El Reg reports:
Reported in The Lancet, the study [on paracetamol also known as acetaminophen] funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline Australia ran for over three years and involved "a multicentre, double-dummy, randomised, placebo controlled trial across 235 primary care centres in Sydney."
The study saw some patients given regular doses paracetamol, others told to take the drug when in pain and a third group handed placebos. Those given paracetamol, in either mode, reported no less pain than those taking placebos. Nor did sugar-pill-poppers recover from their ailments more slowly.
The authors therefore "question the universal endorsement of paracetamol in this patient group."
In this interview the study's leader Professor Chris Maher even questions whether Paracetamol can be considered a pain-killer.
"The jury is out" on whether the drug lessens pain, Professor Maher says about two minutes into the interview.
So, what does work? Don't just lay there; for starters, get up and MOVE AROUND.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday July 25 2014, @04:00PM
What's disconcerting about acetaminophen is that the dangers have been know for such a long time but it is only now that they are really being publicized. I remember back in my freshman year of college (1987), learning in either organic chemistry or bio, that the lethal dose of acetaminophen is very close to the effective dose.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 25 2014, @05:51PM
Why do hospitals and doctors seem to push it so much then? I would never buy tylenol.