ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is a neurodevelopmental condition that impacts mood, focus, attention span, and behavior. It's pretty common, especially in kids, but the symptoms can stick around into adulthood.

Interestingly, a new study in the journal Nature Mental Health indicates that ADHD might actually be linked to medications found in a pregnant woman's medicine cabinet.

Study results:

Acetaminophen is a widely used over-the-counter pain reliever that can ease muscle cramps, headaches, toothaches, backaches, and menstrual discomfort. However, for pregnant women, using it might raise the chances of their kids developing ADHD.

Researchers looked at blood samples from 307 pregnant women between 2006 and 2011. They found that kids born to moms who took this popular painkiller for relief had an 18% higher risk of ADHD.

Daughters face a higher risk compared to sons

The research found that girls born to moms who took Acetaminophen have a higher chance of developing ADHD compared to boys. The impact of Acetaminophen was noted to be six times stronger in female kids than in male kids.

Tylenol for easing pregnancy discomfort:

Tylenol is a key ingredient in Acetaminophen, which is often given to pregnant women to help ease discomfort. It's a widely used pain reliever that many women rely on during their pregnancy. Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a pediatrician at SCRI, mentioned to the New York Post, “This medication was approved a long time ago and might need a fresh look from the FDA. Acetaminophen hasn’t been assessed for its effects on fetal development in terms of long-term neurodevelopmental issues.”

In the research paper's abstract, the authors noted, “Even though there's evidence connecting prenatal acetaminophen (APAP) exposure to negative neurodevelopment outcomes in both humans and animals, more than half of pregnant women in various populations still use APAP. Previous studies might have been skewed due to inaccurate self-reports of APAP usage, and the biological processes that link prenatal APAP to adverse neurodevelopment are still unclear. In this study, we looked at the connections between maternal plasma biomarkers of APAP exposure, child attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and placental gene expression in 307 African American mother-child pairs.”

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