Flutterby™! : Tylenol toxicity

While I'm blindly copying news from elsewhere to the front page: Study documents Tylenol liver toxicity: High doses could cause organ damage.

Although overdoses of Tylenol can harm the liver, the study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association is the first to spot hints of trouble in healthy people taking the pain reliever as directed.

"This study shows that even taking the amount on the package can be a problem for some people," said Dr. William M. Lee of University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, who was not involved in the research.

Although the study may be new, we've long known that acetaminophen has an extremely low safety margin, the difference between an effective dose and a lethal does is really low, especially as over-the-counter drugs go.

And while we're looking at painkillers, ibuprofen may not slow muscle healing, but taking it before or during exercise could lead to renal failure. Here's a more consumery rundown on ibuprofen and exercise.

Ibuprofen is an accepted choice for dealing with the aches and pains of daily life. But does it help during a race? Probably not, and it can hurt you if you take too much and become dehydrated. For races and hard training sessions, the risks seem to outweigh the questionable benefits.