Infant paracetamol linked to asthma increases

[Sammiejane]

Thanks Dusty for the additional information.

I think that the concern is more for the people that choose to use Pandaol or paracetamol to help settle a child or as a preventative before immunisations.

Aside from this finding, Many people think that pandaol is a 'safe' drug as it is a mild painkiller and i know adults that will frequently exceed the daily limit with panadol thinking that it will help. What they fail to realise is that the clearance of the drug by the liver is the slow and by giving additional doses can actually contribute to liver damage.

Heard of people taking a box of panadol to kill themselves (usually more as a dry for help) well these people have no idea how their lives will change, a perminent liver diet is incredibly boring and the hepatitis that results is no fun.

Personally i use panadol extremely sparingly, none during pg and MJ has had it once when she had a temp of 38.5 and was vomiting after immunitations...
I am not however suggesting that parents should not use Panadol or similar to treat high fevers and discomfort
Sorry thats a bit off topic, but thought i would throw it in.

[dusty]

I think that the concern is more for the people that choose to use Pandaol or paracetamol to help settle a child or as a preventative before immunisations.

I know family members that do this as a first resort and that is what worries me. In addition we have a family history/predisposition to asthma.

Critics say the infections for which the paracetamol was given may have triggered the asthma rather than the drug itself. Professor Glenis Scadding, a consultant allergist at the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, said: "It may be that the actual cause is recurrent viral colds."

This is interesting information as well. I wonder with the increasing incidence of asthma in modern society whether there is just a big combination of factors, including exposure to more pollutants, diseases spreading further due to increased and easy accessibility to travel, avoiding germs and hence not developing resistence etc etc.

One thing I am taking from this is to not jump in and use paracetamol as a first resort for an unsettled child without determining whether there are other factors causing the unsettled behaviour.