If you have Panadol or Tylenol in your cupboard, throw it out! This data from an rticle by William Parker, an Associate Professor at Duke University.
- A Spanish study from 2016 shows a link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and ADHD/autism.
- Studies in animal models (both in mice and in rats) demonstrate that acetaminophen use during a sensitive period of brain development causes long-term alterations in the brain and is manifested as problems with social function.
- Eight published studies evaluated the long terms effects on children of acetaminophen use during pregnancy or during childhood. All 8 studies point in the same direction: Acetaminophen is neurotoxic to the developing brain.
- Acetaminophen substantially alters brain chemistry and temporarily impairs awareness of social issues in adult humans.
- Testing of acetaminophen safety in children did not include any evaluation of brain function, and no long-term studies were ever conducted. The primary manufacturer of acetaminophen in the US acknowledges that the drug has never been shown to be safe for brain development when used during pregnancy or in childhood. All safety tests were performed with the assumption that any side effects would be acute in nature (e.g., bleeding or acute organ damage). This assumption was based on observations made with acetaminophen in adults and with aspirin in children. It was not based on any experience with acetaminophen use in children.
- Chittaranjan Andrade, Chair of Psychopharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, has written a peer reviewed paper on the topic of acetaminophen induced brain damage. He nicely summarized a number of studies looking at the connection between acetaminophen and neurological damage. His final conclusion is that the drug is probably more associated with ADHD than autism, but the conclusion was limited to exposure during pregnancy and his work was conducted before some critical studies were published in 2016.
- A recent study found that its use dulls pleasure as well as pain. “That a drug purported to relieve negative evaluations of pain also reduces positive evaluations of pleasant stimuli suggests the existence of a common evaluative psychological process that influences a wide range of thoughts and behaviors. This might mean, for instance, that certain methods designed to specifically alter individuals’ reactivity to negative stimuli (e.g., treatment of phobias) could, if too broadly applied, potentially change their sensitivity to emotionally evocative stimuli more generally, including positive events (e.g., causing them to feel less joy at a wedding). It is interesting that such diminished evaluation sensitivity could also presumably cause people to feel less conflicted, indecisive, or uncomfortable when they experience ambivalence toward individuals or experiences that elicit both negative and positive reactions (e.g., Priester & Petty, 1996; Rydell & Durso, 2012).”
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/tylenol-damages-brains-children-research-reveals
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/tylenol-kills-emotions-well-pain-study-reveals
