Paracetamol link to child asthma and eczema

BABIES who have been given the common pain reliever paracetamol may have a higher risk of developing asthma and eczema by the time they are 6 or 7, a large study covering children in 31 countries has found.

The findings were published in the journal Lancet together with two other studies, which found that runny noses and wheezing early on in life may be strong predictors of asthma.

In the study, researchers pored through data provided by parents of more than 205,000 children and found paracetamol use in the first year of life was associated with a 46% higher risk of asthma by the time the children were 6 or 7 compared to those never exposed to the drug.

Known as acetaminophen in the US, where it is widely sold under the brand Tylenol, it is used to relieve fever, minor aches and pain, and is used in a liquid suspension for children.

Medium use of paracetamol in the past 12 months increased asthma risk by 61%, while high dosages of once a month or more in the past year raised the risk by more than three times.

Medium use was defined as once a year or more but less than once a month.

Suspicions of a possible link between paracetamol and asthma emerged in recent years when experts observed an increased use of the drug and a simultaneous rise in asthma prevalence worldwide.

One theory is that paracetamol reduces antioxidants in the body. Some experts think antioxidants, which stop unstable molecules known as free radicals from doing too much damage, can lower the risk of cancer, heart disease and other ailments.

“Paracetamol can reduce antioxidant levels and... that can give oxidative stress in the lungs and cause asthma,” said one of the researchers, Richard Beasley of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

As with asthma, monthly use of paracetamol doubled the risk of eczema and trebled that of rhinoconjunctivitis — repetitive sneezing, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion and hay fever — by the time children were 6 or 7, the study found.

However, the researchers stressed paracetamol should remain the preferred drug to relieve pain and fever in children because its alternative, aspirin, was linked to the risk of Reye’s syndrome, a rare but serious complication in children.

They wrote: “The findings do lend support to the current guidelines of the World Health Organisation, which recommend paracetamol should not be used routinely but should be reserved for children with a high fever (38.5C or above).”