June 29, 2017.
According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, taking paracetamol during pregnancy could impact the libido of unborn children. Explanations.
Decreased sexual desire in adulthood
During pregnancy, it is recommended that the mother-to-be to favor paracetamol to ibuprofen, because the side effects of the first molecule would be much less harmful for the fetus in particular. But we learn today, in a study published in the scientific journal Reproduction, than little boys exposed in utero to paracetamol could suffer from reduced sexual desire adulthood.
These effects would only affect male babies. According to the authors of this work, paracetamol could modify the neurobehavioural programming which “ inhibit adult sexual behavior “. Numerous studies have already shown that excessive consumption of this pain reliever could damage the liver or kidneys, but this is the first time we have learned that there is a risk to the baby’s libido.
Less libido in male rodents
To reach this conclusion, the researchers administered paracetamol to pregnant mice. They were thus able to observe that male rodents, who had been exposed to the molecule during pregnancy, ejaculated less in adulthood during mating and this had a direct consequence on their reproduction. While looking for the cause of this drop in libido, the researchers found differences in the brains of the mice.
Mice that had been exposed to paracetamol in their mother’s womb had indeed fewer neurons in the area of the brain that controls sexual desire, the sexual dimorphic nucleus. If these results must be confirmed by new work, they remind us that no drug can be taken lightly, especially during pregnancy. If in doubt during your pregnancy, ask your doctor for advice.
Marine Rondot
Read also: Medicines during pregnancy
