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Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

latimes.com

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Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#11

Post by whiddershins »

dopamean wrote: post #6
glibgil wrote: post #2

Or, people with headaches produce offspring with headaches, but kids don't know they have headaches and just get angry and act out

Didn't read the article?

Removed my downvote, because i get why you wrote that, but possibly the parent didn't read it carefully, or possibly didn't understand, or possibly simply disagrees with the methodology used to eliminate confounders, or any number of other possibilities.

From the guidelines:

Please don't insinuate that someone hasn't read an article. "Did you even read the article? It mentions that" can be shortened to "The article mentions that."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#12

Post by stephentmcm »

contingencies wrote: post #8

OK well I'm not pregnant but I've been downing tonnes of these things for a sprained ankle recently. I don't like doing it as they are hepatoxic to some extent, and would prefer codeine, but the authorities make it too hard to get your hands on in most countries. Grr.

For a sprained ankle you likely want a NSAID like ibuprofen...

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#13

Post by ASpring »

Good of the authors to explicitly acknowledge that there is no causal link indicated here.

Fun Hypothesis: There exists an underlying latent variable that determines both of these. It takes the form of a negative affect activation function; ie. at some level of pain/annoyance we start to consider the source a problem and look for solutions. Adding this latent variable to the analyses would mediate the relationship between acetaminophen use and the child's behavioral 'issues'.

The authors do address this a bit with:

"They looked for a link between a child’s behavioral problems at age 7 and his or her mother’s post-natal acetaminophen use, and found none."

I would not suppose that this activation function is linear which may confound the authors attempt to control for this.

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#16

Post by ars »

stephentmcm wrote: post #12
contingencies wrote: post #8

OK well I'm not pregnant but I've been downing tonnes of these things for a sprained ankle recently. I don't like doing it as they are hepatoxic to some extent, and would prefer codeine, but the authorities make it too hard to get your hands on in most countries. Grr.

For a sprained ankle you likely want a NSAID like ibuprofen...

Agreed. Acetaminophen is really not safe in high quantities. Ibuprofen has a much better safety profile.

PS. Don't walk on the ankle just because you don't feel the pain! You can turn a 3 month recovery into a 2 year recovery if you do that.

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#17

Post by dragonwriter »

pessimizer wrote: post #14

What an unnecessary, garbage drug; one that's responsible for half the liver failures in the United States. Maybe a restriction on pregnant women taking it could move it behind the counter, or better, into the dimly-remembered past.

Given the issues with NSAIDs in general (and even moreso with NSAIDs with particular populations), acetaminophen being available remains important. It definitely has dangers particularly if used improperly (and a much narrower gap between normal and dangerous doses than many other drugs), but its not an unnecessary or garbage drug.

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#18

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

stephentmcm wrote: post #12
contingencies wrote: post #8

OK well I'm not pregnant but I've been downing tonnes of these things for a sprained ankle recently. I don't like doing it as they are hepatoxic to some extent, and would prefer codeine, but the authorities make it too hard to get your hands on in most countries. Grr.

For a sprained ankle you likely want a NSAID like ibuprofen...

And there are plenty of prescription NSAIDs out there if OTC isn't cutting it.

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#19

Post by hinkley »

redofrac wrote: post #4
glibgil wrote: post #2

Or, people with headaches produce offspring with headaches, but kids don't know they have headaches and just get angry and act out

From the article: "They looked for a link between a child’s behavioral problems at age 7 and his or her mother’s post-natal acetaminophen use, and found none. They looked for a link between a child’s behavioral problems at age 7 and acetaminophen use by the mother’s partner during pregnancy. Again, they found no association."

You guys are downvoting a guy that didn't ask what you're answering. Who isn't reading for content?

Re: Acetaminophen use in pregnancy linked to child's behavioral problems

#20

Post by contingencies »

ars wrote: post #16
stephentmcm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a sprained ankle you likely want a NSAID like ibuprofen...

Agreed. Acetaminophen is really not safe in high quantities. Ibuprofen has a much better safety profile. PS. Don't walk on the ankle just because you don't feel the pain! You can turn a 3 month recovery into a 2 year recovery if you do that.

Thanks. Have ibuprofen too but it apparently has nasty side effects if you take it too long. Right now I am looking at weeks, so trying to limit consumption. Was given one SAID and one NSAID but also too many side effects for my liking.
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