Mental Health - Autism and Memory (medication, insurance, pain, memory loss)

[Norm Barnes]

Well if you come to City Data forum you have an inquiring mind. A close friend finds it bothersome when I say to her: "Do you remember?" or "Don't you remember?" I mean livid.
So as all City-data detectives do I decided to get some information from her. She takes several prescriptions and that might be one reason. Here is One over the counter medication she has taken since her teen years. I'll use the generic name: Acetaminophen so now mind in gear.
I went to the internet: an ingredient in Acetaminophen has been determined by health scientists to further aggravate memory loss in the Autistic. Here's another fact the article also stated in Internet. Over about a 20 year period Autism in children increased from 1 in 91 to 1 in 40. It seems also that many physicians recommend Acetamin-ophen over Acetylsalisilic acid for many good reasons. One of note is that it's less likely to cause blood thinning.
Medicine and memory dissipation. I linked the two because while I'm gaining info on memory loss a news break reported that Autism was not always covered by insurance. This I believe changed recently.
Here is my point and I'm no Doctor I'm simply pointing out info available on every cell phone, computer, TV or social network. I know people who have children who are autistic.
Another reason I explored this connection is that for relief of pain from arthritis I too am taking Acetaminophen. I am mid 70's so i know your thought out there. Forget it!! Lol I'm noticing a greater difficulty of late recalling things and I have been known to have a good memory. So anyway take this for what it's worth. Now the upside maybe if you forget to take your medication you have a new crutch. Information given here is not to exchange advice. It's reporting news published on the internet it's right to the degree the reporting is right.

[mordant]

Originally Posted by Norm Barnes

an ingredient in Acetaminophen has been determined by health scientists to further aggravate memory loss in the Autistic.

Citation?

Also I am curious to know what you mean by "memory loss in the Autistic". I have not read that loss of memory is an issue for the neuro-atypical per se. There can be malfunctions of short term memory and other neurological disturbances, but it would be difficult to sort it out between autism and comorbidities such as ADHD or OCD. Also challenging to separate cause from effect.

As for connecting the popularity of Acetaminophen as causing autism -- I would be cautious not to confuse association with cause. Also, it reminds me of the now-discredited notion that adjuvants or preservatives in vaccines cause Autism, or even just that vaccines cause it. Autism is a complex spectrum with likely multiple contributing factors that's not yet fully understood. Desperate people cast about for (easy) "answers" that don't exist. To the point where now many higher functioning autistic persons wonder if they really need fixing or just greater acceptance for a different way of being -- that is, maybe looking for "fixes" is asking the wrong questions.