This week
President Donald Trump
told pregnant women
not to take Tylenol
as his administration
warned of an association
with acetaminophen
and autism.
I think the best answer
that we have
and that we can tell
patients of ours confidently
is that the
really good science
and good studies
do not support that
Tylenol causes autism.
We do have decades
of research showing
that things
like maternal fever
and pain during
pregnancy can have
significant risks
including some
developmental delays
or differences.
But no
there's no evidence
of a causal relationship
at this time.
Now the number of children
diagnosed with autism
has been on the rise.
Do researchers
know why?
The newest
prevalence rates
it has been increasing
for probably, prevalence
has been increasing
for the past 20 years.
I think now
we're at 1 in 31
as the most recent numbers.
And there are likely
there are many
different reasons
for that.
But certainly
there is not one cause.
And I do
just want to point out
that the use of acetaminophen
Tylenol, has plateaued
or decreased
over the past 20 years.
So it would be
hard to explain
the decrease in that
with the increase
in autism, if there
was a causal relationship.