Could acetaminophen usage in childhood lead to asthma?
Categories: Newborns, Babies, Toddlers, Preschoolers, Health & safety, In the news, Playground bureau
The number of people (especially children) afflicted with asthma continues to skyrocket, so it's a bit unusual to have the researchers who may have uncovered a clue in asthma/allergy puzzle less than jubilant about their findings.
The reason behind the trepidation? The possible link for developing asthma was found in acetaminophen, the popular fever and pain-reducer recommended for children in lieu of aspirin which can cause the potentially deadly Reyes Syndrome. "We are saying there may be a(n acetaminophen) link. We don't yet know whether it is causative," said Richard Beasley who led the international study on acetaminophen involving more than 200,000 children in 31 countries.
In the study, parents of children ages 6-7 were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their children's history of acetaminophen usage and whether the child had developed asthma or other allergies. The results revealed that children who received acetaminophen for the treatment of fever in the first year of life were, on average, 46 per cent more likely to develop asthma by the age of 6 or 7, compared with infants not given the medication.
However, those involved with the research were quick to point out that the study was far from definitive proof that acetaminophen is behind the recent dearth of asthma cases. "I think there is potential for harm from our findings if we don't get the correct message to the public," Dr. Beasley said.
That message is: acetaminophen remains the safest way to treat children with fevers but parents should still consider it a serious medication.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kathy 9-21-2008 @ 11:12AM
Just when you think you've done the right thing for your kid, it turns out to maybe be the wrong thing. We're struggling with my 16-year-old's asthma, and yes, she had her fair share of acetaminophen when she was younger. Who would have imagined? Sigh. Well, hopefully they'll figure out if there's a connection, and perhaps future problems can be prevented. I just hope we can help my daughter well enough now, too.
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Jen 9-21-2008 @ 11:30AM
My first thought is that this is a case of correlation, not causation. The only pain reliever/fever reducer recommended today in America for newborns is Tylenol. I would guess that the vast majority of kids have a fever in the first year of life, and the majority of these kids receive Tylenol. Therefore, most American kids receive Tylenol in the first year of life.
If there is an autoimmune trigger, or something similar, affecting kids who grow up in American households, you would expect that most of these kids will also have received Tylenol. But not that there is necessarily a direct link.
I'll wait until I see a -lot- more research before I worry.
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Heather 9-21-2008 @ 1:16PM
Did anyone look at if these kids had pets in the house when they were younger?
I am so tired of hearing this medication causes this and that medication caused that. Noone looks at environmental hazards, household hazards, genetics, or anything else like that. They just immediately pass the buck to medication.
What if Lysol, Clorox, or something like that was to blame? People are all into blaming anything else for their kids to be sick, well just think of this, when you point your finger at someone else there are 4 more pointing back at you.
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Margaret 9-22-2008 @ 12:02PM
This is not necessarily for young kids, but something else to be aware of -- people who develop asthma later in life may actually develop an allergy to aspirin as well (it's known as Samter's triad: asthma, aspirin sensitivity, and nasal polyps).
So if you have this, basically you can't take anything *but* tylenol; aspirin and other NSAIDs like ibuprofen are off limits.
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