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Acetaminophen may harm male fetuses

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Women who take a headache tablets of Acetaminophenl during pregnancy risk giving birth to boys with malformed genitals.

47,000 Danish women have participated in a survey organized by the University of Aarhus. The results presented in the journal Epidemiology.

The Danish researchers conclude that the analgesic tablets containing the active ingredient Acetaminophen, which many non-prescription painkillers do, inhibits the formation of the male sex hormone testosterone, writes Politiken.

– Decreased sperm count

This hormone is partly necessary so that the testicles will fall into the scrotum in male fetuses. Unless the testes fall into the scrotum by itself during the first years, they can be operated down.
The boys are likely to have impaired semen quality in their life. In addition, those boys who have congenital malformations, but we still suspect will be reduced sperm count because of acetaminophen, “said Morten Søndergaard Jensen at the University of Aarhus. About half of the women who participated in the study took pills with acetaminophen during pregnancy.

-Malformations

Mothers who are taking pain medication with Acetaminophen, had 30 percent higher risk of having children with birth defects, says Søndergaard Jensen Politiken.

The risk is greatest during the first six months of pregnancy, but how much input as needed before the damage arises,  is somewhat unclear.

The study notes that damage can be detected even at intakes of only a handful of tablets,  spread over few weeks.

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