A new study claims that taking Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Tylenol during pregnancy can increase the risk of ADHD in kids.
According to the study, taking Tylenol, or another acetaminophen drug, during pregnancy increases the risk of ADHD in children by 20% to 45%
. This sounds like a major increase, but there are some factors of the study that need to be understood.
The study, which included 7,800 women and observed their kids over seven years, doesn’t include how much of the drug the women took. Women who took the drug were also more likely to smoke and drink during pregnancy. They also were more likely to suffer from a psychiatric illness. The increase was almost completely eliminated when these factors were taken into account, reports NPR.
There have also been other similar studies that found the same as this one. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) looked at these studies last year and found that they had “potential limitations in their designs.” This kept them from making reliable solutions. At the end of the day, the FDA urged women to seek counsel from their doctors before taking acetaminophen during pregnancy.
Evie Stergiakouli, the lead researcher of the acetaminophen study, still suggests upcoming mothers use the drug during pregnancy if they need it. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, two-third of women use Tylenol and other acetaminophen brands during pregnancy.
“It’s demonstrating an association, but it’s a mild association at best,” Dr. Noel Strong, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, told CBS News. “It still appears to me to be our safest pain medication for use in pregnancy. The study won’t make me abandon that — yet.”
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