Tylenol could be risky for pregnant women - a new review finds acetaminophen may contribute to ADHD
Source: AP, via the Richmond Times-Dispatch
SPOTLIGHT | AP
Tylenol could be risky for pregnant women a new review finds acetaminophen may contribute to ADHD, other developmental disorders in children
Ann Z. Bauer, Postdoctoral Fellow in Epidemiology, University of Massachusetts Lowell 1 hr ago
Nearly 100 scholars and health care professionals are urging women to limit their use of acetaminophen during pregnancy. Oscar Wong/Moment via Getty Images
The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.
The big idea
A mounting body of evidence shows that the use of acetaminophen - widely known by its brand name Tylenol - during pregnancy may pose risks to the fetus and to early childhood development. That was the conclusion of a new review study on which I was a lead author.
Acetaminophen, which has the chemical name paracetamol, is a go-to over-the-counter medication that is widely recommended by doctors to relieve pain and reduce fever.
Our study, based on an assessment of 25 years of research in the areas of human epidemiology, animal and in-vitro studies, concludes that prenatal acetaminophen exposure may increase the risks of reproductive organs developing improperly. We identified a heightened risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, primarily attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and related behaviors, but also autism spectrum disorder, as well as language delays and decreased IQ.
In our consensus statement a broad agreement by our multidisciplinary international panel of experts published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology in September 2021, 91 clinicians and researchers are calling for caution and additional research.
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Ann Z. Bauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Read more: https://richmond.com/lifestyles/parenting/tylenol-could-be-risky-for-pregnant-women-a-new-review-finds-acetaminophen-may-contribute-to/article_3c6a6569-3bac-56ab-b84b-e9025475628c.html
Tylenol has long been considered a go-to medication for low to moderate pain and for fever reduction, even during pregnancy. But mounting evidence suggests that it is unsafe for fetal development.
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GPV
(72,377 posts)NullTuples
(6,017 posts)And we compare notes with other adult autistic-adhd people. I'm using it as a compound term because there's such a huge overlap in the populations and symptoms. Almost as if psych isn't really sure what it is they're naming and categorizing, and does not yet have an adequate underlying theory of either one that also fits findings in neurology.
Please don't blame yourself. This sort of pregnant person blaming is based on correlations, not proven causation. Within our community not a month goes by when some study or other purports to find a correlation and thus, assumed cause. All in the quest to "cure" or eradicate people whose neurologies are simply...different.
Many autistic kids have parents with health issues and/or sensory issues or serotonin issues and so on; they're simply more likely to take an OTC painkiller. But even when they completely abstain for the entire pregnancy...they still have autistic kids.
cadoman
(792 posts)Dosing matters.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15239078/
"Acetaminophen overdose is the leading cause for calls to Poison Control Centers (>100,000/year) and accounts for more than 56,000 emergency room visits, 2,600 hospitalizations, and an estimated 458 deaths due to acute liver failure each year. "
Soon to be replaced by Ivermectin thanks to braindead conspiracy theorists though, which I'm certain has racked up a few thousand deaths already.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,864 posts)to get over liver problems and I didn't over do it.
NullTuples
(6,017 posts)...not causation. They do this every now & then with autism, too. Always looking to cure people who are different.
They rarely stop to ask, "ADHD/Autistic is known to have a genetic component; maybe the parents get more headaches / aches / sensory issues / health problems".
LiberalArkie
(15,703 posts)soldierant
(6,784 posts)but I would ceretainly never have suspected this.
Of course I am well past child-bearing age, but I do use some ... but I try to keep it down.
LiberalArkie
(15,703 posts)Acetaminophen is thought to be the safest analgesic and antipyretic medicine for pregnant women, and it is widely used all over the world. However, prenatal acetaminophen was reported to be associated with asthma, lower performance intelligence quotient (IQ), shorter male infant anogenital distance (predicting poor male reproductive potential), autism spectrum disorder, neurodevelopmental problems (gross motor development, communication), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, poorer attention and executive function, and behavioral problems in childhood. Each article has poor power to show risks of acetaminophen, however, the integration of the articles that showed adverse effects of acetaminophen may have power to show them. Acetaminophen use in childhood was associated with autism spectrum disorder, asthma symptoms, wheezing, and allergic disease. Acetaminophen is the safest medicine as analgesics for nociceptive pain and antipyretics in childhood and pregnancy. There is no alternative medication of acetaminophen. Acetaminophen should not be withheld from children or pregnant women for fears it might develop adverse effects. Acetaminophen should be used at the lowest effective dosage and for the shortest time. When we know the possible, rare but serious complications, we should use acetaminophen in pregnancy only when needed and no safer option for pain or fever relief is available. Health care providers should help inform the general lay public about this difficult dilemma.
Snip
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28986045/
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)hospitalizations and 400 deaths.
The current maximum recommended adult dose of acetaminophen is 4,000 milligrams per day,
From: https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB00316
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/information-drug-class/acetaminophen-information
leftyladyfrommo
(18,864 posts)A lot of people die each year from liver failure due to Tylenol.
localroger
(3,620 posts)Years ago I was having a run of gout attacks (caused, I eventually realized, by my pre-diabetes which I eventually treated by eating to the glucose meter). I found myself on a plane next to a doctor who noticed that I had taken off my shoe and my foot was swollen. He asked me what treatments I had tried and I said ibuprofen, but it didn't do anything. He asked how much I had taken. Four 200 mg pills a day I said, the max the label advised. He actually laughed and said "Oh no, for gout the STARTING dose is three doses of 800 mg. If that doesn't do it you can go higher, but then yeah you need to have some blood work done." I pointed out that if I did that with Tylenol I would be dead within a few weeks and he just shrugged and said, "Ibuprofen isn't Tylenol." And he was right, the next gout attack I knocked back with twelve capsules over the course of a day and the next day I only needed one for the residual irritation. Considering the alternatives that are available, it is crazy that a drug with such a low margin for error between the therapeutic and lethal doses is available over the counter. Opioids would be safer if their purity and dosage were properly controlled.
cstanleytech
(26,213 posts)I will wait until it actually has gone through in depth peer review.
sybylla
(8,495 posts)Correlation is not causation. There needs to be some serious review of this study. There are so many environmental components that could also cause a similar effect over the past 30 years. How did they work to eliminate them? It wasn't that long ago that there were theories about pesticides causing similar neurological issues. Or BPA. Or OMG so many others.
Unless they discovered the particular biological mechanism involved, I'm not buying it. I say this as a grandma to a fabulous autistic grandson.
Withywindle
(9,988 posts)I avoid it for that reason and use other OTC pain relief things for minor aches and pains and stuff. I have ADHD. Is it because my mother took it? Probably not in my case because both my parents are neurodivergent in different ways, and they're both older than Tylenol, so I think I just inherited it.
But it would be something if the rise in autism wasn't caused by vaccines at all (which we already knew) but by Mom's headache pills.
NNadir
(33,455 posts)...journalists.
My standard joke is that you cannot get a degree in journalism if you have passed a college level science course with a grade of C or better.
If you want mangled science, I suggest any newspaper, from the New York Times on down.