Using acetaminophen during pregnancy may increase childrens autism and ADHD risk
hsph.harvard.eduIbuprofen is the big "no no" for pregnant women past first trimester.
Meanwhile, this is like a 'press release centipede' of AI summary links.
Where I live, tylenol is generally seen as less effective and less risky than aspirin or advil. I wonder how many pregnant mothers have taken it in a misguided attempt to reduce the risk of side effects.
Acetaminophen is often recommended for pregnant women because NSAIDs carry risks in pregnancy that have been known for far longer. Indeed, the researchers here indicate that they recommend judicious use, not "broad limitation" because failing to manage fevers during pregnancy also carries risk. So there is no good option, only an understanding that all the options carry drawbacks and that we should go into maternal healthcare with our eyes open.
Overly decreasing inflammation in fetal brains causes over connection of neurons and leads to autism / adhd / schizophrenia?
Acetaminophen is not an anti-inflammatory.
Oh good, we haven’t been taking that by the kilo since 1955.
I always wondered if in the US people take pills by the handful as they are commonly portrayed in movies and TV. I am pretty sure I have seen represented a person with an heachache fill their palm with 10 pills of clearly marked Tylenol bottles, and somehow always gulp them down with no water.
To this day I wonder if it’s artistic choice or that’s how people take pills over there. Would explain a few things.
I can only speak for myself and those I've observed, but I've never seen anyone outside movies do that. It's always one or two pills depending on recommended dose, with water to slide it down.
Being from the US, I don’t think the average person _does_ that (even with OTC meds).
But people in the middle of a health / mental health crisis aren’t thinking straight and may rush to try and relieve an issue with their body ASAP. Famous American celebrities have done this (Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Prince, Tom Petty, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Anna Nicole Smith, etc) so it happens, but I’m not sure it’s a thing people do when they aren’t in crisis.
I barely remember this trivia (a bit from Tom Scott podcast?) but the reason you don't see pills sold by the bottle in Europe is that pharmacy are required by law to sell them under blister. The reason is that this little it of friction apparently significantly reduce the suicide rate. And thus for me euro eyes having someone taking pills by the handful seems very wrong.
I have had to tell several people I know they can't just take whatever OTC meds they want whenever they want with no side effects and it is always important to read the bottle's instructions/warnings.
Unlike most people I know, I am able to swallow a pill without water.
Like everyone I know, I just take one or two pills at a time when I have a headache or whatever according to package directions.
Earlier post from today of a different study about the effects of paracetamol/acetaminophen on foetal development:
Paracetamol disrupts early embryogenesis by cell cycle inhibition - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45006296 - Aug 2025 (167 comments)
I don't think this is a dupe of the linked post? This is a meta-analysis of several studies, while that other link goes to a specific study that happened to release a few days later.
Yes, I recognized that after I posted the comment, then took the [dupe] tag off this one.
We still can't have this on the front page whilst (or soon after) the earlier one is active; this is what we call a "quasi-dupe". It's a different story/study but about the same underlying topic, so it's not really able to sustain a substantially new/different discussion.
The right thing to do is for someone to post a link to this study in the other thread, which has already been done: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45007686.