Tylenol During Pregnancy Linked to Asthma on Children

Tylenol or Acetaminophen, when taken by mothers during pregnancy can be linked to children born susceptive to asthma. This finding is based on a recent study done by the Norwegian researchers in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Questionnaires were given to 95,200 mothers from 1999 to 2008 on the medicines they used during and after pregnancy as well as the medication they used to 53,169 children born to them. The data revealed that those mothers who have taken Tylenol during pregnancy had children who had 13 percent higher risk of asthma at age three than those who did not. It also showed that the risk increased based on the amount of Tylenol the mother had taken. The study was done to prove the possibility that the asthma increase in children was brought about by the medicine and not by the illness that the mother had during pregnancy.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that 65 percent of pregnant women are using Tylenol as a painkiller and for fever and flu. That is why the association reminded mothers not to be afraid of using the said medication when needed instead limit the amount to be taken. "Based on this modest increased risk, there is no need to be concerned if a child has been exposed," Maria C. Magnus said, lead author of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, according to The New York Times..

Tylenol continues to be the doctor recommended pain killer for pregnant women and researchers assured that the said findings do not change existing guidelines for the use of the painkiller by pregnant women.

"Pregnant patients should all be cautioned that acetaminophen is the safest painkiller in pregnancy," Dr. Jennifer Wu, an ob-gyn at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City stated. "Pregnant patients should not take aspirin or ibuprofen because the risks are greater with these medications," NewsMax Health reported.