Studies Suggest an Acetaminophen-Asthma Link

Remember when this stuff was supposed to be safe?

The sharp worldwide increase in childhood asthma over the past 30 years has long perplexed researchers, who have considered explanations as varied as improved hygiene and immunizations. Over the last decade, however, a new idea has emerged.

The asthma epidemic accelerated in the 1980s, some researchers have noted, about the same time that aspirin was linked to Reye’s syndrome in children. Doctors stopped giving aspirin to children with fevers, opting instead for acetaminophen. In a paper published in The Annals of Allergy and Asthma Immunology in 1998, Dr. Arthur Varner, then a fellow in the immunology training program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, argued that the switch to acetaminophen might have fueled the increase in asthma.

Right or wrong, the real point is that medicine complications can occur many years after their introduction.

Better not to use weight loss drugs or surgeries as they will likely be shown as harmful years later.

Best to lose the weight naturally.