A study by American researchers may have discovered a
new side-effect of paracetamol, where it muffles emotional reactions of
people who take it.
If the results of the study are proven to be correct,
it'll mean that the drug reduces pleasure sensations as well as pain
sensations. Oh joy.
In the study, 82 students were given either 1000mg
of paracetamol (or acetaminophen), or 1000mg of a placebo. The students
were asked to look at 40 emotionally-triggering photographs an hour later,
and rate each image according to how positive or negative it was.
The students were then asked to look at the pictures
again and give a second score based on their emotional reaction to the picture
(0 for no reaction and 10 for extremely strong reaction).
The
results showed that the students who had taken paracetamol experiences less
intense reactions; the happy images were seen as less positive, and the
upsetting images as less shocking.
"People who took acetaminophen didn't feel the same
highs or lows as did the people who took placebos," said Baldwin Way, a
co-author on the study.
But
there is hope; the differences between the groups weren't crazily massive, so
don't suggest that the drug dulls all emotion completely and turns us all into
robots; students who took the placebo had an emotional response average of
6.76, and the paracetamol takers had an average of 5.85.
The
research group is planning follow-up studies with ibuprofen and aspirin.
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