A recent international study has warned about the potential link between the use of paracetamol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy and the risk of neurodegenerative disorders in infants, according to indianexpress.
This result is raising many concerns in the medical community about the safety of the drug, which is considered popular and low-risk.
According to a report published on bioMed Central, scientists from Y Icahn School in Mount Sinai (USA) and many other units have analyzed data from 46 studies on more than 100,000 participants in many countries.
The results show that higher-quality studies tend to confirm a clear link between exposure to paracetamol during pregnancy and the risk of autism (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young children.
As a widely used drug, even a small increase in risk can have a significant impact on public health, says Associate Professor Didier Prada, co-author of the study.
Researchers also point to a number of biological mechanisms that can explain this relationship. paracetamol has the ability to penetrate the placental barrier, thereby causing oxidative stress, hormonal disorders and changes in expressed expression, meaning the way the gene is expressed can affect the development of the fetal brain.
Currently, the rate of children with autism and ADHD is on the rise globally, so these research results are particularly important for public health policies, clinical guidelines and patient education.
However, the research team emphasized that the results did not mean that paracetamol directly caused neurodevelopmental disorders. Instead, the current evidence reinforces concerns about the safety of medication use during pregnancy.
Experts recommend that pregnant women should be cautious, only taking paracetamol when necessary and under the supervision of a doctor, and calling on the scientific community to continue to conduct larger-scale research to confirm these findings.
