Pregnant women tend to pop a lot of paracetamol (acetaminophen) tablets. But experts now caution that it has some link with autism spectrum symptoms in male babies, as well as hyperactivity and attention-related indicators for both male and female babies.
Hence, paracetamol poppers tend to expose their babies to 30 percent risk of several attention functions, as well as "development of autism spectrum symptoms' two clinical signs among young boys."
"Although we measured symptoms and not diagnoses, an increase in the number of symptoms that a child has, can affect him or her, even if they are not severe enough to warrant a clinical diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental disorder," said lead author and CREAL researcher Claudia Avella-Garcia.
Spanish researchers analyzed 2,644 pairs of mothers and children. They found that about 88 percent of the children took assessments when they neared one year, while 79.9 got evaluated at the age of five.
The pregnant mothers were found to have never used paracetamol, consumed them intermittently, or taken them regularly.
Children aged 1 (43 percent) and 5 (41 percent) got exposed to the drug within 32 weeks of pregnancy. They later showed higher risks of exhibiting "impulsivity or hyperactivity symptoms."
Those children who were regularly exposed to the drugs exhibited worse performance on computer-based tests measuring "visual speed processing, impulsivity and inattention." Boys indicated greater signs of autism spectrum.
Study co-author Dr. Jordi Julvez, said that the drug harms neurodevelopment for a number of reasons, one of them being that it relieves pain by influencing the brains' cannabinoid receptors.
Such receptors determine how neurons develop and connect. They also affect the growth of the immune system or become toxic to foetuses that cannot metabolize the drugs like adults.
The study was published in the International Journal of Epidemiology journal on July 1.
