{"id":8216,"date":"2026-04-22T16:50:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=8216"},"modified":"2026-04-23T04:20:03","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T04:20:03","slug":"scientists-uncover-potential-autism-link-in-drugs-taken-by-millions-but-warn-dont-stop-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/?p=8216","title":{"rendered":"Scientists uncover potential autism link in drugs taken by millions &#8211; but warn: &#8216;Don&#8217;t stop treatment&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Common drugs taken by millions of Americans during pregnancy may increase a child&#8217;s risk of autism, a landmark study suggests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">As autism now affects one in 31 American children \u2013 <a class=\"\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/health\/article-15125697\/Why-autism-rates-US-high-Experts-explain-whats-driving-crisis.html\" target=\"_self\">a stark increase from one in 150 in the early 2000s<\/a> \u2013 experts are searching for potential causes, ranging from better diagnostic criteria to pollution and medications.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Now, researchers in <a id=\"mol-dcff43c0-3e48-11f1-bb05-75d54d0d9966\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/nebraska\/index.html\" target=\"_self\">Nebraska<\/a> have honed in on\u00a0prescription medications that block the production of cholesterol.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Along with statins, these drugs &#8211; known collectively as sterol biosynthesis-inhibiting medications (SBIMs) &#8211; also include common antidepressants and beta blockers, used to treat anxiety and high blood pressure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">While cholesterol can build up in the arteries and lead to heart disease, it&#8217;s also crucial for forming protective brain cell membranes and synaptic functioning, which helps neurons communicate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">In the study of more than six million maternal-child health records, the team found that these drugs&#8217; ability to disrupt cholesterol pathways was linked to a 1.5-fold increased risk of a child developing autism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">And for each additional SBIM prescribed, the risk increased an additional 1.3 times. Women who took four or more SBIMs ended up more than twice as likely to have a child with autism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The study authors, from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, have urged pregnant women not to stop any of these medications abruptly without medical supervision. Instead, they encourage doctors to consider alternatives.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-2f5d5a134edb235b\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/04\/22\/16\/105868451-15755243-A_new_study_has_found_taking_common_prescription_drugs_during_pr-a-1_1776872638706.jpg\" alt=\"A new study has found taking common prescription drugs during pregnancy may increase the risk of a child being born with autism (stock image)\" width=\"634\" height=\"427\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">A new study has found taking common prescription drugs during pregnancy may increase the risk of a child being born with autism (stock image)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe id=\"xp-iframe-moaae52s4ionflqrm3q\" class=\"iframe-creator \" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25283287\/embed\" name=\"xp-iframe-moaae52s4ionflqrm3q\" height=\"600\">Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"xp-iframe-moaace1uixqr9tecf7s\" class=\"iframe-creator \" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/html_modules\/Annie\/tests\/240905-healthsubheading-finalversion\/index.html\" name=\"xp-iframe-moaace1uixqr9tecf7s\" height=\"45\" scrolling=\"no\" data-xpmodule-iframe-resizable=\"\">Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Our findings do not suggest that these medications are unsafe for adults,&#8217; Dr Karoly Mirnics, senior study author and dean and director of the UNMC Munroe\u2013Meyer Institute, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;But they raise important questions about their use during pregnancy, a period when even small biochemical disruptions may have outsized effects on fetal brain development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The findings come after a major Danish study found <a class=\"\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/health\/article-15736461\/tylenol-acetaminophen-pregnancy-autism.html\" target=\"_self\">Tylenol use was not tied to a &#8216;significant&#8217; risk of autism<\/a>, despite claims from President <a id=\"mol-437c0f40-3e47-11f1-bb05-75d54d0d9966\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/donald_trump\/index.html\" target=\"_self\">Donald Trump<\/a> and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary <a id=\"mol-43869690-3e47-11f1-bb05-75d54d0d9966\" class=\"\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/rfk-jr\/index.html\" target=\"_self\">Robert F Kennedy Jr<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The new study, published in the journal <a class=\"\" style=\"font-weight: bold;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41380-026-03610-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Molecular Psychiatry<\/a>, looked at 6.14 million maternal\u2013child health records from the Epic Cosmos database, which represent nearly one\u2013third of all US births between 2014 and 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The team also evaluated prescriptions for 14 different SBIMs.