Hey look, it’s big pharma not properly testing stuff and lobbying politicians to sell their shit over the counter.

Monday August 25, 2025

Drug has link to autism

The world’s most popular painkiller may put children at risk of ADID and autism, experts have warned.

Paracetamol is a common medication used by millions of youngsters and adults to treat mild symptoms from colds to headaches.

But new data has claimed the painkiller could be linked to autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Experts at Mount Sinai and Harvard’s School of Public Health conducted their research using more than 100,000 people and 46 case studies. The team reviewed which stage of pregnancy mothers took paracetamol and compared it to their subsequent medical records.

Their findings concluded expectant mothers should take the painkiller “for the shortest” period possible, and at the “lowest effective dose”

“Ultimately, the obtained scores suggest strong evidence of a likely relationship between prenatal acetaminophen use and increased risk of ADHD in children,” scientists wrote in the journal Environmental Health. "This includes high-quality studies that provide very strong evidence of an association and studies that provide strong evidence of an association.

ETA: Link to journal mentioned in article: https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-025-01208-0

Edit: holy cow with the downvotes. I took the picture today with my phone camera. The ones bitching about the source: it’s fcking Harvard. The ones claiming later pregnancies have higher risk clearly don’t need to provide any sources for their claims. And together with [email protected] you can enjoy one less subscriber.

  • Arcanepotato@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
    266·
    2 days ago

    Much easier to blame drugs than look at the social structures that cause differences to become disabilities 🤷‍♀️

    • tranes@lemmy.ca
      81·
      2 days ago

      You’re aware that autism is a spectrum and at the extreme end it is absolutely a debilitating disability, right?

      • Australis13@fedia.io
        122·
        2 days ago

        It’s not a linear scale from “mild*” to “debilitating”. A spectrum just groups closely-related things (e.g. consider the visible light spectrum; red is not more of a colour than blue). The whole point of it was to highlight that autism is a complex condition that has a wide range of presentations.

        There is also a good argument that so-called “severe” autism (learning disabilities, etc.) are conditions that are simply more likely to be comorbid with autism (just like many other medical conditions) and are not an intrinsic part of autism itself.

        *mild really should just be considered high-masking and indicates that those people have learnt how to “fit in” to a neurotypical society.

      • ThePantser@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        41·
        2 days ago

        Which highlights the problem with having a spectrum that is so wide that one end is a mild inconvenience and the other is debilitating disability. It needs to be broken up into different diagnoses so the more extreme levels can come to light. Because the person who is extreme most likely won’t say it’s a superpower like the lesser cases claim.

        • Australis13@fedia.io
          5·
          2 days ago

          That is why the DSM has levels 1-3 (classified in terms of support requirements), with level 3 requiring the most support. This classification is actually used (at least here in Australia) with NDIS support.

        • tranes@lemmy.ca
          22·
          2 days ago

          I don’t disagree because it also leads to people like the op of this chain assuming that the only “real” difference between autistic and non autisitic people is a just a label.

          • Arcanepotato@crazypeople.onlineEnglish
            21·
            2 days ago

            You sure are making assumptions about where my comment comes from.

            Even the folks who need the highest level of support would benefit from society looking at addressing barriers, such as access to that support, i.e the social model of disability.

            In a society that puts a higher value on people who serve capitalism and productivity, access to support is extremely challenging. Where I live it’s almost impossible for high support needs folks to get access to help in their family home or local community unless the family can pay for private services.

            I don’t know you or your experience, but I ask you to not make assumptions about mine. I’ve been involved (as a client) of my local mental health system for more than 30 years and it’s very much influenced how I view my disability and how I and others are treated.