Acetaminophen Reduces Both Pain and Pleasure, Study Finds

An anonymous reader writes: Researchers studying the commonly used pain reliever acetaminophen found it has a previously unknown side effect: It blunts positive emotions (abstract). Acetaminophen, the main ingredient in the over-the-counter pain reliever Tylenol, has been in use for more than 70 years in the United States, but this is the first time that this side effect has been documented.

Comments

= paracetamol

[ebcdic]

Most of the world calls this drug paracetamol.

Re:= paracetamol

[mjwx]

are you sure not Tylenol? also Panadol, Mapap, Tempra, Feverall, Ofirmev, Acephen, Mejoralito, Xl-dol, Bf-paradac, Aypanal, Aphen, Nortemp, Apap, Ringl

Paracetamol == drug name.

Panadol == brand name.

I never ask for a pain reliever by it's brand name as brand name pain killers are more expensive than generics and the generics are just as effective.

Re:= paracetamol

[mjwx]

Before dispensing pharmaceutical or medical advice please be aware of the limitations of what you say.

You really need to start taking your own advice.

Your sources come from brand name manufacturers. Of course they're going to claim generics dont work as well.

The FDA and it's counterparts in every other western country has a requirement that all generic pharmaceuticals are as safe and effective as the brand name pharmaceuticals they're competing against.

Studies have shown that generics are not only bioequivalent, but the lower cost leads to better adherence (I.E. patients "forget" to take the brand name medication more often).

Re:= paracetamol

[Malc]

Growing up in the UK, I'd never heard of Tylenol until I moved to Canada as an adult. You occasionally hear it on American TV shows these days, but unless you know what the characters are referring to, it will just pass most people by. Even "acetaminophen" is an unknown term in the UK, it's always just "paracetamol"

Tylenol is most definitely a N. American thing that nobody else knows about. Panadol seems to be the generic antipodean headache drug - I know this because my wife is Aussie and after six years in London she's still confusing people by saying "panadol" instead of "paracetamol" :)

Re:Zoloft is a 1000 times worse

[Shakrai]

The best anti-depressant I have found is distance running. The second best is other forms of cardio exercise. SSRIs or SNRIs? Been there, done that, they did very little to help me with depression. I don't even think they took the edge off, although it's hard to prove that negative. Tried Celexa, Zoloft, Effexor, Prozac, and a few other ones. Not only did they fail to address (or even make manageable) the depression, they all came with a lovely side effect and then six months of the other extreme when I discontinued them.

Re:Hmmmm

[Mashiki]

As someone who was prescribed acetaminophen with codeine(Tylenol 3) as a starter treatment for migraines I can say in my experience it does both. In the last 15 years I've since moved onto ultram and fiorinal c 1/2 which is it's own fucked up ball of wax. Why this is news though I have no idea, it was well known in the 1920's an 30's that both acetaminophen and codeine depressed the nervous system and they used it to treat shell shocked troops.

Re:Zoloft is a 1000 times worse

[facetube]

The anti-depressant response to endurance exercise may be genotype-dependent. Read up on the OPRM1 A118G SNP (a genetic mutation of the mu opioid receptor); it's fascinating: http://www.nature.com/npp/jour....