Children's Behavioral Problems Linked to Moms' Acetaminophen Intake During Pregnancy
Recent studies show pain-reliever acetaminophen use during pregnancy may be connected to kids with hyperactivity disorder
Here's a scenario: your family doctor detected that your first child has an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). You searched around, tried to look for roots of this diagnosis and checked if any of your relatives have the same condition. You eventually found out that in all of your inquiries, nothing really made sense.
New findings: Medicine linked to Child's Hyperactivity?
JAMA Pediatrics, a long-standing pediatric journal in the United States, conducted a research in Bristol, England involving 7,800 women. These women were observed for seven years.
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Scientists noted that some of them were taking a common over-the-counter medication used for pain relief called Acetaminophen throughout their pregnancy. Researchers found out that these women bore children who have behavioral problems as compared to those who never took the medication while they were expecting a child.
Huffington Post reports that researchers surveyed these women on the 18th and 32nd week of their pregnancy period. They inquired if the mothers have recently taken acetaminophen.
Together with other scientists, Genetic epidemiology professor Evie Stergiakouli account that the results "demonstrated that children exposed prenatally to acetaminophen in the second and third trimesters are at increased risk of multiple behavioral difficulties," such as hyperactivity and emotional warning signs.
This report was published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics' website.
Twenty-nine percent of those women who took acetaminophen during their 32nd week pregnancy have children with hyperactivity symptoms at the age of 7. Meanwhile, 49 percent of those who took acetaminophen at a much later part in their pregnancy were found to have children with an extensive range of behavioral and emotional problems.
Sci-Tech Today says that the findings did not automatically made them conclude of the linkage between the drug and the neuro-developmental problems faced by the children. It further allowed them to take more steps to deepen their interpretation of the results.
After doing a trial-and-error method on finding the connection between the child's behavior and the mother's association with the medicine, it was found out that the fetus' contact or exposure to acetaminophen during pregnancy is a possible factor of the child's behavior during his or her first 7 years.
Pregnant women told to go slow on Medicines
Sci-Tech Today adds that more than half of mothers and pregnant women living in Europe and United States have been taking pain-reliever acetaminophen as it has always been considered as a safe medication during pregnancy.
Because of these recent studies, expecting mothers are now being told to be more aware of their drug-intakes during pregnancy to avoid causing life-long, severe effects to their children.
