Easy News: Autism and Paracetamol
Easy News: Autism and Paracetamol
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Recently, people are saying things about autism that are wrong. They do not match up with what most scientists think about it.
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On the 22nd of September, Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, told everybody what he thought caused autism.
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He said that he thought one of the reasons people have autism is that their mothers took Paracetamol when they were pregnant with them.
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Paracetamol is a common medicine. It is used to treat pain. Doctors also use it when someone has a fever that is too high and hurting the body.
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In America, they call Paracetamol by the name Tylenol. It is also called Acetaminophen. It has been used to help people since the 1950s.
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Donald Trump said that pregnant women should never take Paracetamol, and they should “fight like hell” if a doctor tried to give them some.
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The number of people diagnosed with autism has gone up in the past decades. This has caused a lot of people to try and find the cause for autism.
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But people have not been taking more paracetamol as more people are diagnosed. Scientists have tried and not proved a connection between the two.
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Scientists are worried that if a pregnant woman had a high fever, she might not take paracetamol, which could hurt herself and her baby.
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The UK health secretary Wes Streeting has said that he “trusts doctors more than Donald Trump”. The advice for pregnant women in the UK will not change.
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At President Trump's announcement, the American Food and Drug Administration said it would start recommending Leucovorin as a treatment for autism.
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Leucovorin helps people's bodies absorb Vitamin B from the food they eat. It is already used for people who are being treated for cancer with Chemotherapy.
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Many scientists say that many more studies are needed before telling people they can use Leucovorin to treat autism.
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Trump also said the MMR vaccine might cause autism. Scientists have proven this not to be true.
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The British charity, the National Autistic Society, has called Trump's announcement dangerous. They say that autism is not a disease, and research should be on improving the lives of autistic people.
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