Hey look, it’s big pharma not properly testing stuff and lobbying politicians to sell their shit over the counter.
Monday August 25, 2025
Drug has link to autism
The world's most popular painkiller may put children at risk of ADID and autism, experts have warned.
Paracetamol is a common medication used by millions of youngsters and adults to treat mild symptoms from colds to headaches.
But new data has claimed the painkiller could be linked to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Experts at Mount Sinai and Harvard's School of Public Health conducted their research using more than 100,000 people and 46 case studies. The team reviewed which stage of pregnancy mothers took paracetamol and compared it to their subsequent medical records.
Their findings concluded expectant mothers should take the painkiller "for the shortest" period possible, and at the "lowest effective dose"
"Ultimately, the obtained scores suggest strong evidence of a likely relationship between prenatal acetaminophen use and increased risk of ADHD in children," scientists wrote in the journal Environmental Health. "This includes high-quality studies that provide very strong evidence of an association and studies that provide strong evidence of an association.
ETA: Link to journal mentioned in article: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-025-01208-0
Edit: holy cow with the downvotes. I took the picture today with my phone camera. The ones bitching about the source: it’s fcking Harvard. The ones claiming later pregnancies have higher risk clearly don’t need to provide any sources for their claims. And together with !fuck_ai@lemmy.world you can enjoy one less subscriber.
This appears to be the research paper in question: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-025-01208-0
It's a lot to wade through right now, but it does suggest that this should be investigated further.
Given the highly genetic and heriditary nature of ASD and ADHD, I really wish studies for prenatal exposure included assessments of the mother at minimum and ideally both parents. This would help clarify two important points:
Does the child in question already have the genetic potential for ASD or ADHD and if so, does the prenatal exposure to certain medication increase the likelihood of it being exhibited?
How much of the correlation between maternal use of certain medications and ASD/ADHD diagnoses is a result of the mother being neurodivergent (but potentially undiagnosed) and hence taking medication for one of the many medical conditions that are statistically more likely to be comorbid with ASD & ADHD? (See https://allbrainsbelong.org/all-the-things/ for details)
Given how genetically complex both ASD and ADHD are (and are clearly multi-factorial in nature) I would expect both of the above points to explain the majority of any apparent link.
Based on my personal experience with friends and family it seems to be more of a mixing rather than a yes/no. Children typically have a range of behaviors that come from both parents.
I agree (for similar reasons).