RFK suggests that autism may be linked to Tylenol use by pregnant women

In the 1970s autism in the U.S. affected less than one child out of a thousand.  By 2022 that had increased to roughly 32 out of a thousand--an increase of 3,200 percent.  Doctors have no explanation.  Some suspect "micro-plastics," some mercury in vaccines, some blame food additives, some blame climate change (just kidding, but some probably have).

Yesterday HHS chief RFK Jr. said the CDC will release a report next month that could link the huge increase to pregnant women (whom Democrats demand now be called "the birthing parent"--seriously) taking acetaminophen during pregnancy.

That's certainly possible, but here's a cause I think even more likely: parents giving young kids Tylenol (the most popular brand name of acetaminophen).

Tylenol was approved by "your" FDA in 1955 as a prescription drug to reduce fever in children.  In 1959 Johnson & Johnson acquired McNeil Labs and started marketing the hell out of Tylenol as a pain reliever.  And crucially, just months after acquiring the rights to Tylenol, J&J got the FDA to approve it as an "over the counter" drug (no prescription needed) hugely expanding its use, particularly in the U.S.

Four years later (1963) an Australian pathologist, Douglas Reye, described a rare but sometimes fatal condition in which children who had any of several different viral infections sometimes got brain swelling and liver damage not normally associated with the particular virus.  This happened to roughly one child in a million--tiny risk--but if it did, about 30% of those affected died.  And aspirin--given to reduce fever and pain--seemed to greatly increase the chances of developing Reye's syndrome.

Tylenol reduced fever without running that risk.  And just like that, parents of sick or feverish kids switched from giving 'em aspirin to...Tylenol.

Soon it was being added to cough syrup and virtually every cold remedy.  Today if you read the labels on every OTC medicine at any drug store, you find acetaminophen in 90% of 'em.

My guess is that since 1960 American kids have ingested a LOT more of the stuff than anyone knows.  And why is that critical?

You're not gonna believe what I'm about to tell ya, so feel free to do your own research to confirm what I've written:

When your body metabolizes Tylenol (which happens in the liver), it produces a staggeringly toxic "intermediate," abbreviated NAPQI.

Normally NAPQI is prevented from doing damage because it's quickly neutralized by the body's major "antioxidant," glutathione.  The problem is that the body only produces a tiny amount of glutathione per day, and if it's used up, the remaining NAPQI kills liver cells fast.  The metabolite can destroy the liver in a matter of days--causing death.  

For those with "impaired liver function," like heavy drinkers, in some cases taking just two extra-strength Tylenol--which, keep in mind, was being marketed like aspirin--was enough to trigger liver destruction.

In 1964 a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine said the #1 cause of poisoning in the U.S. was...acetaminophen overdose.  And 1964 was just five years after J&J started pushing Tylenol.

So if the CDC finds only a weak association between pregnant women taking acetaminophen and autism in the child, look a bit later: I suspect the toxic metabolite of acetaminophen has more adverse effects than just the acute liver poisoning seen in adults. 

The huge question is why, after  acetaminophen was known in 1964 to be the #1 cause of poisoning deaths in the U.S., the FDA didn't take it off the market.  
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NAPQI= N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine