Acetaminophen Taken during Pregnancy Increases Risk of ADHD among children

Children born to women who regularly take acetaminophen or paracetamol during pregnancy are at an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), reports a study.

Acetaminophen is the most common drug taken during pregnancy and prior studies have always considered it safe but experts at the University of California found evidence linking it to ADHD in childhood. Hormones play a vital role in fetal development and the experts hypothesized acetaminophen to be a hormone disrupter that alters fetal brain. They used data of 64,322 participants including mothers and children from the Danish National Birth Cohort study conducted between 1996 and 2002.

Nearly, 56 percent of the pregnant mothers were exposed to the drug leading to a 37 percent increased risk of hyperkinetic disorder (HKD)-a severe form of ADHD for their children.

The findings also suggest that almost 13 percent are likely to develop ADHD disorder by age seven and 29 percent will be recommended to use ADHD medications compared to those without the exposure.

Dr. Jorn Olsen, study author and professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said, "It's still a modest increase. For the women that are taking these drugs there are no special reasons for concern....for women who are pregnant and who have not taken these drugs, I think that the take-home message would be a lot of the use of these particular drugs during pregnancy is not really necessary," reports Reuters.

 People with ADHD have difficulty in paying attention, controlling impulsive acts and behavior. According to the 2011 estimates by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 11 percent of  children aged between 4 and 17 were diagnosed with ADHD. There is no single test to diagnose and treat ADHD, which is usually accompanied by problems like depression, anxiety, and learning disabilities. The researchers believe that genetic factors and early environmental exposure to drugs and toxins can cause neurological dysfunction during childhood that ultimately results in ADHD.

The research is published in JAMA pediatrics.

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