watchdog, the MHRA.

The drug will have to be appraised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) before it can be made available on the NHS.

Cost

Currently only available in the US for around $147 (£111) a month for the lowest dose of 0.8mg. In the UK it’s expected to be cheaper than injectable GLP-1s.

Pros

Can be taken at any time of day and ‘without food restrictions, which is more convenient than the Wegovy pill’, says Professor Yeo.

It’s a simple powder that means it will be cheaper to make, ‘so, when it eventually goes off patent [potentially around 2039) it will cost pennies,’ says Professor Yeo.

May help those who have plateaued on fat jabs to maintain most of their weight loss, ‘so I suspect the better-off will use it as a cheaper follow-on to injections’, says Professor Yeo.

Cons

Less weight loss on average than with the Wegovy pill

Has to be taken daily (unlike the weekly jabs)

Slightly higher drop-out rate on higher doses due to unwanted side-effects than with Wegovy pill.

Children of mothers who exclusively breastfeed for at least six months are less likely to develop ADHD, a first-of-its-kind study has found. 

Breast milk has long been linked with better overall health, but there is debate over just how crucial it is for the long-term wellbeing of children.

While the vast majority of British mothers breastfeed in the first two months after birth, around four in ten mothers have stopped by the six month mark, often switching to formula milk instead.

But in the new study, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry, researchers found the longer a child was exclusively breastfed, the less likely they were to show symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

The Norwegian researchers behind the study say it is unclear why breastfeeding has this protective effect, but theorise that the milk may contain nutrients vital to brain development.

They conclude that full breastfeeding ‘could partially protect against childhood ADHD’.

The findings come as a new report revealed that the number of children in the UK living with ADHD has risen by a quarter since 2018. 

More than one million children were referred to mental health services across England last year, according to Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner who led the report.

Breastfeeding could help protect against childhood ADHD, new research suggests

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a condition which affects the brain.

Symptoms usually start before the age of 12 and children may present as being easily distracted, hyperactive and impulsive. 

Children with ADHD may also find it difficult to concentrate on tasks, sit still and listen to instructions. 

Around 750,000 children in the UK are believed to have ADHD and diagnoses have risen sharply in recent years. 

The new study, led by experts at the University of Bergen, analysed data from 37,643 children and mothers from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. 

The researchers wanted to find out how many months a child would need to be exclusively breastfed for to reduce their risk of developing ADHD symptoms. 

Six months after giving birth, mothers were asked how long they exclusively breastfed, how long they used a combination of formula and breastmilk and when they introduced other liquids or solid foods. 

‘We found that the longer a child was exclusively breastfed (up to six months), the lower the level of ADHD symptoms at ages three, five, and eight years’, said Dr Berit Skretting Solberg, consultant psychiatrist and study lead author said.

The association was observed in both boys and girls and was strongest at ages three and five. All breastfeeding showed a protective effect which increased with duration and intensity of breastfeeding. 

The researchers concluded: ‘Our findings suggest that full breastfeeding could partially protect against childhood ADHD symptoms,’ but acknowledged further studies need to be done to confirm the findings. 

It is the latest study to demonstrate the health benefits of breastfeeding.

In 2025, a major US review found that breastfeeding reduced the risk of infant mortality, rapid weight gain, infections, and allergies.

Experts say rising ADHD diagnoses are putting unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

In England, nearly 550,000 children and adults are awaiting NHS assessments.

Meanwhile, around a third of NEETs – young people not in education, employment or training – have an ADHD diagnosis.

There are also a growing number of experts who question the validity of these numbers, arguing that ADHD is potentially less common than figures suggest.

The new report into the rising number of young people with mental health conditions, published by children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza, argues that the rising rates of diagnosis for ADHD and autism did ‘not necessarily mean rising prevalence’.

The authors add that the rising number of diagnoses may reflect the ‘medicalisation of distress’ where a diagnosis becomes the ‘main route of support’.