Paracetamol is a common medication that many people take at some point in their lives. Like most medications, taking too much paracetamol can lead to serious health outcomes, including liver damage. The usual dose of paracetamol is one or two 500 mg tablets at a time. Most people can take paracetamol safely, including pregnant and breastfeeding women. Health experts have known for decades that large amounts of paracetamol are toxic to the liver, but what are the warning signs that the liver may be affected due to excessive paracetamol?
Studies have shown that paracetamol under certain conditions can damage the liver by harming the vital structural connections between adjacent cells. While acute liver injury can occur when using paracetamol at or below the recommended maximum daily dose of 4000 mg, paracetamol toxicity is often the result of consuming paracetamol above this maximum dose.
It is known that a paracetamol overdose can destroy half of the liver cells in less than a week. In a study published in Oxford Academic, the toxicity of paracetamol concerning liver failure was investigated. The study indicated that "hospital admissions due to poisoning have steadily increased since the 1950s."
In Oxford, UK, the rate of paracetamol overdoses rose from 14.3% in 1976 to 42% in 1990, and in 1993, 47.8% of all overdoses involved medications containing paracetamol.
Dr. Leonard Nelson from the University of Edinburgh stated, "Paracetamol is the best pain medication in the world; it is inexpensive and considered safe and effective when taken in therapeutic doses. However, liver damage caused by drugs remains an important clinical problem and a challenge for developing safer medications. The findings underscore the need for vigilance in the use of paracetamol and may help in discovering how to prevent the harm caused by its misuse."
