Warning signs

Pain is one of the most uncomfortable and incapacitating symptoms of many human pathologies, for which pharmacology tries to develop new effective medications that can control it and provide life quality.  Fever (high temperature) is another one of the symptoms that are commonly tried to relieve.  However, both pain and fever could be a warning sign of a health disorder, and it is necessary to attend to it before hiding the symptom with medication.

In the last years there has been a debate about new analgesic drugs and the known medications, such as aspirin and acetaminophen. Also, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents in new medications, called “super analgesics”, promise surprising results, but with a safety profile that should not be taken lightly.  We will try to shed some light on their pros and cons.

One of the most used medications as analgesic and antipyretic is acetaminophen, which has proven to be effective in controlling countless pain processes as well as the rise of body temperature.  Also, users usually believe it’s a innocuous drug, with no side effects like other analgesics which, for example, damage stomach mucosa.  However, its excessive use can cause serious problems.  Recently, health authorities from Argentina warned the population on the risks derived from the excessive intake of acetaminophen, but not when prescribed by a doctor.  The National Administration of Medications, Food and Medical Technology (ANMAT) published a report with the goal of clearing similar information in media about the use of this and other analgesics.

In the feet, like a map, the whole human body is represented.