"It was difficult to tease out, Liew says, because greater parental awareness and better diagnosis had a role in the rise in ADHD cases. "The question was, are there real increases?" says Liew, now an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Connecticut. Genetic heritability underlies many cases of ADHD, but genetics cannot explain why the number is increasing - more than 20-fold in recent decades, according to some estimates."
"That drug was N-acetyl- para-aminophenol, known as paracetamol in Europe, and as acetaminophen in the United States, Japan and many other countries. It is marketed under various brand names, including Panadol and Tylenol, and it is a component of more than 600 products for pain and fever relief. It has long been considered one of the safest drugs to take during pregnancy, avoiding the serious risks to the fetus posed by the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, and opioids."
Researchers examined a large Danish national database of mothers and children in 2011 to study brain development. ADHD and autism were the fastest-growing neurological and behavioural disorders, prompting investigation into drivers of rising rates. Greater parental awareness and improved diagnosis contributed to apparent increases, but genetic heritability cannot explain rises of more than 20-fold in recent decades. Data showed that more than half of mothers had taken paracetamol (acetaminophen) during pregnancy, often at high doses and for long durations. Paracetamol is widely marketed and long considered a safer pregnancy analgesic compared with NSAIDs and opioids. Growing evidence links prenatal paracetamol exposure to increased risks of ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
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