While a few doses of acetaminophen (brand name Tylenol) during pregnancy is not the only risk factor playing a role in ADHD’s rising incidence, knowing about the risk might change your mind on what you take for that next headache. All of us are searching for answers to the epidemic of ADHD and Autism in our country, wondering why so many children are developing these life changing conditions. One of the greater challenges lies in the fact that there are clearly more than one cause for each of these conditions. In this study, researchers found one potential contributor to developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD.
In the study, researchers looked at 307 pregnant moms who agreed to share blood samples during pregnancies from 2006 to 2011 in Memphis, Tennessee. The babies who were born to these moms were then followed for 8 to 10 years to see whether they developed ADHD.
In the children not exposed to acetaminophen, they found a 9% rate of ADHD, but in the children whose moms had used acetaminophen, they found an 18% rate. Besides this overall disparity, female children had an even larger difference than males.
While the study only included African American moms by chance (not designed that way intentionally), the stark difference obviously raises concerns for all moms. Other studies suggest that 40% to 70% of moms take acetaminophen during pregnancy. If this common medicine is not as safe as it is believed to be, then the numbers of children suffering from ADHD due to this medication could be scary high.
Another challenge comes from the fact that pregnant moms don’t have much else to choose from if they have a headache or other pain. Ibuprofen is not considered safe in pregnancy- thus acetaminophen’s common use. The question of which therapy should replace acetaminophen remains unanswered in conventional medicine, but in natural medicine, we often use ginger as an option for both nausea and headaches during pregnancy, as it is known to be safe and effective.
Still, we can’t blame all ADHD on this over the counter pain med since 9% of children still developed ADHD without an exposure. There are clearly multiple mechanisms triggering a likely smaller number of actual metabolic pathways. In our experience, they usually fall into 1 of three fixable categories: toxins, infections, and deficiencies. The other category is always an element of genetics, but we can’t change genetics, although sometimes we do find ways to “work around” someone’s neurotransmitter genetics.
Helping our patients and our audience live healthier, more abundant lives means sharing insights like these with our audience. We are always glad to help parents care for their children with ADHD, but whenever we can prevent a condition before it disrupts families’ lives, we can turn our attention to caring for the multitudes of others with chronic illnesses left unexplained by conventional medicine.
Original Article:
Brennan H. Baker, Theo K. Bammler, Emily S. Barrett, Nicole R. Bush, Brent R. Collett, Karen J. Derefinko, Daniel A. Enquobahrie, Catherine J. Karr, Kaja Z. LeWinn, Jiawang Liu, Christine T. Loftus, James W. MacDonald, Shanna H. Swan, Qi Zhao, Alison G. Paquette, Sheela Sathyanarayana. Associations of maternal blood biomarkers of prenatal APAP exposure with placental gene expression and child attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Nature Mental Health, 2025; DOI: 10.1038/s44220-025-00387-6
Thanks to Science Daily:
University of Washington School of Medicine/UW Medicine. “Child ADHD risk linked to mother’s use of acetaminophen.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 February 2025. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/02/250220164229.htm>.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
