Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Correlation Games

Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to risk of ADHD
Women who took acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, while pregnant had a 37 percent higher risk of having a child who would be later given a hospital diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder, a particularly severe form of ADHD, said the study in February 24 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics.

Compared to women who did not take acetaminophen while pregnant, women who did also had a 29 percent higher chance of having children who were later prescribed medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and a 13 percent higher chance of exhibiting ADHD-like behaviors by age seven.
I'm pretty sure this has more to do with the fact those mothers were probably SICK during pregnancy, than the acetominophen.   Illness causes fever and pain, you know.