Acetaminophen Use and Breathing Problems

Too much acetaminophen may lead to a higher risk of asthma and chronic obstructivepulmonary disease (COPD), reported researchers in the American Journal of Respiratoryand Critical Care Medicine (May 1, 2005). Using data from the Third National Healthand Nutrition Survey, the investigators learned that the frequency of asthma was 6.9%and the frequency of COPD was 11.8%.

The results of their study also indicated that 2.8% of the >13,000 participants had both respiratorydiseases. Of this group, ~4% used acetaminophen daily, compared with 8.2% whoused aspirin and 2.5% who used ibuprofen. The researchers also pointed out that neitheraspirin nor ibuprofen use was associated with the prevalence of either asthma or COPD.