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.

Prenatal Acetaminophen Use Tied to Higher Asthma Risk in Kids

Pregnant women who take the pain killer acetaminophen – best known under the bran name Tylenol – may be more likely to have a child with asthma, new research suggests.

However, the study authors and a U.S. expert agreed that the effect seen in the study doesn’t yet warrant any change in guidelines regarding pain relief during pregnancy.

In the study, Norwegian researchers tracked data from a large database – the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study.

The investigators focused on conditions during pregnancy for which some expectant mothers took acetaminophen, and compared that data against rates of asthma among 114,500 children as they reached the ages of 3 and 7.

Overall, 5.7% of the children were diagnosed with asthma by age 3, while 5.1% had developed the condition by the age of, according to the team led by Maria Magnus, of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo.

Her group found a consistent link between asthma among the 3-year-olds and exposure to acetaminophen before they were born. This link was strongest among children whose mother used the drug for more than one health complaint, the study authors said.

Study Casts Doubt on Acetaminophen for Low Back Pain, Arthritis

Acetaminophen – best know as Tylenol in the United States – does not appear to help ease lower back pain and offers little relief for the most common form of arthritis, according to a new report.

The review of data from 13 studies could challenge existing recommendations on pain relief, experts say.

“These results support the reconsideration of recommendations to use [acetaminophen] for patients’ with these conditions," concluded a team led by Gustavo Machado of The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney in Australia.

The researchers analyzed 10 studies that examined the use of acetaminophen to treat osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, and three studies that assessed the use of the painkiller for lower back pain.

Osteoarthritis – the most common form of arthritis – and back pain are among the leading causes of disability worldwide, the researchers said. Current clinical guidelines recommend acetaminophen as the first-line drug treatment for both conditions.

However, doubts about the effectiveness of the drug in treating the conditions, and concerns about the safety of the recommended full dose (up to 4,000 milligrams a day), have made those guidelines controversial, Machado’s team said.
Looking at the pooled data, the investigators found that for people with lower back pain, acetaminophen was ineffective in either reducing patient disability or enhancing quality of life.

Tylenol ‘does not ease low-back pain’

Low back pain is the main cause of disability worldwide and acetaminophen (brand name Tylenol) is currently the first port of call in terms of reducing pain and speeding recovery.

However, a large randomized trial published in The Lancer investigates the efficacy of acetaminophen for acute low back pain and finds it performs no better than a placebo.

The researchers, led by Dr. Christopher Williams from the George Institute for Global Health at the University of Sydney, Australia, say their findings bring into question the “universal endorsement” of acetaminophen as the main painkiller for low back pain.

After conducting a systematic review of previous studies assessing the effectiveness of acetaminophen for low back pain, the team found no evidence to support its use. “All seven of the included trials had substantial methodological flaws, and only one trial included more than 25 participants per group,” they write. Additionally, they say no trial has compared acetaminophen with a placebo or compared dosing.

Their study randomly assigned 1,652 participants, of an average age of 45 years, with low back pain to receive regular doses of acetaminophen (3,990 mg per day) for up to 4 weeks; a second group was given acetaminophen as needed, and the third group a placebo. Results showed that between the treatment groups, there were no differences in the number of days to recovery; the median time to recovery was 17 days for the regular dose group, 17 days for the as needed group and 16 days for the placebo group.