Study Says Regular Use Of Paracetmol Will Have More Chances to Be Affected By Asthma

People who regularly use paracetamol are at three fold risk of having asthma, a new research has found.

Study author Dr. Seif Shaheen from Imperial College London and team questioned over 500 adults with asthma and over 500 people without asthma about the use of painkillers. Taking paracetamol weekly increases the risk of asthma three-fold, research has found.

When the study was conducted on children, it was found that those given the painkiller for fever in the first year of life had a 46 percent increased risk of asthma by the age of six or seven.

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. The use of paracetamol was also associated with more severe asthma symptoms as well as the increased risk of eczema and hayfever five years later.

Experts said parents should still use the drug for high temperatures. The drug reduces levels of 'glutathione' in the lungs, which is needed to defend the delicate airways against damage from pollution and smoke, study says.

The same effect was not seen for other painkillers and experts have called for more research into the link.

Asthma Inhalers Will Be More Expensive In The Coming Year

People suffering from asthma and other respiratory ailments will be forced to shell out more money to buy "green" inhalers beginning in the new year.

Since the United States signed on to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, U.S. drug companies must sell inhalers that use the propellant hydrofluoralkane, or HFA.

Environmentalists say the propellant used in traditional inhalers damages the ozone layer.

But the HFA inhalers are significantly more expensive.

Most of the new HFA inhalers cost between $30 and $60. Old inhalers cost between $5 and $25, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

The cost has some healthcare professionals concerned lower income people may cut back on their prescriptions. Inhalers are used by asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive disorder patients to deliver the drug albuterol for quick relief of symptoms associated with those diseases.

Old inhalers used chlorofluorocarbons to deliver the drug.

Some patients say the new inhalers are less effective in delivering relief.