Using common painkiller in pregnancy might raise ADHD risk in children

Children who used their paracetamol mothers, also known as acetaminophen, during pregnancy are more likely to develop hyperactivity disorder and attention shortage than those whose mothers have not occurred, indicating a small study. Although it is far from Hasso, the result gives weight to the disputed idea that the pain reliever used on a large scale may affect the growth of the fetus’s brain.

Previous studies on paracetamol and nervous growth conditions provided conflicting results. For example, a 2019 study included more than 4,700 children and their mothers associated with the use of pain reliever during pregnancy with a 20 percent greater risk Of children who develop hyperactivity and attention disorder. However, last year’s publishing analysis showed nearly 2.5 million children No such a link When comparing the siblings who were either or not exposed to paracetamol before birth.

One of the issues is that most of these studies depend on the use of self -reported drugs, which are great restrictions given that people may not remember to take paracetamol during pregnancy. For example, only 7 percent of the participants in the 2019 study using paracetamol during pregnancy – is much less than 50 percent seen in other studies. “It takes a lot of people [paracetamol] Without knowing that, “he says Brennan Baker At the University of Washington, Seattle. “The active ingredient can be in some cold medications that you use, and it does not necessarily know.”

Therefore, Baker and his colleagues used a more accurate scale instead. They looked for signs of medicine in blood samples collected from 307 women, all of whom were black and lived in Tennessee, during the second third of pregnancy. None of them was taking medications for chronic conditions or had complications from pregnancy. Then the researchers continued with the participants as soon as their children were between 8 and 10 years. In the United States, About 8 percent of children Between 5 and 11 years have a disorder of hyperactivity and attention lack.

On average, children whose mothers had the signs of paracetamol in their blood were three times that they were likely to be diagnosed with hyperactivity disorder and attention shortage of children born to mothers who did not do so-even after controlling factors such as the mother’s age, pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), social and economic status and mental health conditions among their direct families. This indicates that the use of paracetamol during pregnancy may raise the risk of children from developing hyperactivity and attention disorder.

However, it is also possible to be the actual factor that raises the risk of hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit is all that prompted someone to take paracetamol in the first place, instead of the drug itself. “They were unable to calculate things like the mother’s reason to take it [paracetamol]He says, “Headache, fever, pain, or infections, which we know are dangerous factors for a negative child’s development,” he says. VikTor Ahlqvist At the Carolinska Institute in Sweden.

But Baker believes that the drug itself is responsible. A subsequent analysis of tissue samples of 174 of the placenta showed that those who use paracetamol have distinct changes in the metaphor and immunity. These changes are similar to those seen in studies that have experienced the effects of paracetamol in pregnant animals without an infection or essential health condition.

“The fact that we see immunity in animal models as well,” says Baker, says Baker. “There is a lot of previous work that shows that high immune activation during pregnancy is associated with harmful nervous development.”

However, these results are far from decisive. For one reason, the study included a small number of participants, all of whom were black and lived in the same city – which limits the generalization of the results. For another, it only measures the signs of blood from paracetamol in one moment of time. Baker says these signs are roaming for about three days, so the study may have seized more frequent users, and there may be a dose -dependent effect.

“[Paracetamol] “It is the first therapeutic option for pain and fever during pregnancy,” says Baker. “But I think agencies are like [US Food and Drug Administration] Various obstetrics and gynecology associations have to review all available research and constantly update their instructions. “

Meanwhile, people should talk to their doctors if they are not sure whether they should take paracetamol during pregnancy, says Baker.