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Acetaminophen Anectdotes #1

Have you ever been through a pregnancy?  If so then you know from all your doctor visits that many precautions are advised in order to safeguard the health and wellness of mother and baby.  Most medications are off limits; and it is common for health care providers to tell expectant moms that it's safe to use acetaminophen for mild pain.



A Danish study that was published in JAMA Pediatrics back in April of this year sheds some new light on the safety of acetaminophen during the prenatal period. This study involved over 64,000 children and mothers during the years 1996-2002.  The information was gathered via telephone interviews during pregnancy and 6 months after birth.   Here are some of the findings:


  • More than half of all mothers studied used acetaminophen during their pregnancies.
  • Children born to mothers who took acetaminophen during the prenatal period showed higher
  • risk of developing ADHD or hyperkinetic disorder.  Increased usage of acetaminophen (used more than 1 trimester of pregnancy) led to more frequent development of these disorders in children. 
  • Results did not seem to be confounded by maternal inflammation, mother's mental health status, infection during pregnancy, or other potential confounders.
While these results are a concern in terms of public health, the authors conclude that further study is needed to know how relevant the results really are. The best advice one can glean from this study is that all medications should be avoided during this critical time if at all possible.  Acetaminophen is not really an exception to the rule..it is probably safe if taken occasionally, but should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

You can read a synopsis of the study here.

Sources: NIH,pixabay

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