Sorry I’ve been absent for a while but we had some family drama that needed to be dealt with. Forunately all is well and I’m back in the saddle again.

Even though it’s not funny, one of the jokes in an emergency room I worked in was all of the trouble that some folks went to when trying to find an instrument to get some attention through a suicide gesture. Some thought they would try to “fake” it by using the readily available acetaminophen. Little did they know that this inexpensive over the counter medication is one of the most dangerous drugs you can take if you take too much.

A recent study at the University of Rochester in New York has found that a majority of teenagers and young adults take over the counter medications without even knowing what the medicine actually is or the possible dangerous side effects.

Even though various studies document that acetaminophen toxicity is the cause of more cases of acute liver failure than viral hepatitis, few adolescents realized the possible dangers of taking that drug or many others that are freely available to them.  In this study it was found that 77% of those studied that were determined to be “health literate” did not even know the maximum daily dose of acetaminophen.

While this study focused on young people the findings for adults are not much better. It is imperative that people educate themselves about the medications that they take and become familiar with the dosage instructions printed on the bottle. bjmdjd  

Material modifications since posting: none

acetaminophen · acetaminophen dangers · health · over the counter drug toxicity · University of Rochester · wellness