Acetaminophen in Pregnancy Tied to ADHD Risk in Kids

Acetaminophen is considered the go-to pain medication during pregnancy. But a new study adds to evidence linking the drug to an increased risk of behavioral issues in kids.

Researchers in Norway found that among nearly 113,000 children, those whose mothers used acetaminophen during pregnancy were slightly more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The link was, however, confined to longer-term use – particularly a month or longer.

When moms used acetaminophen for 29 days or more during pregnancy, their kids were twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, versus women who did not use the drug. On the other hand, when expectant moms used the drug for a week or less, their kids showed a slightly decreased risk of ADHD.

Acetaminophen is best known by the brand name Tylenol, but it’s an active ingredient in many pain relievers.

The new study, led by researcher Eivind Ystrom from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, is not the first to suggest a connection between prenatal acetaminophen and ADHD.

Around half of pregnant women use acetaminophen at some point, so it’s important to understand any risks, according to Christina Chambers, co-director of the Center for Better Beginnings at the University of California, San Diego. But with a study like this, she explained, it’s difficult to know whether factors other than acetaminophen are to blame – including the underlying conditions the women had.

Acetaminophen During Pregnancy May Up Risk of ADHD in Kids

Pregnant women who take acetaminophen – best known as Tylenol – might raise the risk that their child will develop behavioral problems such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a new study suggests.

Acetaminophen is generally considered safe in pregnancy – so safe, in fact, that at least two-thirds of women turn to it while expecting, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

But when pregnant women in Britain used the pain reliever, it appeared to increase the risk of behavior problems cropping up in their children by the time they turned 7, said lead researcher Evie Stergiakouli, a lecturer in genetic epidemiology at the University of Bristol.

Still, the study couldn’t prove cause-and-effect, and Stergiakouli believes that women should still take the drug if needed.

In the study, taking acetaminophen between 18 and 32 weeks in pregnancy was associated with a 42% increased risk of behavior problems in children and a 31% increased risk of hyperactivity, the researchers found.

No similar association cropped up in mothers who used acetaminophen after delivery, nor did it occur if the father used the over-the-counter drug, the findings showed.

“Only acetaminophen used during pregnancy has the potential to cause behavioral problems in the offspring,” Stergiakouli said.

These findings jibe with two other large-scale studies that have suggested acetaminophen may have an adverse effect on a baby’s brain during pregnancy, said Dr. Andrew Adesman. He is chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Are Too Many Young Americans Getting Antipsychotics for ADHD?

A growing number of teens and young adults are being prescribed powerful antipsychotics, even though the medications aren’t approved to treat two disorders – ADHD and depression – they are commonly used for, a new study shows.

Researchers found that antipsychotic use rose among children aged 13 and older from 1.1% in 2006 to nearly 1.2% in 2010. And among young adults – people aged 19 to 24 – antipsychotic use increased from 0.69% in 2006 to 0.84% in 2010.

Of concern to some experts are the conditions for which many of these antipsychotic prescriptions are being written, namely attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression. Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves this class of drugs for psychiatric conditions such as psychosis, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or impulsive aggression tied to autism.

But the new report finds that by 2009, 52.5% of younger children (aged 1 to 6), 60% of older children (aged 7 to 12) and about 35% of teens who got an antipsychotics were diagnosed with ADHD.

“ADHD is the main diagnosis being targeted by antipsychotic treatment in children and adolescents – this is not an adequate diagnostic indication,” said Dr. Vilma Gabbay, chief of the Pediatric Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

The study was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and led by Dr. Mark Olfson, from the department of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City.

In their study, Olfson’s team tracked data on antipsychotic prescriptions from a database that includes roughly 60% of all retain pharmacies in the United States. The database includes prescription information on approximately 1.3 million children, teens, and young adults, the researchers said.

Pesticides Linked to ADHD

Researchers found an association between exposure to pyrethroid pesticides and ADHD, as well as ADHD symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsivity.

