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Easy News: Autism and Paracetamol

Responding to the US Government’s claims that paracetamol is linked to autism

Easy News: Autism and Paracetamol

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    1. Recently, people are saying things about autism that are wrong. They do not match up with what most scientists think about it.

    2. On the 22nd of September, Donald Trump, the President of the United States of America, told everybody what he thought caused autism.

    3. He said that he thought one of the reasons people have autism is that their mothers took Paracetamol when they were pregnant with them.

    4. 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.

    5. In America, they call Paracetamol by the name Tylenol. It is also called Acetaminophen. It has been used to help people since the 1950s.

    6. Donald Trump said that pregnant women should never take Paracetamol, and they should “fight like hell” if a doctor tried to give them some.

    7. 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.

    8. But people have not been taking more paracetamol as more people are diagnosed. Scientists have tried and not proved a connection between the two.

    9. Scientists are worried that if a pregnant woman had a high fever, she might not take paracetamol, which could hurt herself and her baby.

    10. 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.

    11. At President Trump's announcement, the American Food and Drug Administration said it would start recommending Leucovorin as a treatment for autism.

    12. 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.

    13. Many scientists say that many more studies are needed before telling people they can use Leucovorin to treat autism.

    14. Trump also said the MMR vaccine might cause autism. Scientists have proven this not to be true.

    15. 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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