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Who does not have paracetamol in his medicine cabinet? Yet, misused, this drug can be dangerous or even deadly, as the case Naomi Musenga recalls, and is the cause of a hundred liver transplants each year. "Paracetamol is the best and the worst thing. It is an innocuous drug, very well tolerated in 99.999% of cases, but becomes an extremely dangerous weapon when it is used outside the nails, "explains pharmacologist François Chast. "It's like a kitchen knife: it's an effective and safe tool when you hold it by the handle, but if you're clumsy, you can cut yourself," he adds.
Danger for the liver at high doses
Doliprane, Dafalgan, Efferalgan … Many paracetamol-based medicines are sold over the counter and commonly used for pain and fevers. But at too high doses, this substance can attack the liver. The death of Naomi Musenga, who died on December 29 at the age of 22 after being mocked by a Strasbourg-based operator, is "the result of a paracetamol intoxication absorbed by self-medication over several days," the prosecutor said on Wednesday. from this city, Yolande Renzi. "The evolutionary destruction of the cells of her liver has resulted in a failure of all her organs leading quickly to death," said Renzi. Family Disputed Conclusions: "I do not believe that taking paracetamol is the cause that precipitated the death of my daughter," who was "well informed about how to take this drug," responded the father of the young woman
"Problem of information"
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "a single dose of 10 to 15 grams is enough to cause liver necrosis that can be fatal." This is why paracetamol is often used in suicides. The maximum dose is 3 grams per 24 hours, spacing the catch. "When you take 4 grams a day for several days, especially if you consume alcohol at the same time, it is likely to cause drug hepatitis called fulminant, that is to say radical quickly," says Professor Chast. This is an emergency, which requires the administration of a molecule called N-acetylcysteine. Without prompt treatment, this liver condition can be fatal. An overdose of paracetamol first causes "discrete signs of gastrointestinal irritation," according to the WHO. They "are generally followed two days later by anorexia, nausea, malaise, abdominal pain, then progressive signs of hepatic failure and, finally, hepatic coma."
Paracetamol poisoning
" Every year in France, nearly a hundred liver transplants [sur environ 1 200 au total, NDLR] are linked to paracetamol poisoning, "said Professor Chast. "This is a considerable proportion, all for a misuse of a reputable drug. And even if one is vigilant, one can sometimes exceed the maximum dose without knowing it. "There are 200 medicines that contain paracetamol, I have been a specialist in drugs for 50 years and I am unable to quote them all," says Professor Jean-Paul Giroud. "If you take two, for example one prescribed by a doctor and the other self-medication, you can end up in doses of more than 4 grams per day," he continues. Professor Giroud advocates for a better information of the general public on the potential dangers of paracetamol: "There is an information problem for which I have struggled for 40 years, but it can not be said that the authorities seize it . It is up to them to insist on this. "
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