“When you were pregnant with me, did you take Doliprane?” For several days, this question has invaded TikTok. At the origin of this viral trend: the words of Maeva Ghennam.
In an Instagram story, since deleted but widely relayed on social networks, the former reality TV candidate explained that she refused to take Doliprane despite her pregnancy pains.
“It was my gynecologist who told me: Doliprane, if you have a boy, there have been studies showing that it feminizes. I don’t want my child to be feminized”affirmed the influencer to her three million subscribers.
Before her, Poupette Kenza had already relayed similar concerns. But are these claims based on solid scientific evidence?
To date, no link has been demonstrated in humans
First important point: to date, no scientific study has demonstrated that taking paracetamol during pregnancy could “feminize” a boy or modify his gender identity.
The specialists are clear: talking about “feminization” is an excessive shortcut that does not correspond to any proven medical reality. “There is no reason, including molecular reason, for paracetamol to be responsible for feminization of fetuses.“, recall several experts.
The French health authorities have never established such a link. So there is no need to panic if you took paracetamol during your pregnancy.
However, concerns do not come out of nowhere
However, the debate is not completely devoid of scientific basis. In his book Endocrine disruptors, war is declared, Dr Odile Bagot, gynecologist, recalls that several experimental studies have observed potential effects of paracetamol on male reproductive development.
In 2012, a study carried out by Danish researcher DM Kristensen showed, in rats, that exposure to paracetamol reduced the production of testosterone in the fetal testes.
The following year, Sylvaine Mazaud-Guittot’s French team observed, on human fetal testicle cells cultured in the laboratory, a reduction in the production of testosterone and INSL3, a hormone essential for the normal descent of the testicles.
This work led researchers to discuss a possible association with cryptorchidism, an anomaly characterized by the absence of descent of one or both testicles into the bursae. But only in animals.
The great paradox of Doliprane
For Dr Odile Bagot, the difficulty lies in the fact that it is practically impossible to demonstrate with certainty an effect of this type in humans.
“For all endocrine disruptors, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reliably show an effect in humans”explains the gynecologist.
The reason is simple: pregnant women are simultaneously exposed to thousands of substances likely to influence the development of the fetus: pollution, pesticides, cosmetics, phthalates, bisphenol A, food, tobacco, medications, etc.
“There is a lot of bias, all the time”she emphasizes. For the specialist, targeting only Doliprane would therefore be reductive.
“Everyone took paracetamol”she recalls. However, this medication is by far the most used painkiller in France, with around 500 to 550 million boxes consumed each year, or nearly 90 tablets per person per year.
“If health authorities recognized a proven risk today, the consequences would be considerable,”
essentially underlines the gynecologist.
Thirteen experts, however, called for more caution
In 2021, an international group of 13 experts specializing in endocrine disruptors, obstetrics, pediatrics and toxicology published a call to adopt a precautionary principle regarding the use of paracetamol during pregnancy.
In this statement published in the journal Nature Reviews Endocrinologythe authors believed that the available data justified using paracetamol only when medically necessary, at the lowest possible dose and for the shortest duration.
The signatories recalled, however, that this was not a call to stop the treatment, but an invitation to reasoned use while awaiting further research.
Despite these questions, paracetamol remains today the reference medication for pain and fever during pregnancy.
How else can you relieve pain during pregnancy?
Dr Bagot reminds us that there are also non-drug alternatives, particularly for certain chronic or functional pain during pregnancy:
- Sophrology;
- Relaxation;
- Meditation;
- Acupuncture;
- Physiotherapy;
- Balneotherapy;
- Rest.
According to her, the placebo effect in pain management has now been widely demonstrated.
What to remember from this announcement?
To be clearer, in summary, Maeva Ghennam is wrong when she claims that Doliprane “feminizes” boys. On the other hand, certain experimental studies have raised questions about the potential effects of paracetamol on male reproductive development in animals. A complex scientific debate, which calls for caution and nuance more than the certainties conveyed on social networks.