An increasing number of young people aged 13 to 17 deliberately overdose on ibuprofen or paracetamol. Doctors are concerned.
The increase is apparent from the annual overview of the Poison Center (NVIC), which is part of the UMC Utrecht. In 2022, the center received 37 percent more reports about young people deliberately taking an overdose of medicines than in 2020. A total of 1439 reports were received. A large increase of 45 percent was also visible in 2021.
The poison center investigated the reports and saw the increase starting in July 2020. The number of overdoses increased most among girls aged 13 to 15 years. “This requires attention,” says Professor Dylan de Lange, intensivist-toxicologist and head of the NVIC. He calls the rise “disturbing.”
Yet such a deliberate overdose does not mean that someone really wants to die, says Bas Oude Ophuis, child and adolescent psychiatrist at UMC Utrecht. “It does indicate that something is going on with the youngster.”
You can talk about suicidal thoughts anonymously: chat via 113.nl, call 113 or call 0800-0113 free of charge.
The NVIC receives questions day and night from health care providers from all over the country who treat patients who are experiencing poisoning. The center provides advice on treatment and records the type of poisoning. Last year, 45,185 reports of poisoning were registered. In 9244 cases it was an animal.
Liver and kidney damage from overdose
The consequences of the overdose for the patient are not registered as standard. It is clear that things go wrong every now and then, even with commonly sold drugs such as paracetamol and ibuprofen. De Lange: “Make no mistake, these are not risk-free medicines. An overdose can lead to liver and kidney damage and in some cases be fatal.
Two more striking trends emerge from the annual review: for example, the center saw an increase in the number of poisonings with ‘benzodiazepines’; drugs with a sedative effect, which can be used as drugs. The center received 195 reports about this.
The number of workplace poisonings also increased in 2022, after three years in which this number remained stable. The center received 921 reports, many of which involved a chemical that got into an employee’s eye.
Check out our most viewed news videos in the playlist below:
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and don’t miss a thing of the stars.
Yes, I want free unlimited access
2023-07-04 01:00:25
#Teens #deliberately #overdose #painkillers #doctors #call #increase #disturbing
