Taking Acetaminophen During Pregnancy May Reduce Fertility of Daughters

By Natural Blaze staff

The Western world is blissfully unaware of the hazards of over-the-counter painkillers that continue to roll out in study after study. Americans have been led to believe that OTC painkillers are safe because they are FDA-approved and are on the commercial market – in every grocery store and pharmacy. New revelations have surfaced, however, showing how painkillers like acetaminophen can affect your unborn child’s fertility.

Taking acetaminophen (called paracetamol in other countries and often under the brand name Tylenol et al.) during pregnancy may impair the future fertility of female offspring, according to a review published in Endocrine Connections. The article reviews three separate rodent studies that all report altered development in the reproductive systems of female offspring from mothers given acetaminophen during pregnancy, which may impair their fertility in adulthood.

Paracetamol, or acetaminophen, is an over-the-counter treatment for pain relief that is commonly taken by pregnant women worldwide. Recent studies have linked acetaminophen use during pregnancy with disruptions in the development of the male reproductive system but the effects on female offspring had not yet been investigated.

In this article, Dr David Kristensen and colleagues from Copenhagen University Hospital, review the findings from three individual rodent studies that evaluated the effects of acetaminophen taken during pregnancy on the development of the reproductive system in female offspring.

It is well known that exposure to some chemicals during pregnancy can cause developmental effects that may not manifest until much later in life. In rodents and humans, females are born with a finite number of eggs for reproduction in the future. In these reviewed studies, rodents given acetaminophen during pregnancy, at doses equivalent to those that a pregnant woman may take for pain relief, produced female offspring with fewer eggs. This means that in adulthood, they have fewer eggs available for fertilization, which may reduce their chances of successful reproduction, particularly as they get older.

Dr Kristensen comments,

Although this may not be a severe impairment to fertility, it is still of real concern since data from three different labs all independently found that paracetamol may disrupt female reproductive development in this way, which indicates further investigation is needed to establish how this affects human fertility.

Although there are parallels between rodent and human reproductive development, these findings have yet to be firmly established in humans. However, establishing a link between acetaminophen taken by mothers during pregnancy and fertility problems much later in the adult life of the child will be difficult.

Dr Kristensen recommends that an inter-disciplinary approach be taken to address this,

…by combining epidemiological data from human studies with more experimental research on models, such as rodents, it may be possible to firmly establish this link and determine how it happens, so that pregnant women in pain can be successfully treated, without risk to their unborn children.

He added,

As scientists, we are not in the posit[i]on to make any medical recommendations and we would urge pregnant women in pain to consult with their general practitioner, midwife or pharmacist for professional advice.

An interesting statement indeed, considering that the medical field falls back on scientific study and regulatory agencies to make their recommendations.

Previous studies have shown that taking seemingly benign OTC painkillers like acetaminophen can inhibit male masculinity if taken during pregnancy. But it can also cause emotional blunting – numbing out emotions like joy. They can cause a learning deficit by inhibiting the brain’s response new information!

This information is of particular concern to those who are opting for OTC painkillers instead of opioids – it just goes to show that there are previously unknown risks.

Explore our articles on natural pain relief!

See: Safe Natural Drug Alternatives For Most Prescribed Drugs

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This article (Taking Acetaminophen During Pregnancy May Reduce Fertility of Daughters) was created for and appeared first at Natural Blaze. It can be reshared with attribution but MUST include link to homepage, bio, intact links and this message. Image credit: Ragesoss

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