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Taking part in It Secure: Acetaminophen Secure Use and Males’s Well being Month
Writer: Dr. Julius Johnson
I liked taking part in soccer as a child, and as an grownup I nonetheless get pleasure from spending weekends teaching my neighborhood’s youth soccer staff, the Brooklyn Skyhawks. I additionally get my fair proportion of train by understanding at residence and taking part in with my daughter within the park. Generally I overdo it, and find yourself with aching muscular tissues and joints after an formidable exercise.
Like many individuals, one of many first treatments I attain for is a chilly pack and an over-the-counter (OTC) ache reliever. It’s what I inform my sufferers to do – and more often than not, it does the trick. However it’s essential to know what elements are within the OTC and prescription medicines you’re taking, for ache and in any other case, and the way to take them safely. The commonest piece of recommendation I give, on and off the sector, is to not overdo it. OTC medicines can have severe well being penalties if not taken as directed.
Ache Reduction and Males’s Well being
The unhappy reality is that males are in a whole lot of ache. In a nationwide survey, 65% of males reported that they expertise ongoing ache, usually for a yr or longer, and lots of of them flip to OTC or prescription medicines for reduction. Throughout Males’s Well being Month, the Acetaminophen Consciousness Coalition is urging males to take cost of their well being and take their medicines safely – particularly if these medicines include acetaminophen.
What Is Acetaminophen?
Most individuals don’t know that acetaminophen is the commonest drug ingredient in America, discovered in additional than 600 over-the-counter and prescription medicines – together with many commonly-used ache relievers, cough, chilly, and allergy medicines, sleep aids, and fever reducers. When used as directed, it’s protected and efficient, however taking an excessive amount of is an overdose and may result in liver injury.
The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) has set a most each day dose of 4,000 milligrams (mg) of acetaminophen in a 24-hour interval.
Suggestions for Utilizing Acetaminophen Safely
Observe these 4 steps to make use of acetaminophen safely:
- All the time learn and comply with the dosing directions in your label. By no means take extra drugs than directed by the label – that is an overdose, and it could actually result in liver injury.
- Know in case your medicines include acetaminophen. In case your OTC drugs accommodates acetaminophen, it is going to be highlighted in yellow on the label. It could typically be listed as “APAP” or “acetam” on prescription drugs.
- Take just one drugs with acetaminophen at a time. You possibly can take an excessive amount of acetaminophen for those who use multiple drugs that accommodates acetaminophen on the similar time.
- Ask your healthcare supplier or pharmacist when you have questions about the way to take your medicines safely.
The Endgame
In my twin roles as a household nurse practitioner and a coach, I attempt to information males to make selections that maintain them wholesome and protected. Males’s Well being Month is the right time to place these protected use steps into observe, and begin calling the performs by yourself well being.
To study extra about acetaminophen protected use, go to KnowYourDose.org and comply with @KnowYourDose on Twitter.
In regards to the Writer
Dr. Julius Johnson is a medical affiliate professor on the New York College Rory Meyers College of Nursing and teaches within the undergraduate, graduate, and physician of nursing applications. He serves on the board of the administrators for the Nationwide Black Nurses Affiliation, is the fast previous president of the Higher NYC Black Nurses Affiliation, and focuses on creating wholesome fairness via group interventions and translational science initiatives. In his spare time, he coaches sort out soccer for the Brooklyn Skyhawks, spends time together with his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brothers, and is a loving father.
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