ALCOHOL AND ACETAMINOPHEN
Acetaminophen, the non-prescription pain-killer that has weathered the storm of two capsule tampering scares, is currently being talked about for a more basic reason, Medical World News (27#8:56) reports.
Liver specialists are concerned about the lack of guidelines on the safe upper limit of acetaminophen dosage that can be taken by those who drink alcohol regularly. Everyone agrees that those who drink quite a lot of alcohol every day are at a greater than normal risk of acetaminophen-induced inflammation of the liver, which sometimes results in death from liver failure. Alcohol induces acetaminophen to be broken down by the body in an unusual way, which results in production of chemicals that are poisonous to the liver.
Experts agree that, in the presence of alcoholism, even reasonably conventional doses of acetaminophen can be dangerous. They differ, however, on the amount of acetaminophen that can be safely taken by people who merely drink some alcohol every day, but who are by no means “alcoholics.”
The most conservative opinion stated on this so far is that people who regularly drink at least three or four beers every day should never take more than two grams of acetaminophen during any 24-hour period. A glass of wine or of any other alcoholic drink would be the equivalent of one beer.
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