|
Ask
the Pharmacist By Ron and Marla Chapleau |
Health & Fitness To Comment on this article Click Here |
||||
|
Q. Can you tell me how much Tylenol (acetaminophen) I can safely take? A. In the past, the maximum daily dose of acetaminophen was 4,000 milligrams (mg). This equates to eight of the 500 mg tablets (extra strength) or roughly 12 of the 325 mg (regular strength). It is known that acetaminophen passes through the liver and may potentially cause liver damage. Those at risk include people who suffer from malnourishment, gastroenteritis, chronic alcoholism or HIV disease. Alcohol and certain other medications also increase the risk of liver injury when taken with acetaminophen. While the liver effects of acetaminophen have long been known, there is emerging evidence that chronic use of large doses (such as those above 3,000 mg per day but less than the current daily maximum) can increase the risk of cardiovascular events (such as stroke and heart attacks), kidney damage, stomach-type side effects and can raise blood pressure as well. Due to the many Emergency Room (ER) visits, hospitalizations and even deaths resulting from acetaminophen overdoses or side effects in recent years, the maximum daily dose has been reviewed. The United States has reconsidered its long-standing dose recommendations for acetaminophen and lowered them substantially. It has now issued a new maximum daily dose of 3,000 mg acetaminophen equalling six of the 500 mg tablets or nine of the 325 mg tablets. Most experts expect Canada to follow these guidelines within the next year due to the accumulating negative evidence of high-dose Tylenol therapy. Experts have noted that many of these events are unintentional and often occur when the individual is taking more than one acetaminophen-containing product at the same time. For instance, it is not uncommon for an individual to be taking a cold product, a muscle relaxant and an arthritis product and not realize all of these contain acetaminophen and could put the person well above safe limits without exceeding the directions on any of the boxes.
|
To the individual, each of these medications is taken for a
different purpose and all of them are available without a
prescription. Also, the symptoms of too much tylenol are difficult to identify. Liver failure can initially feel like flu-like symptoms and most patients do not recognize kidney or cardiovascular damage until it is too late. For more information about this or any other health-related questions, contact the pharmacists at Gordon Pharmasave, Your Health and Wellness Destination Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
|
||||
|
 for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...Monday, September 19, 2011 |
