Why paracetamol is dangerous to health

Paracetamol is one of the most popular fever reducers and pain relievers in the world. However, a new study published in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases shows that the side effects of this medication are underestimated by doctors.

The mechanism of paracetamol’s pain-relieving action is not fully understood, but recent studies show that it inhibits the synthesis of prostaglandins in the central nervous system.

This medication is considered safer than other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids.

However, a large randomized clinical trial was published in The Lancet in 2014 which showed that paracetamol was no more effective than placebo in reducing severe low back pain.

The benefit of the drug in the treatment of osteoarthritis was also questioned by the authors of recent studies, including because modern data on the frequency of side effects of the drug in standard doses are extremely few.

To assess the frequency and intensity of side effects of paracetamol in standard doses, scientists from the Leeds Institute in Great Britain made a systematic review of 8 existing studies aimed at studying the relationship between the use of this medication and adverse health consequences.< /p>

2 of these studies looked at the relationship between the risk of death and the use of paracetamol, and one of them showed a relatively increased rate of death among people taking this non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compared to those who did not. .

The four studies included in this review found a link between taking paracetamol and increasing the risk of cardiovascular and kidney complications. And scientists in the framework of another study discovered that the use of this pain reliever conditions the development of diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Scientists from the Leeds Institute point out that all 8 observational studies have serious deviations from the accepted way of conducting medical studies.

For example, people who take paracetamol for a long time often have several diseases at the same time and take other painkillers and other medicinal preparations from different groups in parallel – the influence of this factor was not taken into account in these studies.

Despite the bias factor and the minimal number of studies included in the systematic review, the authors believe that they have found a robust dose-response relationship between the administration of paracetamol in standard doses and several types of side effects typical of others non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – in particular, an increase in the frequency of mortality, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and renal complications.

“Defects in the design of these studies should not be ignored, however, the dose-response trend is quite evident and found in all the results of the analysis of the scientific works studied,” the authors state.

Scientists remind that the overall risk of side effects when taking paracetamol remains relatively small.

They refer to the fact that usually the risk of this disease, which the medical specialist treats with paracetamol, significantly exceeds the likelihood of complications from taking this steroid anti-inflammatory, therefore such an appointment is fully justified.

“Physicians should only take into account the individual tolerability of paracetamol in each specific patient and monitor for side effects during long-term courses with this medicinal product,” the authors of the systematic review also state.

In conclusion they add:

“Based on the above data, we believe that the true incidence of side effects may be significantly higher than is commonly believed in the medical community.”