THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210432
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
People who are too sick to eat, whether because of the flu or a toothache, and pop a few more acetaminophen tablets than recommended may risk fatal liver damage, a study found.
The authors emphasized that acetaminophen, whose best-known brand name is Tylenol, is one of the safest medications for minor illness and pain when used properly.
Moderate overdoses of acetaminophen led to liver damage in 10 patients, eight of whom had been eating little, out of all the patients with liver damage treated at the University of Pittsburgh over 5 1/2 years, according to a review of records. The study did not clearly say how many patients were treated for liver damage during that time.
A moderate overdose was defined as 4 to 10 grams of acetaminophen - the equivalent of eight to 20 extra-strength tablets - within 24 hours, researchers said. The maximum recommended dose is eight extra-strength tablets in 24 hours.
``The message is to follow the directions and be sensible in using any medication,'' said Dr. David C. Whitcomb, an assistant professor of medicine at the university and lead author of the study in today's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Previous research has shown that acetaminophen can cause liver damage in hard drinkers at lower overdoses than in other people. But the new study shows overdoses can cause liver damage even in nondrinkers if they don't get enough to eat.
Only three of the 10 patients had recently drunk alcohol, researchers reported. One of the 10 died and another required a liver transplant. The rest recovered. by CNB