Evidence indicates link between Acetaminophen and Autism

[Larkspur]

I think it's good to be aware of dosages, and to limit use as much as possible, but as far as I can tell from all those links, the only theory with credible evidence is that ADHD may be linked to heavy acetaminophen use in pregnancy.

Any connection with autism is purely speculative. To suggest, as the title does, that it's "closely linked with autism" is wildly inaccurate.

 

[MrsPear]

I was taking a drug called agomelatine when I found out I was pregnant and at the time it was quite new and had basically no research into pregnancy effects. I was terrified. In theory, its effect on Joni could still be unknown, who can say.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I am sure autism happens in the womb. Not after.

 

[AP]

I am sure autism happens in the womb. Not after.

Alex's autism is more likely linked to her prematurity and brain bleed, (her brain had to "rewire") which happened outside the womb. I guess she could be an exception. Who knows though.

Aside from that I agree most cases probably are, Midnight Fairy. I don't buy this "link" however. I'm more of the thought that autism is just as normal as "neurotypical" and society deems it as being something unusual, but its always been around. Autism cases have "grown" simpily down to understanding and awareness that we didnt have before in my opinion.

 

[jd83]

I am sure autism happens in the womb. Not after.

Alex's autism is more likely linked to her prematurity and brain bleed, (her brain had to "rewire") which happened outside the womb. I guess she could be an exception. Who knows though.

Aside from that I agree most cases probably are, Midnight Fairy. I don't buy this "link" however. I'm more of the thought that autism is just as normal as "neurotypical" and society deems it as being something unusual, but its always been around. Autism cases have "grown" simpily down to understanding and awareness that we didnt have before in my opinion.

I absolutely agree. I don't think its that there are more cases now than ever before, due to vaccines, medicines, or what have you. I truly think its down to better diagnosis available today than ever before, better understanding of autism, and better awareness overall than ever before. The numbers being diagnosed are of course going to be higher now than ever before given those factors. I think in the past, it was a lot of misdiagnosis in incorrect categories, like ADHD, etc, that may have been partially correct but not as correct as needed to fully help and understand what the child was going through.

 

[AP]

I absolutely agree. I don't think its that there are more cases now than ever before, due to vaccines, medicines, or what have you. I truly think its down to better diagnosis available today than ever before, better understanding of autism, and better awareness overall than ever before. The numbers being diagnosed are of course going to be higher now than ever before given those factors.

Exactly. We have a bit of a blame culture when it comes to autism. Its crushing for parents who have children diagnosed, every month we hear something else and parents get sucked into it, blame themselves. Everyone's constantly looking for a reason. What if there isnt even one, that its just purely another part of nature we didnt know about until now.

 

[RachA]

I absolutely agree. I don't think its that there are more cases now than ever before, due to vaccines, medicines, or what have you. I truly think its down to better diagnosis available today than ever before, better understanding of autism, and better awareness overall than ever before. The numbers being diagnosed are of course going to be higher now than ever before given those factors.

Exactly. We have a bit of a blame culture when it comes to autism. Its crushing for parents who have children diagnosed, every month we hear something else and parents get sucked into it, blame themselves. Everyone's constantly looking for a reason. What if there isnt even one, that its just purely another part of nature we didnt know about until now.

I agree with this too. We are much more aware of behaviour in children and what we can do to help them. Years ago the child would of been deemed 'mental' and shipped away to a hospital without trying to help them.

 

[SarahBear]

I think it's good to be aware of dosages, and to limit use as much as possible, but as far as I can tell from all those links, the only theory with credible evidence is that ADHD may be linked to heavy acetaminophen use in pregnancy.

Any connection with autism is purely speculative. To suggest, as the title does, that it's "closely linked with autism" is wildly inaccurate.

Good point. Should have worded it better.

 

[SarahBear]

Can't say I agree with the idea that it's just a matter of awareness. I won't go into that though. I need to do some lesson plans!

 

[justmeinlove]

Can we get admin to change the title?

 

[jd83]

Can't say I agree with the idea that it's just a matter of awareness. I won't go into that though. I need to do some lesson plans!

No, I don't think that either. I think its a number of factors available today, and that's one of them.

 

[bananaz]

Correlation ≠ Causation

Just off the top of my head I can think of quite a few potential confounds for this data. I'd want to see some animal studies done before freaking out about it.

 

[Larkspur]

Can we get admin to change the title?

Yes, perhaps the new title should be "No Evidence Suggests Acetaminophen Use Linked To Autism."

 

[SarahBear]

Can we get admin to change the title?

I already changed it. If you still don't like it, I don't mind changing it again. I think it's accurate now. I could also say "Evidence shows correlation between...." rather than "link" if that bothers people. It really doesn't matter to me. I'm not going to change it tons of times though.

 

[kerrie24]

Most kids at some point have been given calpol,so if half of these children turn out to have autism then they can hardly say its linked,the same results could probably be tallied up with how many wore disposable nappies,drank hipp organic milk or used a latex soother.all the children I know have had calpol and I dont know any autistic children.They can find a link in anything if they look hard enough.

 

[justmeinlove]

Honestly, looking at those studies I really think that the most the title could say is 'some studies investigate hypothesis of link between...'

 

[Sarahkka]

Acetominophen is overdue for a recommended dosage overhaul, I think. Or at least, a serious public education campaign. It has crazy high rates of accidental overdose and severe liver damage.
As for the autism link suggestions - I'm not convinced. I think I agree with atomic pink on that one.

 

[minties]

Perhaps the link is the other way around? Maybe autistic kids react to pain differently, so their parents are more likely to give pain relief? Who knows.

With the amount that gets handed out on this forum then most of the kids on here must be autistic.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I dont think my son ever had calpol till he was bout 2, and I had seen signs of autism from about 14mths x

 

[Tiff]

I am sure autism happens in the womb. Not after.

Alex's autism is more likely linked to her prematurity and brain bleed, (her brain had to "rewire") which happened outside the womb. I guess she could be an exception. Who knows though.

Aside from that I agree most cases probably are, Midnight Fairy. I don't buy this "link" however. I'm more of the thought that autism is just as normal as "neurotypical" and society deems it as being something unusual, but its always been around. Autism cases have "grown" simpily down to understanding and awareness that we didnt have before in my opinion.

THIS!

Granted, Claire wasn't pre-mature. However I don't believe outside influences "caused" her Autism. Not vaccines, not tylenol. They've done MRI's to show the difference between an Autism brain and a NT brain, they're literally "wired" differently. I suppose its plausible that some people could be at greater risk to have their brains rewire but that's pretty rare for the average kiddo who is born without complications.

I wholly agree with the idea that there's "more" Autism cases being recorded because we're able to better diagnose it now. A friend went to Uni for working with kids on the spectrum and they were shown videos of mental institutions back in the 50s. Over half were showing the signs of classic autism, but at the time they didn't know what it was and they just deemed them insane.