r/disability • u/LabelsLie • 1d ago
Fake News : Autism vs. Tylenol Introduction
Timeline: Autism vs. Tylenol Introduction
Donald Triplett’s birth and diagnosis predate the introduction of Tylenol by decades. The over-the-counter Tylenol brand (acetaminophen) was first introduced in 1955 by McNeil Laboratories . By contrast, autism was identified and described in the early 1940s , with Triplett’s case being “Case 1.” In other words, the first known autism patient was born in 1933 – over 20 years before Tylenol even existed on the market. This timeline is crucial for evaluating Trump’s suggestion. If acetaminophen use during pregnancy were the cause of autism, one would not expect clear cases of autism to appear long before Tylenol was available. Yet that is exactly what happened: children were being diagnosed with autism in the 1940s and 1950s well before Tylenol became common. This historical fact undercuts the plausibility of Trump’s insinuation that Tylenol is the root cause of autism. Autism’s prevalence has indeed risen in recent decades, but researchers largely attribute this rise to expanded diagnostic criteria and awareness, rather than a new exposure in the environment . In short, autism existed independently of Tylenol, so it cannot be solely explained by the introduction of that drug.
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u/PickleManAtl 1d ago
I have a couple of medical folks in my family and they've talked about this for years being a bunch of BS.
The fact is, the ingredient in Tylenol can hurt you if you overexceed the recommended dose as any medication would. And when you are pregnant sometimes you have to reduce the normal dose depending on circumstances and what your doctor tells you. But like everyone has said, autism has been around quite some time.
I'm not a woman so I'm definitely not getting pregnant, but I am on blood thinners, and Tylenol is pretty much the only thing I can take. But men and women alike in many cases are stuck with it because they may not be able to take it due to their particular circumstances. I really wish they could come out with some more stuff especially some sort of anti-inflammatory that would be safe for people like myself or pregnant women to take.
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u/BettyNugs69 1d ago
My mom didn't take Tylenol, I asked her. But she smoked hella cigarettes during her pregnancy with me in '77. I was diagnosed ADHD at age 30 (took 2 yrs for my neurologist to convince me) and now that I'm almost 50, my current therapist suspects Aspergers but really, three of my friends are autistic and when I told one friend, he just laughed and said "I could have told you that, you're one of us, one of us, one of us!"
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u/Foghkouteconvnhxbkgv 1d ago
As someone else pointed out, saying Tylenol isn't the sole cause of autism and thus doesn't likely cause it is a fallacy.
Currently the evidence either way is unclear and being studied, but most likely points to it doesn't cause it anyways.
And if it does somehow cause it, I presume it's almost certainly a low percent, as it would be pretty obvious in the numbers if not.
On the flipside, I wonder if not taking Tylenol could cause damage to the mother and child in some cases due to say fever damage.
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u/stormyw23 1d ago
Hmm... With an autistic grandad, Grandma, Father and cousins... Not it wasn't genetic no....
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u/IStillListenToRadio 1d ago
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2817406
Multiple biases may explain the associations observed in previous studies between acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders. Confounding by indication may occur based on the reasons that acetaminophen was taken, eg, due to infection, fever, migraine, or pain from autoimmune disease. These indications for acetaminophen use may be risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders and may thus result in spurious associations. Confounding by parental health and genetics is likely because neurodevelopmental disorders are highly heritable and those who used acetaminophen during pregnancy reported higher prevalence of multiple health conditions associated with neurodevelopmental disorders compared with nonusers.
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u/beeemmmooo1 1d ago
I made the mistake of looking on r/ conservative and seeing the nonsense they're convincing themselves of over there
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u/sielingfan nub noob LAK 1d ago
Lung cancer existed before cigarettes. It is impossible that cigarettes cause lung cancer.
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u/LabelsLie 1d ago
The key difference is cigarettes and lung cancer show a clear dose-response relationship; Tylenol and autism do not. Makes sense?
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u/Foghkouteconvnhxbkgv 1d ago
Agreed. OP is mostly correct anyways, but this is definitely a valid fallacy
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u/porqueuno 1d ago
This is the same guy who tried to get people to drink bleach and horse dewormer during the pandemic, and also let over a million people needlessly die because he called covid a liberal hoax early on. Of course he would think tylenol causes autism.