Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Published : September 18, 2018 4:53 PM IST
Popping paracetamol at younger age may make your kid prone to asthma © Shutterstock
In case you are in a habit of making your toddler pop paracetamol too often, it is time you stop doing so. Reason, a recent study has shown that children who take paracetamol in the first two years of their life are at a greater risk of developing asthma by the time they become 18. The researchers pointed out that those who had a particular variant of the glutathione S transferase (GST) gene - GSTP1 have even stronger chance of getting asthma due to its link with paracetamol. However, they clearly stated that paracetamol does not cause asthma but there is a strong association between paracetamol and asthma.
The researchers have found another GST gene variant, GSTM1 to be linked with reduced lung function, highlighted a recent media report.
Explaining the link, researchers pointed out that GST genes consist of instructions for making enzymes that clean up the effects of exposure to toxins in the body and lungs by using an antioxidant called glutathione. This mechanism helps in avoiding damage to cells and inflammation. " Paracetamol, on the other hand, consumes glutathione, reducing the body's capacity to deal with toxic exposure," reportedly said Xin Dai, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne.
Dai reportedly added: "We hypothesised that people who did not have full GST enzyme activity because of common genetic variations or deletions may be more susceptible to adverse effects on the lungs from paracetamol use."
