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Infant Painkiller (Paracetamol) Can Cause Asthma

-September 19, 2008 

According to a recent international study, paracetamol, a painkiller used to treat high fever in infants, can increase the incidence of childhood asthma.

As the largest study of its kind, this research involved the examination of over 200,000 questionnaires from 31 different countries. In the questionnaires, parents of six and seven year old children were asked to detail:

• whether or not their children suffered from asthma, eczema or other allergies
• the symptoms of their children's asthma, eczema and/or other allergies
• their children's history of receiving paracetamol

Paracetamol and Childhood Asthma: The Results of the Study
Thorough analysis of these questionnaires found that nearly half of all children administered paracetamol had an increased risk of developing asthma within 5 years.

Similarly, researchers found that frequent use of the pain killer, as well as high doses, heightened children's risk of developing asthma and tended to intensify symptoms when asthma was already present.

These findings resulted from one dimension of the study that analyzed over 100,000 cases in which children were given paracetamol at least two times per month within the past year. Over all, the children were found to be more likely to suffer from eczema and hayfever and three times more likely to develop childhood asthma than those who had never been give the drug.

Analyzing the Results
While the link between taking paracetamol and developing childhood asthma is clear, researchers are still trying to unravel the precise reasons for this connection. Some of the leading experts have suggested the following possible explanations:

• Taking paracetamol causes physiological changes in children's bodies that weakens their immune systems and makes them more susceptible to having allergic reactions.

• The need for taking pain killers may indicate that another underlying condition is present. This underlying health problem may be the factor that increases children's vulnerability to developing asthma.

While researchers continue working to uncover the link between paracetamol use and childhood asthma, medical experts stress that the pain killer should only be used in recommended doses and only in cases of extremely high fever (101.3°F or 38.5°C).

(Source: BBC Health News)

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