- Acetaminophen use in the second and third trimester of pregnancy can lead to language delays among children, according to a new study.
- Some previous studies have also linked the use of acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, to language delays and behavioral difficulties.
- Experts say, however, that more research is needed to establish a cause-and-effect link between the drug’s uses and any adverse developmental outcomes.
It’s estimated that up to
The drug is generally thought of as the safest painkiller for those who are expecting a child.
However, a new
Researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked at a cohort of 532 newborns. They collected language data at 2 years of age for 298 of them and 3 years of age for 254 of them.
During pregnancy, mothers were quizzed every 4 to 6 weeks about their acetaminophen use and again 24 hours after giving birth.
Based on these evaluations, the researchers reported that acetaminophen in the second and third trimesters was linked to meaningful delays in early language development according to a university press release. Furthermore, each additional use of acetaminophen in the third trimester appeared to correlate with two fewer words in a 2-year-old’s vocabulary.
“This suggests that if a pregnant person took acetaminophen 13 times – or once per week – during the third trimester of that pregnancy, their child might express 26 fewer words at age 2 than other children that age,” Megan Woodbury, PhD, a graduate research assistant at the university and a lead study author, said in the press…
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