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possible cause of autism?

Iain

I read with interest a new article on the connection with some painkillers used by pregnant women and having neurodiverse children:

https://www.technologynetworks.com/genomics/news/prenatal-painkiller-use-associated-with-autism-adhd-in-children-403513

The study links prenatal paracetamol (or Tylenol for US readers) use to increased autism and ADHD risk.

It does emphasise that this is a very early stage connection and may only be contributory so it is wise not to jump to conclusions.

The actual study is here for those of you with an analytical interest:
https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-025-01208-0

The methodology seems sound and it is designed for peer review which would indicate it is a solid piece of research.

An interesting thought experiment arising from this could be:

If you knew taking this painkiller could increase the risk of your child being neurodiverse, would you still take it (assuming no other health risks were present to mother or child)?

Parents

  • I'm always a bit sceptical of these things and would need to see a lot more research/evidence before I even entertained the idea of taking this as any kind of fact.

    To your last point - this actually concerns me that there is so much research being done on the causes of autism because the next step that will happen in my mind once they've figured it out is how do we prevent it. And once you start trying to prevent it the stigma increases even more.

    Now this is a complex issue for me. There are things in the world that I find so difficult and have seen other autistic people struggle with, do I want to knowingly increase the "risk" of bringing another neurodivergent person into the world. I may be doing that with my genetics alone if I ever have kids. But I also think neurodivergent people can be completely wonderful and I think the world needs neurodivergency. It needs people that can think differently, that don't blindly follow what everybody else says the trends and the norms are. And I really dislike the prospect that one day people will be able to take measures to ensure they do not have a neurodivergent child.

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  • I'm always a bit sceptical of these things and would need to see a lot more research/evidence before I even entertained the idea of taking this as any kind of fact.

    To your last point - this actually concerns me that there is so much research being done on the causes of autism because the next step that will happen in my mind once they've figured it out is how do we prevent it. And once you start trying to prevent it the stigma increases even more.

    Now this is a complex issue for me. There are things in the world that I find so difficult and have seen other autistic people struggle with, do I want to knowingly increase the "risk" of bringing another neurodivergent person into the world. I may be doing that with my genetics alone if I ever have kids. But I also think neurodivergent people can be completely wonderful and I think the world needs neurodivergency. It needs people that can think differently, that don't blindly follow what everybody else says the trends and the norms are. And I really dislike the prospect that one day people will be able to take measures to ensure they do not have a neurodivergent child.

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