> "Smoking and alcohol are established risk factors for spontaneous abortion, underscoring the importance of the chemical environment during embryonic development."
Both of my parents are/were heavy smokers drinkers from their teenage years. Mom died of lung cancer from smoking. Kind of wild to think that the odds were really stacked against my birth.
It's probably worth mentioning that this drug is called Acetaminophen in the US, and is the active ingredient in Tylenol and other over the counter medicines.
I've always had an (unreasonable?) dislike of Paracetamol/Tylenol ever since I found out it was the #1 cause of acute liver failure in the US. Liver failure is scary.
Tylenol is unusual among OTC medications in that you can get liver damage from as little as double the recommended dosage. It doesn't play well with alcohol, either. I wonder how many of those liver failures are the result of people drinking and taking too much of the drug either because the alcohol causes them to lose track, or from the alcohol interaction itself.
“ APAP could contribute to early embryonic loss by impairing initial cell divisions. These results suggest that APAP should be used with caution by women attempting to conceive. Given that cell division is fundamental to all development, further investigation is now warranted”
By the same logic it would now be effective against cancer, no?
I live in Brazil. We have broad access to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Even the best-known medicines have unexpected and unknown adverse effects: in general and specifically in people with unexpected genetic, enzymatic, and protein variations. This has no solution. The medicine acts differently in each body, which is subtly diverse from the others. I see a lot of research criticizing any "old" general medicine and introducing the "new" one. I don't know if this is the case. Every medicine has its rush, half-life, and side effects, and its actions are not fully mapped. My preference for long-term treatments is: dipyrone. Short term: ibuprofen. Lymphatic pain: paracetamol. It may not make sense, but that's how I use it.
I won't take acetaminophen (usually) learning of the liver toxicity and low overdose potential. And I have a friend that destroyed his kidneys with ibuprofen and is on a transplant list.
But from what I understand acetaminophen also dulls emotional pain like from being fired or breaking up with a girlfriend which is interesting.
I still prefer to take neither if I can avoid it and I'll hurt a little bit instead. Hurt a lot and I'd probably change my mind though.
I never took Tylenol/Paracetamol/acetaminophen, or anything containing it or given it to my children. We never reduce fever below 39.5/103.1 either - risks of febrile seizures are overstated and if you're a responsible parent, not a lazy one, you can see if things are going South, but there are other traditional means to lower fever. People are just too spoiled nowadays!
I tested positive with COVID-19 on Tuesday and had a pretty high fever (103) with a terrible headache, but I didn't take ibuprofen. First, because it could lower my fever, second, because its anti-inflammatory effect would compromise my immune system response to the pathogen. Most people I know immediately try to lower their fever to reduce their discomfort and would immediately take it for headaches, too.
What scares me about this is that Tylenol is a drug that's been handed out to everyone, for everything, for decades. And if we could miss how dangerous this one is, what are the odds other drugs aren't just as risky?
Side note, here's a Scrubs clip from 2001 that shows just how ubiquitous Tylenol was.
I know the anti-vax crowd is full of homeopaths, chiropractors, and tarot readers. But they're not wrong about one thing: drug companies make money by selling drugs. If we can't guarantee real oversight before those drugs hit the market, we're in deep trouble.
It's interesting because my wife has been using Ibuprofen for headache relief, whereas I use Paracetamol. I usually got Paracetamol growing up but recent studies showing adverse effects of Ibuprofen on male fertility solidified my resolve and consistency in choosing Paracetamol. My wife's reason for using Ibuprofen was simply because it worked better for her. Now it's kind of surprising to learn that Paracetamol has negative effect on women's fertility... I guess this means that both drugs are harmful to a different gender? What a coincidence? We were both using the optimal one for ourselves for reasons beyond our understanding... Until more data comes out.
Anyway, I understand arguments for avoiding drugs, medicines and chemicals altogether. Clearly, everything is more complex than it seems and side effects can never be fully known or understood; especially on a case-by-base basis given that everyone's DNA is different and responds differently to chemicals. I only take Paracetamol if I have a migraine with visual aura which is quite rare. I don't take it for standard headaches.
Embryonic development is so sensitive, especially that if nervous system. I suggest to my patients total drug avoidance. Even peeling off the tomatoes.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 35.8 ms ] threadI wonder if it might also slow healing of wounds, or wherever else intense cell division happens.
Both of my parents are/were heavy smokers drinkers from their teenage years. Mom died of lung cancer from smoking. Kind of wild to think that the odds were really stacked against my birth.
it also messes with bone formation so be careful using it for any length of time
especially after athletic activity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol_poisoning
By the same logic it would now be effective against cancer, no?
But from what I understand acetaminophen also dulls emotional pain like from being fired or breaking up with a girlfriend which is interesting.
I still prefer to take neither if I can avoid it and I'll hurt a little bit instead. Hurt a lot and I'd probably change my mind though.
Some links:
https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/using-acetaminophen-during-pre...
https://jennifermargulis.substack.com/p/why-this-doctor-is-c...
I tested positive with COVID-19 on Tuesday and had a pretty high fever (103) with a terrible headache, but I didn't take ibuprofen. First, because it could lower my fever, second, because its anti-inflammatory effect would compromise my immune system response to the pathogen. Most people I know immediately try to lower their fever to reduce their discomfort and would immediately take it for headaches, too.
Side note, here's a Scrubs clip from 2001 that shows just how ubiquitous Tylenol was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcDWj7kZcRc
I know the anti-vax crowd is full of homeopaths, chiropractors, and tarot readers. But they're not wrong about one thing: drug companies make money by selling drugs. If we can't guarantee real oversight before those drugs hit the market, we're in deep trouble.
Anyway, I understand arguments for avoiding drugs, medicines and chemicals altogether. Clearly, everything is more complex than it seems and side effects can never be fully known or understood; especially on a case-by-base basis given that everyone's DNA is different and responds differently to chemicals. I only take Paracetamol if I have a migraine with visual aura which is quite rare. I don't take it for standard headaches.
I've been taking multiple paracetamol tablets for years now, almost out of habit now.