Usually, women who are going to become moms carefully monitor their diet and try to avoid medications as much as possible. Nevertheless, some situations may force taking medications during pregnancy. And since paracetamol is one of the most popular painkillers, it is also prescribed to expectant mothers, which, according to research, entails some changes in children.
In Western Europe and America, the most popular medicines, which are also available on the shelves of a regular supermarket, mainly consist of paracetamol with the addition of additional active ingredients. A woman, being pregnant, can take such a medicine, not knowing that she can harm her future child.
Recent studies by scientists from the University of Bristol have shown that paracetamol has a negative effect on the cognitive development of children and provokes the occurrence of childhood asthma. While the children were undergoing tests, their mothers filled out a form with questions, one of which was about taking paracetamol during pregnancy in the period from 18 to 32 weeks. Almost half of the participants answered that they took paracetamol either daily or every other day.
Speaking about the effect of paracetamol on the cognitive development of a child, it mostly concerns the development of attention deficit disorder. The peak of its manifestation is 3 years, and at the end of primary school, all symptoms practically disappear. Scientists have noticed that boys are more susceptible to such changes than girls.
The results of scientists also indicate other consequences of taking paracetamol during pregnancy. In particular, there is a clear relationship between the taking of pain medication by the mother and the appearance of childhood asthma or infertility in the child due to a decrease in testosterone levels. The same fact was confirmed as a result of experiments on mice.
All these symptoms are noticed when the fetus interacts with taking paracetamol. But the very reason for taking this medicine by the mother, for example, inflammation, can also negatively affect the child. At the moment, there is no data on such studies, as this requires additional, more narrowly focused study. Therefore, the recommendation from researchers and doctors is to limit the intake of paracetamol and resort to it only in extreme cases, and if possible, completely exclude its use during pregnancy. Thus, the probability of harming your child will be much lower or eliminated altogether.