| The latest
study, carried out in 31 countries, is the
largest to date looking at paracetamol use and
childhood asthma.
Parents of children aged six
and seven were asked questionnaires about
symptoms of asthma, eczema and related allergic
conditions in addition to details on paracetamol
use for fever in the child's first year of life
and the past 12 months.
The results also showed that
higher doses and more regular use of the drug
are associated with a greater risk of developing
asthma.
Analysis of current use in
103,000 children showed those who had used
paracetamol more than once a month in the past
year had a three-fold increased risk of asthma
compared with those who had not taken the drug
in the past 12 months.
Use of paracetamol was also
associated with more severe asthma symptoms.
And risk of eczema and
hayfever was also increased.
Cause and effect
One explanation for the
findings is that paracetamol may cause changes
in the body that leave a child more vulnerable
to inflammation and allergies.
Another is that the use of
paracetamol in children may be a marker for
something else which is causing increased rates
of asthma, such as lifestyle issues or the
underlying infection causing the fever, experts
said.
Study leader Professor Richard
Beasley from the University of Auckland said:
"We stress the findings do not constitute a
reason to stop using paracetamol in childhood.
"However the findings do lend
support to the current guidelines of the World
Health Organization, which recommend that
paracetamol should be reserved for children with
a high fever (38.5C or above)."
Professor Jeffrey Aronson,
president of the British Pharmacological
Society, said the dose relationship with
paracetamol and asthma suggested there was a
real association between the two.
"This confirms previous
findings and underlines the importance of a
current recommendation that paracetamol should
not be used regularly in young children and
should be reserved for times when they have a
fever and are in obvious discomfort or pain."
Leanne Male, Asthma UK's
assistant director of research, said: "Despite a
great deal of research being carried out, we
still don't know how important different
lifestyle and genetic factors are in affecting
the development of asthma.
"If we can establish the
mechanisms behind how paracetamol might affect
it, this could go some way towards helping to
prevent the condition in the first place.
"At this stage however, the
use of paracetamol should not be a concern for
parents or carers who are worried about the
development of asthma in their children."
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