Paracetamol is one of the medications allowed during pregnancy. It is the drug that is usually prescribed as an analgesic to pregnant women because it is considered safe. Despite this, it does not seem to be so harmless. There are several studies that link it with harmful effects on the baby, such as increased risk of asthma in childhood, even with lung disorders and some with affecting the baby's neuronal development.
One of the latest studies on the subject, recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, relates for the first time taking paracetamol in pregnancy with a higher risk of ADHD in children.
It has been carried out by scientists from the universities of California and Aarhus (Denmark) based on data from more than 64,000 Danish women between 1996 and 2002.
More than half of the pregnant women said they had taken acetaminophen (or paracetamol) at least once during pregnancy. The ones they had taken had a 37% higher risk of giving birth to children who would later be diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorder, one of the most severe forms of ADHD.
When compared with mothers who had not taken paracetamol in pregnancy, they also found a 29% more likely to have children who were then prescribed medications for ADHD, and a 13% more chance of having children with behaviors similar to those of THDA at age seven.
Scientists believe that acetaminophen could interfere with the normal functioning of hormones and this could affect the brain's development of the fetus.
The results do not mean that paracetamol in pregnancy is the cause of ADHD in children. It is a first investigation on the subject that establishes a preliminary relationship between the two, which is not enough to advise against the use of paracetamol in pregnant women. More studies would be needed for this. But it is important to keep in mind that it may not be so harmless and avoid, as far as possible, the use of paracetamol or any other medication in pregnancy.
