Jakarta –
Acetaminophen is an over-the-counter (OTC) drug that is widely sold on the market. For information, another name for acetaminophen is paracetamol.
In general, acetaminophen is consumed to reduce body temperature during fever, relieve headaches, and relieve muscle pain. The use of acetaminophen is usually combined with other painkillers.
Apart from that, there are other benefits from taking acetaminophen. Anything? Read the complete discussion in this article.
How Acetaminophen Works
Acetaminophen is a drug that is included in the analgesic and antipyretic group. This means that this drug can help reduce pain and reduce hot body temperature due to fever.
Quoting an e-journal entitled Overview of the Use of Paracetamol Doses in Children Aged 5-15 Years at the South Banjarbaru Health Center for the March 2020 Period by Yulia Utari, the way acetaminophen works is by inhibiting prostaglandins, especially in the Central Nervous System (CNS).
Please note, prostaglandins are compounds produced by the human body in response to pain and fever. By inhibiting the production of prostaglandins in the body, acetaminophen can help cure pain and fever.
Benefits of Acetaminophen for the Body
Acetaminophen has a number of benefits for the body. Quoting the WebMD page, here are the functions of acetaminophen:
Acetaminophen is a type of drug that is commonly used to reduce fever, both in adults and children. Because acetaminophen has antipyretic properties which can reduce fever.
How it works, acetaminophen can affect the hypothalamus in the brain so that body temperature can subside quickly.
2. Relieves Pain
Acetaminophen can also be used to relieve pain. The analgesic content in acetaminophen can relieve mild to moderate pain.
However, acetaminophen is not an anti-inflammatory drug that can reduce inflammation or swelling, but can only relieve pain.
There are a number of body aches that can be relieved by consuming acetaminophen, namely:
- Headache
- Toothache
- Muscle ache
- Back pain
- Pain during menstruation
- Arthritis.
Dosage for Acetaminophen Use
Even though it can be purchased freely without a prescription, there are still instructions for use and recommended dosage. Reported by the drugs.com site, the dosage of acetaminophen depends on age and body weight.
The following are the dosages for acetaminophen grouped by adults and children:
- Adults: consume 1 or 2 tablets containing 500 mg every 4-6 hours. In a day you should not consume more than 4 grams (8 tablets x 500 mg).
- Children 6 – 12 years: consume 1/2 to 1 tablet containing 300-500 mg. Consumed 3-4 times a day.
If you regularly consume acetaminophen but the fever does not subside after 3 days, the body still feels sore, and swelling appears in certain parts of the body, immediately contact a doctor for further treatment.
Side Effects of Taking Acetaminophen
Even though it has many benefits for curing disease, acetaminophen has a number of side effects if consumed in excess of the dose.
Quoted from Very Well Health, the following are symptoms of side effects that arise due to excessive consumption of acetaminophen:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Itching
- Swelling of the face, lips, tongue
- Stupid
- Liver and kidney damage
- Blood disorders
- Urine is dark in color
That’s the discussion about acetaminophen, starting from how it works, benefits, recommended dosage, to side effects. Hopefully this article can help detikers.
Watch the video “KuTips: Learn how to properly dispose of medication at home!”
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2023-12-24 22:00:00
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