"The claim was swiftly discredited by several researchers, who pointed out that the most robust and largest studies testing the possible impact of pregnant women taking the drug find no evidence of any connection to autism in children. Outside the United States, paracetamol is still recommended as a first-line treatment for pain and fever in pregnancy, and scientists say there have been no causal associations between the drug and neurodevelopmental disorders."
"Paracetamol is one of the safest medicines available, with very few possible complications "as long as you stick to the [recommended] doses", says Tony Dickenson, a neuroscientist at University College London. The drug is far more lethal in animals with different liver enzymes - such as snakes. That's why in 2013 the US airdropped thousands of paracetamol-laden dead mice to control invasive populations of brown tree snakes on the Pacific Island of Guam."
"Despite decades of clinical use, and the proposal of several molecular mechanisms, researchers still don't fully know how paracetamol dulls pain. Most research on paracetamol has been directed to what happens inside the brain, says Dickenson. "Paracetamol, apart from being an analgesic, is pretty good at reducing fevers," he says. "So, the drug is clearly getting into the brain.""
Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is recommended as a first-line treatment for pain and fever in pregnancy outside the United States and large studies find no evidence of a causal link to autism. The drug reduces fever through action on the hypothalamus and crosses the blood-brain barrier, so most research focuses on central nervous system effects. The precise molecular mechanism for analgesia remains unclear. Paracetamol is safe when taken at recommended doses, while untreated pain and fever can harm mothers and fetuses. The drug can be lethal in species with different liver enzymes, exemplified by paracetamol-laden mice used against invasive snakes on Guam.
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