Paracetamol is one of the most popular drugs. It is used to reduce fever and as an anesthetic, and preparations based on it are taken by both children and adults.
Scientists from Australia have found out an amazing thing: they claim that this drug is not so effective as an analgesic. We understand what’s what.
Paracetamol is the basis of many popular drugs. It is available in tablets, suspensions, and suppositories and is intended for both adults and children. Paracetamol is taken when it is necessary to bring down the temperature, and also as an anesthetic. It is the most popular analgesic in the world – in 58% of cases, buyers who want to buy painkillers purchase paracetamol. Aspirin accounts for 17% and ibuprofen for 16%.
The medicine was synthesized at the end of the 19th century, but gained wide popularity only in the second half of the 20th century, when it began to be sold as an effective (and safer for children) pain reliever and antipyretic.
Manufacturers claim that paracetamol is effective for various pains and recommend using it for pains of various origins: headache and toothache, back pain, pain after childbirth or surgery, and dozens of other varieties.
Pain is a signal that something is wrong with the body. It can indicate inflammation, trauma, damage, and other disorders. The inability to feel pain is a condition that can even be dangerous for the body. So, a resident of the UK does not feel pain during fractures, severe injuries, and burns – she has never taken painkillers in her life and for a long time did not notice various injuries. This woman is a mystery to scientists who are now engaged in the study of her genome.
Only works 10% of the time
However, most of us feel pain and need to take painkillers from time to time. To find out whether good old paracetamol is really such a versatile analgesic, scientists from the University of Sydney decided. They studied 36 scientific reviews published over the past 10 years and concluded that paracetamol is not as good as it is commonly believed.
They found that paracetamol was suggested for 44 pain conditions. However, the analgesic was effective only in four of them. In all other cases, the drug worked no better than the placebo, which means that it practically did not relieve pain and did not improve the condition of patients.
So, it turned out that paracetamol is useless for back pain. The authors of the work do not exclude that the pain simply disappeared with time, and did not disappear as a result of taking an analgesic.
There is no scientific evidence that paracetamol relieves middle ear infections (otitis media), toothache, menstrual pain, pain after dental surgery, and abdominal pain at all. This means that no one knows if the analgesic actually works.
In general, it turned out that paracetamol has been used for so long that they simply “forgot” to check how effective it works. In fact, the drug copes only in four cases:
- Pain in the knee or hip joint with osteoarthritis;
- Headache;
- Pain in the perineum after childbirth (for example, after tears or episiotomy);
- Pain after craniotomy – an operation in which part of the skull is removed.
In all other cases, paracetamol coped with pain poorly or did not work at all, being any better than the placebo.
The authors of the study believe that the indications for the use of paracetamol should be reviewed because it is sold in pharmacies without a prescription and people take this analgesia with or without reason. In some cases, such as low back pain, the prescription of paracetamol is even a typical recommendation that is common throughout the world.
What else do you need to know about paracetamol?
Thank God, with headaches – perhaps the most popular reason for taking painkillers, paracetamol still helps. However, he does not cope with migraines – more serious drugs that are prescribed by a doctor and purchased by prescription must be used to combat migraine pain.
When choosing paracetamol as an analgesic, it is worth remembering that you need to take the medicine according to the instructions, without exceeding the permissible daily dose: for an adult – 4 g of paracetamol, is really quite a lot.
Drinking paracetamol is recommended no more than once every four hours. If you take the medicine for more than three days in a row, and there is no improvement, you should consult a doctor for advice and prescribe another painkiller.
The simultaneous use of paracetamol with alcohol increases the risk of side effects. The most serious of them is a toxic effect on the liver, as a result of which this organ may stop working altogether, which will lead to death.
Paracetamol can not only be sold in its “pure” form but also be a component of many other drugs, such as effervescent tablets that are taken for colds and flu, they usually contain not only paracetamol but also a considerable dose of vitamin C.
