Posted on 08/15/2016 5:15:49 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The researchers studied acetaminophen use in nearly 7,800 women living in Bristol, England, and then surveyed these women seven years later about their child’s behavior. They found that compared to women who did not take the drug during pregnancy, acetaminophen use during pregnancy was associated with a variety of behavioral issues in children.
Compared to the children of women who did not take the drug, children of women who did take acetaminophen had a 42 percent increased risk of conduct problems, a 31 percent increased risk in hyperactivity disorders and a 29 percent increased risk in emotional problems in their children, the study found.
Despite the increased risk for women taking the drug, the total risk of developing behavioral issues overall remained small, with 5 percent of children studied being affected by these behavioral issues.
“This does not mean it is not safe during pregnancy," Stergiakouli said.
"Women should still continue to use acetaminophen as required according to their physician, because the risk of not treating fever or pain can be much higher than risk of behavioral issues in offspring," she explained. For example, "fever increases the risk of pre-term labor if untreated during pregnancy."
She also stressed that further study is needed to understand the link between the drug and behavioral problems, and to identify any potential biological mechanism.
Rebecca Hoover, a pharmacist and clinical assistant professor of pharmacy practice and administrative sciences at Idaho State University, has studied this issue and said the new findings will help inform patients anxious about taking pain relievers and give them more information about the possible risks.
"It highlights the fact that we need to be careful about how much medications to use and when to use them and making sure we should be prudent," Hoover said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Worse than being born under islam or ghetto values? I doubt it but carry on....
So what manufacturer for ibuprophen lobbied for this ‘study’?
Yes. I’m that cynical.
absent father 98.2%
It could be due to the genetics of the moms “needing” to take drugs passing on some (other) bad genetics or nurturing failures to their progeny.
Another thing for pregnant women to worry about.
I’m glad I had my kids when I did-—about 48-54 years ago.
.
Increased chances of liberal parents raising a transgender kid?
I’m waiting for that study.
And fever could affect brain development. The women are not taking acetaminophen randomly; they are taking it because of a medical issue. And it could be the medical issue that is causing the problems, not the acetaminophen.
This is a problem with many studies. The study authors latch on to something, assume correlation=causation, and stop there. The actual cause may actually be something completely different.
Yup most likely
I was recently pregnant. I avoided taking everything but I did occasionally take a Tylenol but that was only when I couldn’t tolerate something any longer, usually a headache.
Now if my kid has a meltdown I’ll know who to blame ;-p
Well, if they shouldn’t take acetaminophen for their hangovers, what can they take?
“Well, if they shouldn’t take acetaminophen for their hangovers, what can they take?”
Thalidomide
“It could be due to the genetics of the moms “needing” to take drugs..”
Even without the genetics link (which is overused IMHO), you are absolutely correct that this could be an association based on some behavioral, or socioeconomic issue related to the mothers using analgesics during pregnancy. It’s not a value judgment. Just a potential association to consider. On the other hand, this could just be more ‘true, true, unrelated’ observational data of limited significance.
As an aside, there was a study in mice in which a gene deletion led to ‘neurotic’ mouse mothers. There offspring were also neurotic, and this was attributed to the gene deletion, but then it was noted that offspring without the gene deletion also wound up exhibiting ‘neurotic’ behaviors, presumably because they were exposed to the neurotic mothers. Nature and nurture both matter.
There = their..
A little unfair to moms. Pregnant women have been told for years that Tylenol is safe and it is recommended for a whole variety of issues. I can’t think of a 9 month spell that I didn’t take something for a headache, sprain or malaise.
I find it hard to believe they could control for all other differences between these women.
Seriously, acetaminophen is a deadly poison, and is lethal to many animals, especially mammals and reptiles. That, in small doses it acts as an analgesic in *humans* doesn’t change this basic fact.
“Acetaminophen overdose sends as many as 78,000 Americans to the emergency room annually and results in 33,000 hospitalizations, and 300 deaths a year, federal data shows. Acetaminophen is also the nation’s leading cause of acute liver failure.”
Yes, when properly used, it makes a fine analgesic. However I would *never* give it to a pregnant woman or a young child.
Maybe these women also have a tendency not to parent very well or have fathers around. It’s real convenient to focus on an inanimate object to blame childrens behaviors on. I would say its probsbly not a comprehensive enough picture study to just say its the thing responsible for bad kids.
“It could be due to the genetics of the moms “needing” to take drugs passing on some (other) bad genetics or nurturing failures to their progeny.”
My thinking also. It could be as simple as people intolerant to the behavior of children take a lot of headache medications. Or, not. Who knows.
Lots of questions if this is true.
For examle the doase was not clatified.. if you took one tylenol, or do you take 12 a day for chronic migraines? Women with stress or migaines could have more ADHD kids.
did you take it for hangovers? Fetal alcohol syndrome causes ADHD?
and what do they mean by ADHD.? Yes, this syndrome exists but nowadays it is greatly overdiagnosed.
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