Taking painkillers while pregnant increases risk of schizophrenia in children, study says

• Children exposed to painkillers such as aspirin and paracetamol while in the womb are four times more likely to develop schizophrenia as adults, a study of Danish patients has found.
• The discovery adds to the evidence that brain damage in the womb is a leading factor behind many cases of the mental illness, which affects one in 100 adults.
• "In light of these findings, if a pregnant woman can go without using painkillers, it would be a good idea to do so," said one of the research team, Erik Mortensen, an associate professor of psychology at Copenhagen University.
• His team studied the medical records of 7,999 babies born between October 1959 and December 1961, of whom 116 were diagnosed with schizophrenia as adults.
• The records showed that about 140 were exposed to painkillers during the middle three months - the second trimester - of the pregnancy.
• The study, which is published in this week's edition of the British Journal of Psychiatry, found that exposure during the earlier and later periods of pregnancy appeared to have little or no effect.
• Gareth Vincenti, the medical director at the Harrogate Clinic, a private mental hospital in North Yorkshire, said that in view of the results, pregnant women should exercise caution.
• "Obviously, if a woman is pregnant, and she thinks she might be able to do without tablets for her headache, that would be quite sensible," he said.
• The researchers speculate that painkillers may damage the part of the brain called the cortical subplate during a critical stage of development.
• Dr Vincenti said that the latest findings tied in with the theory that certain individuals had a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia, which could be triggered by environmental factors such as chemicals or infections.
• Last year, The Telegraph reported that exposure to the influenza virus in the womb increased a child's risk of schizophrenia in later life.