Opioid -Schmerzmittel, die nicht mit Autismus oder ADHS verbunden sind, finden eine umfassende Untersuchung von mehr als 1,2 Millionen Kindern, die zwischen 2007 und 2018 in Schweden geboren wurden, um die ASD -Raten zu bewerten, und weitere 900.000 Kinder, die zwischen 2007 und 2015 geboren wurden, und in dieser Kohorte.

I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1004721

From the linked article:

**Opioid painkillers not linked to autism or ADHD, comprehensive study finds**

In a massive study looking at more than two million individuals, scientists have failed to find any meaningful link between the use of opioid painkillers and the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), challenging earlier research suggesting otherwise.

Researchers from Indiana University Bloomington investigated dose and duration of opioid use during pregnancy and the child’s risk of later being diagnosed with either or both of these neurodevelopmental conditions. **They examined the health records of more than 1.2 million children born in Sweden between 2007 and 2018 to assess rates of ASD among mothers who used painkillers during pregnancy, and an additional 900,000 kids born between 2007 and 2015 and rates of ADHD in this cohort**.

What they found was that 2% of kids born to mothers who had no opioid use had received an autism diagnosis by the age of 10, versus 2.9% in kids exposed to a low dose of prescribed painkillers while in the womb. Children who were exposed to higher doses had a 3.9% rate of autism by age 10. For ADHD, there was a similar trend.

While the study didn’t examine how extremely high doses and long durations of pain medication impacted developing brains, the findings provide little evidence that exposure during pregnancy significantly increases a child’s risk for autism and ADHD.

I wish the caption made it clearer that this was a study of opioid analgesic use during pregnancy! This article covering the original press release gives a clearer description: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1097557?