Acetaminophen during pregnancy not associated with ADHD or autism risk

Taking acetaminophen during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of autism, and ADHD in children in some research.

Taking acetaminophen during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of autism, and ADHD in children in some research. A new study suggests that it is not acetaminophen that is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, but likely other issues such as genetics.

The new report, published in JAMA on Tuesday, focused on data from more than 2 million Swedish children who were followed for up to 26 years. After an initial analysis that revealed a very small increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children whose mothers took acetaminophen during pregnancy, the researchers went back to the same database and did a second study, looking at pairs of siblings whose mothers used acetaminophen during one pregnancy but not the other. 

This time they found there was no increased risk of neurodevelopmental problems associated with acetaminophen, which suggested there was something else raising the risk of these disorders. 

Both the initial and sibling studies were published in the same report. 

In this study as well as in earlier ones, researchers have had little information on whether the parents’ themselves had autism, ADHD or an intellectual disability. When the parents of the children in the study were young, diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders weren’t as common. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/acetaminophen-pregnancy-not-adhd-autism-risk-rcna146893

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