"Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com> writes:
Of course, drugs can also be damaging. One tablet of Tylenol is not so bad. 100 destroy your liver. An occassional drink rarely hurts. Being falling down drunk at all times is unlikely to improve your life.
I will never take Tylenol. Acetaminophen is an interesting compound. It is a potent hepatotoxin, but is broken down "just in time" by liver enzymes when it is taken in small quantities. Hence it usually doesn't kill you. The Catch-22 here is that people whose livers are impaired for various reasons may not be able to metabolize it before it does its damage, and their livers may be destroyed. These people may not have any other symptoms which indicate to them that they have liver disease. There have been a number of cases of liver damage requiring transplantation, one which involved taking only a couple of tablets more than the recommended daily dose. Coincidentally, one of the morning shows had a piece today on a baby that required a liver transplant for a Tylenol overdose, just before I read your message. Seems the package of Tylenol said to consult a physician for the correct dosage if a child was under two years of age. The mom called the doctor and he gave her the dosage for "Children's Tylenol." The mother, unfortunately, was using "Infant Tylenol", which is slightly more concentrated, and the baby lost her liver as a result of this unfortunate miscomunication. Despite the marketing hype, the risks of acetaminophen just aren't worth it for a medication whose only purpose is to serve as a mild analgesic. -- Mike Duvos $ PGP 2.6 Public Key available $ mpd@netcom.com $ via Finger. $