Railroad
Routinely Derailed
From Fox News (Read more) at: Acetaminophen use during pregnancy tied to ADHD, behavioral problems in children | Fox News
Children born to women who used the painkiller acetaminophen during pregnancy may have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research.
In a new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, researchers analyzed data collected from 64,322 mothers and children enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996 to 2002. At each trimester of pregnancy, mothers were asked if they had used any acetaminophen in the past three months.
“We [were] worried that the [acetaminophen] was influencing the brain during fetal development time,” study author Dr. Beate Ritz, professor and chair of the epidemiology department at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles told FoxNews.com.
Researchers later surveyed the same group of women when their children were 7 years old, asking questions about their children’s behavioral patterns of pro- and anti-social behavior. Researchers also looked at rates of prescriptions of Ritalin, a medication commonly used to treat ADHD, among the children studied.
Overall, maternal use of acetaminophen was associated with a 20 percent to almost two-fold increased risk of behavioral problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and hyperkinetic disorders (HKD) among children at age 7. The strongest effect was seen in women who took the painkillers during all three trimesters, though women who reported use for a minimum of one week still had an increased risk. More frequent use was tied to a higher risk of a hospital diagnosis of HKD or ADHD-like behaviors among children.
Children born to women who used the painkiller acetaminophen during pregnancy may have an increased risk of developing behavioral problems like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to new research.
In a new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, researchers analyzed data collected from 64,322 mothers and children enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996 to 2002. At each trimester of pregnancy, mothers were asked if they had used any acetaminophen in the past three months.
“We [were] worried that the [acetaminophen] was influencing the brain during fetal development time,” study author Dr. Beate Ritz, professor and chair of the epidemiology department at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles told FoxNews.com.
Researchers later surveyed the same group of women when their children were 7 years old, asking questions about their children’s behavioral patterns of pro- and anti-social behavior. Researchers also looked at rates of prescriptions of Ritalin, a medication commonly used to treat ADHD, among the children studied.
Overall, maternal use of acetaminophen was associated with a 20 percent to almost two-fold increased risk of behavioral problems, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and hyperkinetic disorders (HKD) among children at age 7. The strongest effect was seen in women who took the painkillers during all three trimesters, though women who reported use for a minimum of one week still had an increased risk. More frequent use was tied to a higher risk of a hospital diagnosis of HKD or ADHD-like behaviors among children.
