Scientists have proven that paracetamol has a bad effect on people's behavior

According to 2019 data, there are about10 thousand medicines for various diseases. They can really help people completely get rid of even the most terrible diseases, or at least relieve the symptoms associated with them. At the same time, most drugs have contraindications and side effects - therefore, before using them, you must read the instructions. From time to time, scientists reveal unusual side effects even for well-known and very popular drugs. For example, a couple of years ago it was found that paracetamol can affect a person's behavior, making him more risky. The discovery was made while studying the results of an experiment involving students.

The experiment showed that paracetamol can affect people's behavior

Side effects of drugs

In addition to being useful, some medicines can becomecause of health problems. To keep abreast of all the risks, scientists regularly conduct experiments to detect dangers in a timely manner - this reduces the risk that people will suffer due to unforeseen side effects. In 2020, researchers conducted a series of experiments to find out how over-the-counter drugs can affect a person's behavior. Most of all, they were surprised by the effect of paracetamol, which is also known as acetaminophen, Tylenol and panadol.

Paracetamol is available under different brand names.

Paracetamol is usually used to reducebody temperature and pain relief. The authors of the scientific work suggested that this medicine is also able to influence psychological processes. For example, along with a reduction in sensitivity to pain, pills can reduce people's empathy, dull cognition, or reduce feelings of fear.

See also: What is the most expensive medicine in the world and why?

What are the dangers of paracetamol?

To test their hypothesis, a group of scientistsled by neuroscientist Baldwin Way (Baldwin Way) conducted an experiment involving 500 students. One half of the participants drank 1,000 milligrams of paracetamol (the recommended maximum dose) and the other half took a placebo.

After that, the volunteers were invited to playa simple computer game. By clicking on the image of the balloon, the students gradually inflated it - for each click, virtual money was awarded. The goal of the game was to collect more money, but with the condition that if the balloon inflates too much and bursts, the player will lose all the money earned.

Paracetamol somehow relieves anxiety and makes people more courageous

Observations showed that those who took paracetamolstudents took more risks - they continued to inflate the balloon, even when it became large. At the same time, participants who drank the placebo stopped much earlier to prevent the balloon from popping. Based on this, scientists concluded that paracetamol allows people to take risky actions.

It appears that acetaminophen (paracetamol) causespeople experience less negative emotions when they think about risky actions - they just do not experience the usual fear, explained Baldwin Way.

To consolidate the result, the scientists askedstudents to complete a short questionnaire. It proposed to assess the level of risk in a number of hypothetical situations that may arise in life. For example, participants in the experiment rated how high the risk of losing on a sports betting or driving a car without a seat belt. The students who took paracetamol considered the situations less risky than the students in the placebo group. In fairness, it should be noted that earlier researchers conducted similar testing and the results were less clear.

Who would have thought that paracetamol could have such a side effect?

Despite this, the first experiment with a game aboutthe bead demonstrates that a cure for fever and pain can still affect a person's behavior. Scientists believe that this is due to a decrease in the level of anxiety:

Perhaps as the balloonincreased, those taking the placebo became increasingly anxious about the potential explosion. When the anxiety becomes strong, they stop the test. Paracetamol may well have reduced this anxiety, leading to more risky behavior, the authors of the study concluded.

Be that as it may, paracetamol remains one of themost effective medicines for cold and flu symptoms. But scientists now treat it with a little more caution. This is a very popular drug that is taken by millions of people around the world - it is possible that its side effect is somehow reflected in society.

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Finally, we would like to recommend you an article about the dangers of counterfeit medicines and how to recognize them. Here is the link.