Did Acetaminophen Cause the Autism Epidemic?
By Jared Skowron, ND
P
ediatrician: “Sure, give your child some Tylenol. It’s perfectly safe.”
Poison Control Line: “Your child took the whole bottle of Tylenol? Go immediately to the Emergency Room. They will have the antidote protocol.” These two statements seem totally opposite and contradictory. Is something for your child perfectly safe or does the hospital have an antidote protocol? As a parent myself, I sure would like to know that due diligence has been done to ensure that something I’m giving my child, something my pediatrician is recommending, is safe for my child to take. Beliefs Are Hard to Change The uncertainty surrounding these contradictory statements stems from science not knowing the extent of the harm
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acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol and other over-the-counter painkillers—can cause. Even when more scientific research is published that shows acetaminophen might be causing autism, that science is often completely ignored. I believe this is due simply to human nature. Once we learn something and believe it, that belief is very hard to change. How hard was it for the masses to change the belief that the Earth is indeed round, not flat? How hard was it for our society to change from “4 out of 5 doctors recommend Marlboro cigarettes” to “The Surgeon General warns you that smoking may cause cancer”? How hard would it be to change your belief about last November’s presidential election? Regardless of what you believe, how much would it really take to change your mind?
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Acetaminophen and Autism My practice specializes in helping children recover from autism. I love my work because I get to help children and families have a better quality of life, and I am constantly learning new things. I remember the first time I heard about acetaminophen causing autism—I laughed out loud. Impossible! Insane! At that time, I believed that acetaminophen was safe and harmless… . So safe and harmless, in fact, that even an infant could take it. But then I started listening to science. It started in 2003, when a researcher from Utah State University published a study associating acetaminophen with the onset of regressive autism. First , let me explain how autism seems to occur. The majority of children with autism are not born with it. They lose their skills of language,