The link between the pesticides and ADHD was stronger in boys than in girls, according to the findings published online in the journal Environmental Health.

However, researchers only found an association between pesticides and ADHD. The study did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Pyrethroid pesticides – considered safer than organophosphate pesticides – are the most widely used pesticides for home and public health pest control, and their use in agriculture is increasing, according to the researchers.

“Given the growing use of pyrethroid pesticides and the perception that they may represent a safe alternative, our findings may be of considerable public health importance,” study corresponding author Dr. Tanya Froehlich, a developmental pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said in a hospital news release.

She and her colleagues analyzed data from nearly 700 children between the ages of 8 and 15. The children had taken part in the 2000-2001 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The researchers looked at levels of 3-PBA – a chemical indicator of exposure to pyrethroids – in the children’s urine.

Boys with detectable levels of 3-PBA in their urine were three times more likely to have ADHD than those without detectable 3-PBA. For every 10-fold increase in 3-PBA levels in boys, there was a 50% increased risk for hyperactivity and impulsivity – both symptoms of ADHD.

Recess: An Essential Part of the School Day

Recess is an essential part of children’s school days that can help set students up for success once they head back to the classroom, a new study suggests. Art by Clker

Yet, many schools are cutting back on recess or not offering quality recess time. This may have unintended negative consequences, the Stanford University researchers cautioned.

“Recess isn’t normally considered part of school climate, and often is shortchanged in tight fiscal times, but our research shows that [recess] can be a critical contributor to positive school climate in low-income elementary schools,” study co-author Milbrey McLaughlin, the founding director of Stanford’s John W. Gardner Center, said in a university news release.

When planned well, recess can boost attendance as well as academic performance, the research showed. It can also help kids make friends, learn how to resolve conflicts and gain a more positive outlook about learning, particularly for those in low-income schools, the study’s authors noted. High-quality recess can also curb bullying among students, according to the researchers.

Trained, full-time coaches were sent to six low income elementary schools to improve their recess programs. The coaches, teachers and principal from each school were interviewed. The researchers also conducted student focus groups and observed recess periods. They compared their findings to other schools with a variety of programs ranging from poor to very good.

The study revealed that good recess programs rely on adult supervision and guidance. Conflicts can arise when children do not agree on games and rules.

Can Video Game Play Help Young Minds Learn?

New research suggests that action video games like ‘Call of Duty’ can teach young adults new skills while also improving the way the skills are learned.

It’s not clear how the improved learning abilities may translate to life outside of the screen and joystick. There’s also no evidence that endless playing of video games is a good idea.

“Our studies are no excuse for binging on video games,” said study co-author Daphne Bavelier, a research professor with the department of brain & congnitive sciences at the University of Rochester in New York. Still, she noted, the research reveals the “beneficial effects of playing action video games on vision, attention, and now learning.”

At issue is a phenomenon known as “perceptual learning.” In particular, the small study examined the kind of perceptual learning that’s involved in detecting the subtle differences between things – “the process whereby one person might be able to taste the difference between wines because he has had perceptual practice, but to another person they taste the same,” said Felice Bedford, an associate professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Arizona who’s familiar with the study.

The study involved several different experiments with young adults, average age of 22, both skilled and unskilled, playing various video games.

In one experiment, they trained 26 players for 50 hours on the action video games ‘Call of Duty 2’ and ‘Unreal Tournament 2004’ and then compared them to players of non-action video games like ‘The Sims.’ Those who played the action games showed improvement in not just their skills but also their abilities to learn in certain areas, the test showed.

“I think they are learning how to better apply themselves to certain types of tasks,” said Aaron Seitz, a psychology professor at the University of California, Riverside. The brain, he said may be adjusting to using certain skills.

This kind of learning is important in real life, he added. “Many tasks that we do involve understanding what to look for. This ranges from finding the cereal that we are looking for at the grocery store to the skills of radiologists and even athletes,” Seitz said.