'Fear Of Fever' Leads To Paracetamol Misuse In Children Causing Liver, Heart, Kidney Damage, Says UK Pediatrician
Doctors have warned parents that overuse of paracetamol-based medicines such as Calpol may put their children's life at risk.
Leading pediatrician at University College London, Alastair Sutcliffe, has said that overuse of paracetamol-based medicines such as Calpol and Disprol could result in life-threatening health issues in children later in life.
The doctor claims that parents give paracetamol too readily to their children to treat minor ailments like mild fevers.
"Parents are using paracetamol too permissively," said Sutcliffe reported the Independent. "They seem to fear fever as an illness per se, which it is not."
According to him, there are evidence which suggest calpol overuse could increase the risk of asthma, as well as kidney, heart and liver damage in children.
"There is evidence that the excess usage of paracetamol is associated with increased rates of asthma, increased rates of liver damage, but less widely known, kidney and heart damage," the pediatrician added.
Sutcliffe is backed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) which said parents are to be better educated about when to give children paracetamol-based medicines. The Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has also come forward in support of Professor Sutcliffe's statement.
'Where we go wrong is when people carry on using it at high doses," said Steve Tomlin, a spokesperson for the RPS, reported Huffington Post.
"Children often go from one care setting to another - with the grandparents, or school - and the chances of them getting extra doses might be quite high. You only need two or three days giving an extra dose or two above what is recommended and it is not such a safe drug and can start hitting the liver," he said.
Parents are advised to depend less on thermometers when detecting fever in children as the results may be inaccurate, and should look for symptoms of fever such as lack of thirst and lethargy.
