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<\/a><\/p>\n Facebook<\/p>\n Tweet<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n An upcoming report from the US Department of Health and Human services is likely to link the development of autism in children to a common over-the-counter pain reliever, and it will reference a form of the vitamin folic acid as a way to reduce symptoms of autism in some people, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.\n <\/p>\n \n The report is said to highlight the pain reliever Tylenol, when taken during pregnancy, along with low levels of folate, a vitamin that is important for proper development of a baby\u2019s brain and spine, as potential causes of autism, according to the Wall Street Journal. It will also name folinic acid, a form of folate also known as leucovorin, as a way to decrease symptoms of autism.\n <\/p>\n \n Folate supplements are already recommended<\/a> for women during pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, in infants.\n <\/p>\n \n Tylenol, which is the brand name of the generic pain reliever acetaminophen, is widely used in the US, including during pregnancy. Drugmaker Kenvue said in a statement Friday, \u201cNothing is more important to us than the health and safety of the people who use our products. We have continuously evaluated the science and continue to believe there is no causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Experts generally agree.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere is no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and fetal developmental issues,\u201d Dr. Christopher Zahn, chief of clinical practice for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement Friday. \u201cNeurodevelopmental disorders, in particular, are multifactorial and very difficult to associate with a singular cause. Pregnant patients should not be frightened away from the many benefits of acetaminophen, which is safe and one of the few options pregnant people have for pain relief.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The incidence<\/a> of autism in the US is on the rise. About 1 in every 31 children was diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2022, up from 1 in 36 in 2020, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published in April.\n <\/p>\n \n There are two primary reasons for the increase, according to Dr. Christine Ladd-Acosta, vice director of the Wendy Klagg Center for Autism at John Hopkins.\n <\/p>\n \n The first is that the definition of autism was broadened by the psychiatric community in 2013, so more people now qualify for an autism diagnosis.\n <\/p>\n \n Secondly, there has been a push for better screening of children, especially babies, for signs of autism. That push for increased awareness of the symptoms has been accompanied by a greater acceptance of the disorder, so people are not as afraid to seek help or to be identified as having autism, Ladd-Acosta said on the Johns Hopkins podcast \u201cPublic Health on Call.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n An HHS spokesperson said Friday that the agency is \u201cusing gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America\u2019s unprecedented rise in autism rates. Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Several studies have looked at the association between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and the development of autism in children, but experts say the science behind this theory is not settled.\n <\/p>\n \n A 2024 study published in JAMA<\/a> looked at more than 2 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019, about 185,000 of the whom were born to mothers who used acetaminophen during pregnancy. The study compared autism rates between these children with their siblings and with children who were not exposed, and it found that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or other neurodevelopmental disorders.\n <\/p>\n \n A meta-analysis published in August<\/a> in the journal BMC Environmental Health looked at 46 studies on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Six of the studies looked specifically at acetaminophen and autism. Overall, the analysis concluded that there was \u201cstrong evidence of an association\u201d between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and the development of autism in children, but the authors caution that their paper can show only associations, not that acetaminophen causes autism.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe recommend judicious acetaminophen use \u2014 lowest effective dose, shortest duration \u2014 under medical guidance, tailored to individual risk\u2013benefit assessments, rather than a broad limitation,\u201d the researchers wrote.\n <\/p>\n \n The US Food and Drug Administration reviewed<\/a> the risks of certain types of pain relievers during pregnancy in 2015 and said that all the studies it reviewed had methodological flaws. As a result, the agency said it would not change its recommendations for pain medications during pregnancy at that time.\n <\/p>\n \n The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine also reviewed the issue in 2017. It concluded<\/a> that \u201cthe weight of evidence is inconclusive regarding a possible causal relationship between acetaminophen use and neurobehavioral disorders in the offspring.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The Autism Science Foundation said in a statement Friday that \u201cAny association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting, and inconsistent science and is premature given the current science. \u2026 The Autism Science Foundation strongly supports research into autism\u2019s causes. More research needs to be done before alarming families or suggesting steps that may not actually reduce risk.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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