This was a recent study that came out that looked at the relationship between usage of Tylenol in children and rates of Asthma and other allergies. As an aside, some of you may remember a recall that involved Children's Tylenol a few months back. Although unrelated to this study, it does emphasize the need for parents to practice discretion before they give Tylenol, or any other drugs, to their children.
On to the study. New research from around the world is finding that teens who regularly take acetominophen, better known as Tylenol, for pain and reducing fevers are more than twice as likely to have asthma compared to teens who never take Tylenol. But that's not all. Taking acetaminophen was also linked to an increased chance of eczema and rhinoconjunctivitis, or allergic nasal congestion, in adolescents.
However, the researchers were quick to point out that this was a retrospective, epidemiological study. Which means that the researchers interviewed teens and asked them to recall their use of Tylenol and how it related to their asthma and symptoms. This method, understandably does not allow the researchers to draw a definitive connection between Tylenol use and causing asthma. But to their credit, the researchers did point out that their sample size was quite large. This was an international study and involved nearly 323,000 children between the ages of 13 and 14.
"Medium" users of acetaminophen were those who had taken the drug at least once during the prior year; "high" users were those who reported taking acetaminophen at least once a month for the past year.
The risk of having asthma was nearly 2.5 times higher among frequent users, and 43 percent higher among medium users than those who never took acetaminophen.
The study will be published Aug. 13 on the American Thoracic Society's Web site and will later appear in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Researchers postulate that acetominophen (Tylenol) may interfere with a child's developing immune system. Others studies have found that Tylenol may lower the levels of Glutathione in the lungs, a substance that is important in detoxification. The idea is that with less Glutathione, increased toxins are allowed to accumulate which prompts the body to respond with an inflammatory response, thus resulting in Asthma or asthma-like symptoms in the sufferer.
This study, although not wholly conclusive regarding a causative relationship between Tylenol use and Asthma, should cause some caution in parents. With the incidence of Asthma in children on the rise, this study is another reminder for parents to think twice before liberally resorting to Tylenol for pain or fever in children.
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