The Tylenol Hoopla
The news has been flooded with reports over the dangers over Tylenol. The truth is that nothing really new has been really learned about acetaminophen that wasn’t already known. Acetaminophen is a pain reliever/fever reducer available in a wide variety of products including cold/flu medicines and OTC non-aspirin pain relievers. The maximum amount of acetaminophen allowed per day is 5g or 5000mg. The trouble is that for many people the mentality of ‘if a little is good then more is better’ pervades when they take this particular medicine. Most medicines have an ‘S’ shaped curve for their therapeutic benefit. Meaning that there is a big change is relief when comparing small doses of medication but then the curve flattens at the higher doses. So for each incremental mg change there is a smaller and smaller gain while the risk of adverse reactions increases. The bottom line is read the direction of ANY medication carefully and disclose all OTC medications, vitamins, and supplements with your doctor.
