4 ms·

Is it true that nobody knows how acetaminophen works?

krageon 5y ago
> Although its exact mechanism of action remains unclear [...] Quote is from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482369/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482369/ , which has last been updated this year (or so it says). The studies quoted are from 2016 and 2009, so any real insight would have to be very recent.
ncmncm 5y ago
Badly. Acetominophen works badly. As I understand it, it makes you oblivious to suffering, incidentally including your own.
- I_complete_me 5y ago
  > makes you oblivious to suffering, incidentally including your own Sounds like the definition of alcohol from "The Devil's Dictionary"!
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    I like the definition of "cabbage" best: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head.
hajile 5y ago
It's also true that a lot of trials show that it's only a couple percent more effective than a placebo. That fact is even more true about anti-depressants. Tons get rejected because they are only 1-2% more effective than a placebo. Even worse, we make the anti-depressants and don't actually have any real idea about what causes depression in the first place nor what exactly the drugs are treating. We're also really bad about long-term side effects. Meridia was pulled after something like 15 years. Permax after 20 years years due to causing birth defects and other things. Cylert was an ADHD drug pulled after 30 years. Accutane (for acne treatment) was pulled after around 30. Pentylenetetrazol was pulled after 48 years because a whopping 42% of the people who took it got spinal fractures from the seizures it caused (not to mention all the other body damage to other bones and muscles). Propoxyphene (pain killer) was supposed to be pulled in the 70s, but the FDA waited 55 YEARS until around a decade ago to pull it. And if you look up lists of recalled drugs and their reason for recalls, there's hundreds with many having been in use multiple decades and sometimes like these, despite the high risk being well known. That's just one problem with the FDA and big pharma having a revolving door policy.

> Although its exact mechanism of action remains unclear [...] Quote is from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482369/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482369/ , which has last been updated this year (or so it says). The studies quoted are from 2016 and 2009, so any real insight would have to be very recent.

ncmncm 5y ago

Badly. Acetominophen works badly. As I understand it, it makes you oblivious to suffering, incidentally including your own.

I_complete_me 5y ago
> makes you oblivious to suffering, incidentally including your own Sounds like the definition of alcohol from "The Devil's Dictionary"!
- ncmncm 5y ago
  I like the definition of "cabbage" best: A familiar kitchen-garden vegetable about as large and wise as a man's head.

hajile 5y ago

It's also true that a lot of trials show that it's only a couple percent more effective than a placebo. That fact is even more true about anti-depressants. Tons get rejected because they are only 1-2% more effective than a placebo. Even worse, we make the anti-depressants and don't actually have any real idea about what causes depression in the first place nor what exactly the drugs are treating. We're also really bad about long-term side effects. Meridia was pulled after something like 15 years. Permax after 20 years years due to causing birth defects and other things. Cylert was an ADHD drug pulled after 30 years. Accutane (for acne treatment) was pulled after around 30. Pentylenetetrazol was pulled after 48 years because a whopping 42% of the people who took it got spinal fractures from the seizures it caused (not to mention all the other body damage to other bones and muscles). Propoxyphene (pain killer) was supposed to be pulled in the 70s, but the FDA waited 55 YEARS until around a decade ago to pull it. And if you look up lists of recalled drugs and their reason for recalls, there's hundreds with many having been in use multiple decades and sometimes like these, despite the high risk being well known. That's just one problem with the FDA and big pharma having a revolving door policy.