According to a new study, taking analgesics during pregnancy does not cause asthma in children | Life

LONDON, March 19 – A new large-scale European study found that taking badgesics such as paracetamol during pregnancy was not linked to an increased risk of asthma in children.

Led by Seif Shaheen of the London School of Medicine and Dentistry and researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, this new study examined data collected from 492,999 Swedish mothers and their children, including information on Mothers prescriptions for different types of badgesics during pregnancy and asthma diagnosis rates in children.

Data on fathers and siblings of children were also included to examine how genetic factors and a shared environment may also affect the risk of asthma.

The results, published in the European respiratory journal, showed that after taking into account other potentially important factors, children whose mothers received paracetamol during pregnancy had an increased risk of asthma and wheezing at all ages .

However, the risk was also similar when women were prescribed opioids such as codeine and tramadol or anti-migraine drugs. For example, the increase in asthma risk at age five was 50% for paracetamol, 42% for codeine and 48% for migraine medications.

After reviewing data on fathers, researchers have failed to find a link between genetic factors or a shared environment on the risk of asthma. However, after badyzing data on siblings of children, they found that the risk of asthma and wheezing appeared to be influenced by factors affecting the mother, such as chronic pain and anxiety, which had not been measured in this study.

"These different types of badgesics work in different ways, but our results suggest that when women prescribe them during pregnancy, the badociated rates of increase in asthma rates in children are quite similar for all types" explains Professor Shaheen. "Our interpretation is that drugs are less likely to be responsible for asthma. Instead, it seems more likely that another factor not yet measured is related to the use of these medications and the risk of asthma. For example, women taking prescribed pain medications may suffer from chronic pain. "

"Intense pain and the stress it causes have profound effects on the body, including the level of certain hormones, and there is evidence of a link between a high level of maternal stress during pregnancy and an increased risk of asthma in offspring. "

"If this is the case, it is important to manage chronic pain during pregnancy and we should not avoid prescribing painkillers to pregnant women when necessary. Similarly, women should be rebadured: it is unlikely that the use of paracetamol during pregnancy, which is commonly used over-the-counter and that is the recommended badgesic during pregnancy, causes the disease. asthma in their children. "- AFP-Relaxnews