Acetaminophen

Cold and flu season has begun, and frankly, it sucks! Every year, as the leaves begin to fall in Canada and winter settles in, so does the evil sicknesses that give us sore throats, body aches, and unbearable sinus headaches. Fortunately, we have an array of cold and flu medications that can moderate these awful symptoms. Pop two tablets that say they will relieve you of your symptoms, and poof! Just like that you feel immensely better, how does that work? Have you ever wondered what the contents are of that little pill, and why it makes you feel so much better? In most cases, the culprit that eases our pain and fever is the chemical compound acetaminophen. Contained in over 600 medications either sold over the counter or as a prescription, acetaminophen is one of the most consumed drugs in the world¹. In fact, in the United States alone, 24.6 billion doses of acetaminophen were sold in 2008². That’s a lot of drugs!

As to how acetaminophen works in the body, surprisingly it is still somewhat of a mystery³. It is known that acetaminophen has the ability to block the synthesis of prostaglandin in the central nervous system³. Prostaglandin is a hormone that reacts to damaged or infected tissue by causing pain and fever in the body⁴. Blocking the prostaglandin means blocking the pain and fever, and therefore creates symptom relief. But when looking deep down into the mechanisms of acetaminophen in the human body, there is still uncertainty³.

If you have ever taken a drug containing acetaminophen (such as: Tylenol, DayQuil/NyQuil, Sudafed) you have most likely noticed the dosage requirements on the bottle or package telling you how much should be taken for effective symptom relief¹. So if taking the allotted amount prescribed by the producer works well, then wouldn’t taking twice the amount work even better? Although seemingly safe, acetaminophen can be extremely dangerous if taken in to high of dosage. The dosage of acetaminophen for adults within a 24-hour period is usually around 4 grams⁵. If 12 grams or more is consumed within a 24-hour period, some of the serious side effects can be liver damage, liver failure, and even possible death³. In fact, from 2001 – 2010 in the United States over 1500 people died from accidental overdoses of acetaminophen⁶. From just taking around three times the recommended daily amount of acetaminophen, you run the risk of serious internal injury, or death.

Acetaminophen works! It is a lifesaver when you are suffering from a terrible headache or the cold and flu and need some symptom relief. But when it comes down to it, acetaminophen needs to be taken with precaution. It is a seemingly safe product that can do some serious damage to our bodies. So for this cold and flu season, use products containing acetaminophen to relieve you of your symptoms, just make sure to take the dosage prescribed by the manufacturer.

References

—  ¹Acetaminophen awareness coalition (n.d.) Know Your Dose.org. Retrieved from http://www.knowyourdose.org/common-medicines/

—  ²Dal Pan, G.J. (2009) Acetaminophen: Background and Overview. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Advisor.../UCM175767.pdf

—  ³Aronson, J. K., Dukes, M.N.G. (Maurice Nelson Graham), & Meyler, L. (2006).Meyler's side effects of drugs: The international encyclopedia of adverse drug reactions and interactions (15th ed.). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.

—  ⁴What Does Prostaglandins Do? (n.d) Hormone Health Network. Retrieved from http://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health/what-do-hormones-do/prostaglandins

—  ⁵Brayfield, A. (2014). Martindale: The complete drug reference (Thirty-eighth ed.). London, UK: Pharmaceutical Press.

—  ⁶Gerth, J. & Miller, T. C. (2013) Use Only as Directed. Pro Publica – Journalism in the Public Interest. Retrieved from https://www.propublica.org/article/tylenol-mcneil-fda-use-only-as-directed

Image: Photo credit to jlib from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlib/4421233565/in/photolist