A number of posts discussed Trump's support for discredited notions about autism The Sept 22 White House news conference was a firehose of lies. Last month, he posted an unfounded warning about Tylenol. RFK then tiptoed away from the idea that it definitely causes autism.
Medical Xpress:Existing evidence does not clearly link paracetamol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in children, finds an in-depth evidence review published by The BMJ today, in direct response to recent announcements around the safety of using paracetamol in pregnancy.
The researchers say confidence in the findings of existing evidence reviews and studies on this topic is low to critically low, and suggest that any apparent effect seen in previous studies may be driven by shared genetic and environmental factors within families.
Regulatory bodies, clinicians, pregnant women, parents, and those affected by autism and ADHD should be informed about the poor quality of the existing reviews and women should be advised to take paracetamol when needed to treat pain and fever in pregnancy, they add.
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is the recommended treatment for pain and fever in pregnancy and is considered safe by regulatory agencies worldwide.
Existing systematic reviews on this topic vary in quality, and studies that do not adjust for important factors shared by families or parents' health and lifestyle cannot accurately estimate the effects of exposure to paracetamol before birth on neurodevelopment in babies.
To address this uncertainty, researchers carried out an umbrella review (a high-level evidence summary) of systematic reviews to assess the overall quality and validity of existing evidence and the strength of association between paracetamol use during pregnancy and the risks of autism or ADHD in offspring.
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They conclude, "The current evidence base is insufficient to definitively link in utero exposure to paracetamol with autism and ADHD in childhood. High quality studies that control for familial and unmeasured confounders can help improve evidence on the timing and duration of paracetamol exposure, and for other child neurodevelopmental outcomes."
