I regularly stumble upon research findings which shock others, yet provoke a sighing “of course” from the functional medicine MD crowd. In functional medicine, we recognize the amazingly interdependent metabolic network in which one process touches a hundred others. Our bodies function as an intricate interplay of millions of process simultaneously dancing together.
So when Ben Lynch ND emails me with a bombshell from Medscape reporting online, I responded with a “Whoa…” and thought “of course”. The news….. A group of researches published findings that Tylenol appears to influence steroid hormones in those taking this so called safe medicine.
We, in functional medicine, knew that tylenol depletes our glutathione, lowering our ability to detox. We also knew from other studies that Tylenol for fever can worsen mortality for ICU patients. Now we find out that the sulfated forms of certain sex hormones are lowered by Tylenol use. Furthermore, it appears that these effects may increase the risk of urogenital defects in infants born to moms who took it during pregnancy. These changes in boy infants’ genital development.
Quote from article in EBiomedicine, February 2018 issue “…pregnen-diol disulfate levels decreased with age, and the effect of taking acetaminophen on this metabolite was roughly equivalent to the effect of 35 years of aging.” Again…whoa!
A final word… Don’t go throw out all your Tylenol right away. Instead, save it for only when your really need it and consider other natural pain control remedies like curcumin or Boswellia. Avoid long term Tylenol use. Talk to your doctor about alternatives good for your situation. And… Live A Healthier More Abundant Life by always learning, never settling for the conventional answer that “we’ve used it for years so it must be safe!”
http://www.ebiomedicine.com/article/S2352-3964(18)30037-9/fulltext
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
