Could the world's most popular painkiller be making people more reckless?

A familiar pain reliever in every family medicine cabinet, paracetamol (acetaminophen), not only helps relieve pain and reduce fever, but can also make us more "reckless" when facing risks.

Any medicine is safe when used in the right dose for the right disease - Photo: AI

The research was conducted by a team led by Dr. Baldwin Way, a psychologist at Ohio State University (Ohio State University, USA). The results were published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience in 2020 .

In recent years, the team has conducted a series of behavioral and brain-scanning experiments to understand how acetaminophen (the main ingredient in many popular painkillers) affects people's risk perception and empathy.

Painkillers and fever reducers are widely used around the world. But in addition to the familiar pain-relieving effects, scientists have found that acetaminophen also reduces negative emotions when faced with risks, making users tend to lower their risk assessment and be willing to take more risks.

“The drug appears to reduce fear of risky activities,” said neuroscientist Baldwin Way, who led the study. “Given its widespread use, this effect may extend to social behavior in general.”

To test the hypothesis, the team conducted an experiment with more than 500 university students. Half were given 1,000 mg of paracetamol, the maximum recommended dose for adults; the other group received a placebo.

Participants were asked to inflate virtual balloons on a computer screen: each puff would "earn virtual money", but if the balloon popped, they would lose all their money.

The results were surprising: the paracetamol group inflated and popped more balloons, suggesting they were taking greater risks. “It seems that as the balloons got bigger, they didn’t feel as anxious or afraid of popping them as they normally would,” Way explains.

In addition to the virtual game, volunteers were also asked about their risk tolerance in a variety of real-life situations: betting a day's salary on a sports match, bungee jumping from a high bridge, or driving without a seatbelt.

The results showed that those who took paracetamol rated the level of danger lower than the control group, although in some surveys this effect was not significant.

Scientists believe this effect may be related to paracetamol's ability to reduce anxiety. "When risk anxiety increases, normal people stop. But for people who have taken paracetamol, that fear is reduced, making them more likely to take risks," the research team said.

This study also adds to a growing body of evidence that paracetamol can affect cognition and emotion, such as reducing empathy, reducing sensitivity to emotional pain, or slowing information processing.

Despite the remarkable findings, scientists stress that paracetamol remains an essential and safe medicine when used in the right dose, and is listed as a basic medicine by the World Health Organization (WHO).

But the study opens up a new perspective: a pill that seems to only help relieve headaches or reduce fever can have a silent impact on the way we assess risks and make decisions.

“We need more research to better understand the psychological and neurological effects of these popular painkillers,” says neurologist Baldwin Way. “Because it’s possible that they don’t just relieve pain, they also make us less… fearful.”

MINH HAI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thuoc-giam-dau-pho-bien-nhat-the-gioi-co-the-khien-con-nguoi-lieu-linh-hon-20251027110531773.htm