Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Tylenol May Kill Kindness (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the articles-about-acetaminophen dept.

Long-time Slashdot reader randomErr writes: In research published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience scientists describe the results of two experiments conducted involving more than 200 college students.Their conclusion is that acetaminophen can reduce a person's capacity to empathize with another person's pain. "We don't know why acetaminophen is having these effects, but it is concerning," senior author Baldwin Way, an Ohio State University psychologist, said. One of the studies has half the group consume a liquid with acetaminophen while the other group received a placebo. The group that drink the acetaminophen thought that people they read about experiencing pain was not as severe as the placebo group thought.
The Washington Post notes that acetaminophen is the most common drug ingredient in the United States, adding that "about a quarter of all Americans take acetaminophen every week."

5 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds plausible by fyrewulff · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I mean, the medicine alters your brain's perception of pain. Makes sense that it could, by proximity of function, alter your brain's perception of other people's pain.

    --
    "We need to get over this notion, that, for Apple to win... Microsoft must lose." - Steve Jobs, 1997
    1. Re:Sounds plausible by bersl2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I personally find that acetaminophen is also good on the kind of pain induced by psychological withdrawl. If my brain starts hurting after having to go without one or more of my psychotropics for days, acetaminophen is better at addressing the spike being driven into my skull than other analgesics. So it does seem plausible that people with pain in the body may want to prefer NSAIDs or aspirin, unless contraindicated.

    2. Re:Sounds plausible by Calydor · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Perception of pain is reduced by the medicine.

      Person tries to empathize with pain described by imagining what it would feel like.

      Perception of pain IS REDUCED.

      Objective expression of empathy becomes reduced as a result, but subjectively, seen from the people in the test? They probably didn't feel less empathic.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    3. Re:Sounds plausible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The reason is that, if I recall right, paracetamol actually has anadamide-reuptake-inhibition effects. Anandamide is an endocannabinoid.

  2. What about other analgesics? by macurmudgeon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Comparing Tylenol against placebo is a start, but until it's compared against other pain relievers we won't know if the effects are specific to the drug or a generalized response to pain relievers in general.