To many pills of Tylenol type can harm liver

A new study affirms that people who take too much of the popular painkiller
acetaminophen can seriously damage their livers, particularly if they are
alcoholics.

"People don't have a healthy respect for it," said researcher Dr. William
M. Lee.

Warnings about dosage limits already appear on products with acetaminophen,
such as Tylenol. People should pay attention to those labels and not exceed
dose limits "when you're seeking pain relief and get frustrated," said Lee,
who reports his findings in today's New England Journal of Medicine with
colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.

They studied 71 patients admitted to the hospital over three years who
either had liver damage from acetaminophen or who'd taken enough of the
drug to risk damage.

The 50 patients who'd deliberately overdosed for a suicide attempt showed a
lower death rate, 2 percent, than people who'd taken too much accidentally,
19 percent. They also had less liver damage. That happened even though
those who attempted suicide took more acetaminophen.

One reason could be a chronic alcohol abuse, which was more common in the
accidentaloverdose group, because alcohol makes acetaminophen more toxic
while depleting a substance that protects the liver.

"People don't have a healthy respect for it," said researcher Dr. William
M.Lee