Findings of a new study suggest that pregnant women who take the common painkiller acetaminophen, or paracetamol, are more likely to have children with behavioral issues such as hyperactivity and conduct problems.
Acetaminophen, which is sold under the brand name Tylenol, is considered as a safe painkiller and is often the drug prescribed for women suffering from pain and fever during pregnancy.
Earlier studies, however, have suggested that taking the drug may have effects on the developing brain of the unborn child. The result of a 2013 study, for instance, found that pregnant women who took the medicine increased the risk of behavior problems in their children by up to 70 percent.
A new study, which was published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, provided another evidence of the potential dangers of taking the pain-relieving medicine during pregnancy.
Study researcher Evie Stergiakouli, from the University of Bristol, and colleagues found that taking the drug between the 18th and 32nd week of pregnancy was linked to increased chances that when the resulting child turns 7 years old, his or her parents would report problematic behaviors.
The researchers found that the women who used acetaminophen at 18 weeks of pregnancy were found to have 42 percent increased odds of reporting hyperactivity and 31 percent increased likelihood of reporting conduct problems in the resulting child compared with their counterparts who did not use the drug during the same period of gestation.
The researchers likewise found that the women who took the drug at 32 weeks of pregnancy have 29 percent increased likelihood to report emotional difficulties in the resulting child at age 7 compared with the women who did not take acetaminophen.
The resulting children of the women who took the medicine late in pregnancy were also found to have 46 percent increased likelihood to experience a range of behavioral difficulties compared with children born to a mother who did not take acetaminophen during that stage of pregnancy.
"We have demonstrated that children exposed prenatally to acetaminophen in the second and third trimesters are at increased risk of multiple behavioral difficulties, including hyperactivity and conduct problems," the researchers wrote in their study. "Prenatal acetaminophen exposure at 32 weeks' gestation was also associated with emotional problems."
Researchers, however, said that further studies are still needed to understand the mechanism behind this link and to confirm the findings. OB-GYNs have also long considered acetaminophen as the only safe pain reliever for pregnant women.
