Regular Paracetamol Users Highly Vulnerable to Asthma

People who take paracetamol regularly are at a significantly high risk of developing Asthma, an allergic inflammatory disease of the airways, suggests a new research.

The study, carried out by Dr Seif Shaheen and colleagues from the Imperial College, London, and other medical and academic institutes across Europe, found that individuals taking paracetamol at least once a week were nearly three times more likely to have asthma than those taking it less often.

Dr Shaheen and colleagues who reported their study in the peer-reviewed medical journal European Respiratory Journal, reached their findings after recruiting 1,028 people from 12 centers across Europe. Of total participants, 521 were recruited as cases and 507 were recruited as controls between May 2005 and May 2007.

Both asthma and non asthma patients in the study were aged between 20 and 45 years. Asthmatics had both a self-reported diagnosis of asthma and either wheezing, or shortness of breath in the previous 12 months, while the participants in control group were healthy volunteers with no diagnosis of asthma and no asthmatic symptoms in the previous similar period.

After the analysis, the researchers found a dangerous link between asthma and paracetamol usage. Individuals who frequently used paracetamol had increased their risk of asthma by up to three fold.

The study authors believe that regular use of paracetamol reduces the levels of antioxidant glutathione, found in the lung airways and the nose, which in turn increases the risk of Asthma greatly. The antioxidant glutathione levels protect the lungs that contain delicate airways from air pollution and tobacco smoke.

"Epidemiological evidence is growing that shows a link between paracetamol and asthma. Since 2000, several publications have reported this association for instance in the UK and the USA. We have also shown that asthma prevalence is higher in children and adults in countries with higher paracetamol sales,” said Dr Shaheen.

"Considering asthma is a common disease and paracetamol use is frequent, it is now important to find out whether this association is really a causal one. A clinical trial may be the only way to answer this question conclusively” the researcher said.

Although the recent research findings are of much significance, researchers believe larger studies are needed to ascertain that paracetamol actually plays a role in causing the condition.

According to HowLeanne Male, Asthma UK's Assistant Director of Research, if the link is proven, it could help experts reduce the number of people developing asthma.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways in the lungs. This respiratory disorder is characterized by recurrent attacks of difficulty in breathing, particularly on exhalation. It is caused by an increased resistance to air flow through the respiratory bronchioles (small air tubes leading to the lungs).

The condition can be triggered by such things as exposure to an environmental stimulant such as an allergen, environmental tobacco smoke, cold or warm air, perfume, petdefine dander, moist air, exercise or exertion, or emotional stress.