\u00a0They included the antipsychotics\u00a0aripiprazole (Abilify) and haloperidol (Haldol), as well as the anxiety drug\u00a0buspirone (BuSpar).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Antidepressants included were bupropion (Wellbutrin), fluoxetine (Prozac), sertraline (Zoloft) and trazodone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The researchers also looked at beta blockers\u00a0metoprolol, propranolol, nebivolol, as well as statins\u00a0atorvastatin (Lipitor),\u00a0pravastatin,\u00a0rosuvastatin (Crestor) and\u00a0simvastatin (Zocor).<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Collectively, these drugs account for about 400 million yearly prescriptions in the US.<\/p>\n<div class=\"artSplitter mol-img-group\">\n<div class=\"mol-img\">\n<div class=\"image-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-bdd0f25ba9ce0b10\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/04\/22\/17\/108074643-15755243-The_above_graph_shows_the_comparison_of_autism_incidence_between-a-2_1776873854352.jpg\" alt=\"The above graph shows the comparison of autism incidence between children whose mothers used\u00a0sterol biosynthesis\u2013inhibiting medications (SBIMs) and those who did not\" width=\"634\" height=\"589\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The above graph shows the comparison of autism incidence between children whose mothers used\u00a0sterol biosynthesis\u2013inhibiting medications (SBIMs) and those who did not<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe id=\"xp-iframe-moaae9ihxnhnh4d9419\" class=\"iframe-creator \" style=\"border: 0; width: 0; min-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/public.flourish.studio\/visualisation\/25283559\/embed\" name=\"xp-iframe-moaae9ihxnhnh4d9419\" height=\"600\">Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Of the 196,447 children diagnosed with autism, 14.2 percent had prenatal exposure to SBIMs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Additionally, use of SBIMs increased over time, from 4.3 percent of pregnancies in 2014 to 16.8 percent in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The researchers found mothers who were prescribed at least one SBIM during pregnancy had a 1.5\u2013fold increased chance of having an autistic child, and for each additional SBIM, the risk increased 1.3 times.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Mothers who were taking four or more SBIMs during pregnancy showed a 2.3\u2013fold increased risk of having an autistic child.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The brain contains about 20 percent of the body&#8217;s total cholesterol, which creates synapses, or connections between neurons, along with protective membranes. Many children with autism, however, have low cholesterol, suggesting disruptions in their brains&#8217; communication networks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The genetic disorder\u00a0Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), affecting one in 20,000 US births, has also been shown to disrupt the brain&#8217;s cholesterol\u2013producing pathway, and 75 percent of children with this disorder also meet the criteria for autism spectrum disorder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Stopping drugs such as antidepressants and beta blockers can lead to disastrous consequences, including withdrawal symptoms such as fever, chills, severe anxiety and heart palpitations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Instead, the researchers urge doctors treating pregnant patients to evaluate all medications that could have sterol\u2013inhibiting effects and look for safer alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; Common drugs taken by millions of Americans during pregnancy may increase a child&#8217;s risk of autism, a landmark study suggests. As autism now affects one in 31 American children \u2013 a stark increase from one in 150 in the early 2000s \u2013 experts are searching for potential causes, ranging from better diagnostic criteria to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[987],"tags":[2988,2984,2989,2986,2990,2402,2242,2240,2985,2987],"class_list":{"0":"post-8216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthy-living","8":"tag-antidepressants","9":"tag-autism-risk-2026","10":"tag-beta-blockers","11":"tag-cholesterol-and-brain","12":"tag-molecular-psychiatry","13":"tag-neurodevelopment","14":"tag-pregnancy-safety","15":"tag-prenatal-health","16":"tag-sbims","17":"tag-statin-safety"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8248,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8216\/revisions\/8248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.healthoptibody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}