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Paracetamol (acetaminophen): a blessing or a hidden curse?

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Abstract

This Journal has recently published a splendid review of all you need to know about paracetamol (Graham et al. 2013), an analgesic widely used in the long-term management of arthritis. It clearly presents the science and hard facts. This commentary, by contrast, discusses some aspects of the metapharmacology of paracetamol; particularly by asking questions of how we might extract more benefit and suffer less adverse reactions when using this analgesic in the context of non-transient inflammation. As both a drug and a toxin, paracetamol exemplifies how beneficial and/or deleterious responses may be conditioned by circumstances (disease stress, nutritional status, fasting, etc.).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Correspondence to M. W. Whitehouse.

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Whitehouse, M.W., Butters, D.E. Paracetamol (acetaminophen): a blessing or a hidden curse?. Inflammopharmacol 22, 63–65 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-013-0189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10787-013-0189-1

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