mimo2005

A popular over-the-counter painkiller is now the leading cause of acute liver failure in the US - and almost half of those cases are accidental overdoses.

Acetaminophen is used by millions of Americans each year, and is commonly thought to be safe. Until 1980, it was not even listed as a cause of acute liver failure. But between 1998 and 2003, the proportion of cases of liver failure caused by the drug nearly doubled.

William Lee at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and his colleagues followed patients with acute liver failure who were in a coma. Of the 275 people with paracetamol poisoning, 8 per cent received a liver transplant, 65 per cent survived without one and 27 per cent died.

Initially the researchers had suspected a direct relationship between how much of the drug is in the liver and for how long, and the extent of the damage. But people who intentionally overdosed, who tend to be identified and treated more quickly, had similar damage to those who overdosed accidentally. That suggests a clear threshold for what constitutes a safe dose of the drug.

Many of the people who had accidentally poisoned themselves did so by taking just 10 grams of the medication each day for about three days - the equivalent of about 20 pills per day instead of the recommended eight, an overdose that might be less serious with other drugs.

Lee thinks American drug enforcers should follow the lead of the UK, which requires products that contain acetaminophen to be packaged in blister packets and sold in small quantities. "I think we should talk about limiting package size," says Lee. "You can buy 500 at a time. They're like M&Ms."


http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-iro112905.php

http://www.medicinenet.com/tylenol_l...ge/article.htm


PS : take quite a bit of tylenol from time to time and I worry about this. I think I heard before the risk of liver damage is increased if you have alcohol in your system, such as if you are taking tylenol to treat a hangover.

bry623

And too much Advil can cause kidney probnlems. Too much aspirin can cause stomach problems. Most OTC meds have very real and possible harmful side affects.

40sondacurb

My family has liver issues (even though we don't drink) so I'm glad you brought this to my attention. I think I'll stick to aspirin.

Grove

Thanks for the info. I'll pass that onto my family. I am not sure if any of them take those sort of meds but I for one don't.

We always here of these recall's. I suppose the question to ask is, Is anything stable these days ?

crazijoe

The father of a friend of mine died from kidney failure do to the excessive use of Ibuprofen (advil, Motrin, Nuprin, Medipren, ect.)
I had another friend that went to the hosipital. Come to find out he had an ulcer. What had happened was he takes aspirin daily for his arthritis. Well one of the tablets had wedged it's way into one of the folds in his stomach lining. It started disolving in the concentrated area and started to eat through the lining of his stomach.

DumberDrummer

nothing is safe anymore...

is nothing sacred?

Grove

Don't think so. I am just waiting now for the next recall

Chevy

Blister packs, smaller quantities on bottles .... It's not the governments job to control things like this.

We've been informed, we know the risks, it's up to the individual.