A new study has found that hyperactivity, attention problems, and other behavioral deficits in young children may be because of acetaminophen (aka, Paracetamol) use during mid-to-late pregnancy. Boys were found to be more susceptible to the adverse effects but overall the negative effects only seem to persist during the early years of the child’s life. The research has been published in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.
Paracetamol is recommended as the treatment of choice by the NHS to relieve pain during pregnancy. Because of this, it is commonly used and so researchers wanted to examine whether there were any effects of taking paracetamol in mid-pregnancy in regards to the behavior of the offspring between the ages of 6 months and 11 years. As part of the study, they gave 14,000 children memory and IQ tests up until the age of 17.
The children were all part of the Bristol’s Children of the 90s’ study. The researchers used questionnaires and school information to examine them all – with information coming from before they were even born. The researchers asked the mothers if they had taken paracetamol during months 4-7 of pregnancy – 43% of the mothers said they had taken it ‘sometimes’ or more often. After birth, the researchers examined the results of the children’s memory, IQ and pre-school development tests, temperament and behavior measures.
Upon analyzing all the data, they found a link between Paracetamol intake and hyperactivity and attention problems as well as with other difficult behaviors with young children. Curiously, the behavioral problems ceased by the time the children reached the end of primary school and boys appeared to be more susceptible than girls to the possible behavioral effects of the drug.
Professor Jean Golding OBE, leader of the study who also founded the University of Bristol’s Children of the 90s study, commented:
Our findings add to a series of results concerning evidence of the possible adverse effects of taking paracetamol during pregnancy such as issues with asthma or behavior in the offspring. It reinforces the advice that women should be cautious when taking medication during pregnancy and to seek medical advice where necessary.
It is important that our findings are tested in other studies – we were not in a position to show a causal link, rather an association between two outcomes. It would also be useful now to assess whether older children and adults are free of difficult behavioral problems if their mother had taken paracetamol.
Does this mean you shouldn’t take paracetamol? Not necessarily. Just that you should only take it if you really need to, otherwise you should try to avoid it while pregnant.
