This common pain relief tablet causes risky behaviour reveals alarming report

The world’s most common pain relief drug, which you often gulp without a second thought, might be making you take risks. Well, you cannot blame your reckless decision to resign from your job and start content creation on it, or splurging all the money on expensive bags and sneakers. But, pain relief drug is definetly linked to inducing risky behaviour, according to a study.
Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol, which is sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, may do a lot more than simply take the edge off your headache. A 2020 study revealed that this medication can increase risk-taking. "Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities, they just don't feel as scared," neuroscientist Baldwin Way from Ohio State University said in a release when the findings were published. "With nearly 25 percent of the population in the US taking acetaminophen each week, reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society."
The study adds to the growing body of research, which suggests that acetaminophen's effects on pain reduction extend to various psychological processes, such as lowering people's receptivity to hurt feelings, experiencing reduced empathy, and even blunting cognitive functions.

Previous research by Way has shown that acetaminophen reduces positive and negative emotions, including hurt feelings, distress over another's suffering, and even your own joy.
A study on 189 participants found that those under the influence of acetaminophen-rated activities like bungee jumping, walking home alone at night in an unsafe area of town, starting a new career in your mid-30s, and taking a skydiving class as less risky than those who took the placebo.
Acetaminophen is the most common drug ingredient in America, and it is found in over 600 different kinds of over-the-counter and prescription medicines.

Though the experiments conducted by the researchers doesnot necessarily reflect how acetaminophen might affect people in real-life scenarios, the team concluded that there is a significant relationship between taking acetaminophen and choosing more risk, even if the observed effect appears slight.

Acetaminophen is one of the recommended treatments by the CDC for initial COVID-19 symptoms. "Perhaps someone with mild COVID-19 symptoms may not think it is as risky to leave their house and meet with people if they're taking acetaminophen," Way said.


The use of the painkiller could alter decisions involving risk perception and assessment, even in everyday activities like driving.
"We really need more research on the effects of acetaminophen and other over-the-counter drugs on the choices and risks we take," he said.