A Spanish-based study involving over 70,000 children as part of six cohorts uncovered a link between prenatal exposure to paracetamol and the development of ADHD and autism symptoms among children.
As part of an analysis of data from 73,881 children, researchers with the Barcelona Institute for Global Health studied prenatal and postnatal exposure to paracetamol. Their study was released in the European Journal of Epidemiology.
“Considering all the evidence on the use of paracetamol and neurological development, we agree with previous recommendations indicating that while paracetamol should not be suppressed in pregnant women or children, it should be used only when necessary,” the study’s authors stated in a news release.
“Our results address some of the weaknesses of previous meta-analyses.”
“We also found that prenatal exposure to paracetamol affects boys and girls in a similar way, as we observed practically no differences,” the study’s authors also determined.
Based on the findings children prenatally exposed to the analgesic were 19 percent more likely to develop symptoms of autism and 21 percent more likely to develop ADHD symptoms.
“Our findings are consistent with previous research,” the authors determined.
