Patients taking paracetamol suffer from significant psychological changes. American researchers have found that patients with paracetamol have a markedly reduced ability to empathize. The results of the study were published in the journal Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.
How does an anesthetic affect emotions?
Paracetamol is used to treat mild to moderate pain and fever. Sometimes an analgesic is used for headaches or to relieve menstrual cramps. Comparing paracetamol with other painkillers, we can say that it exhibits minor unwanted side effects.
Physical and mental pain is treated in similar areas of the brain. No wonder mental pain can manifest itself physically.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky have already been able to observe in a number of studies that analgesics relieve not only physical, but also mental pain.
A working group led by Nathan Dewall showed that pain due to social exclusion or financial loss decreased from taking paracetamol. Researchers observed a decrease in activity in the anterior cingulate gyrus and anterior islet cortex. These two areas of the brain play a key role in the mental anesthesia of the body. The exact mechanism of action of paracetamol is still unknown.
In the study, scientists randomly assigned 80 patients to a placebo group and a treatment group. The subjects took approximately 1 g of paracetamol.
An hour after taking the medicine, the participants read a story in which people experienced mental or physical pain. After that, they had to indicate what kind of pain the characters suffered. It was found that volunteers from the paracetamol group rated the pain in the characters significantly worse.
Similar studies come to the same conclusions?
In a second experiment, a research team of 114 subjects heard loud noises from people in another room. In the paracetamol group, participants perceived sounds neutrally. When the accident was played out for other participants, subjects evaluated the perceived pain "as their own."
In the final experiment, participants observed the social situation in which the person was isolated. Under paracetamol, volunteers rated social pain lower than in the comparison group.
Researchers suggest that a decrease in empathy was associated with a decrease in pain. Scientists estimate that about ¼ of Americans taking the drug every week have similar side effects.
How often can paracetamol be taken so as not to lose empathy?
Paracetamol should be dosed and adapted differently depending on the patient. The doctor takes into account the dosage and, above all, body weight and age. The tablet works after 30-60 minutes.
According to the recommendations of doctors, it is recommended to use paracetamol no more than 4 times in 6 months, paracetamol, or no more than 4000 mg.
The risk of decreasing empathy with short-term use is relatively low.
The risk of serious consequences increases significantly with an overdose, according to experts. An overdose is from 10 g in healthy people and from about 6 g in patients with liver failure.
In individuals with certain liver disorders, fatal outcomes are possible. If overdose symptoms occur, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Does paracetamol reduce empathy in children?
The risk of decreasing empathy in children increases when a future mother takes paracetamol during pregnancy. The relationship between painkillers and feelings of empathy seemed to exist for some time, but has not yet been studied.
A Norwegian study conducted in October 2018 showed that the risk of developing a pathology in a child steadily increased with the duration of the drug.
If mothers have been taking paracetamol for more than 29 days during pregnancy, the risk to the baby has already doubled.
If mothers received the drug for 22-28 days against fever in high doses, the risk increased 6 times.
