Joshua Paredes Chemistry at home: Tylenol.

Tylenol, referred to scientifically as N-(4-hydroxyphenyl), is a very common painkiller that most individuals are aware of and have in their homes.1 The active component of tylenol is called acetaminophen, and that is the chemical in tylenol that is responsible for pain relief.1 Tylenol is known for its quick-acting pain relief and help in treating people with fevers and headaches, but scientists still do not know exactly how it works in the body.2 It is believed to be involved with preventing the release of chemicals in the brain that cause the sensation of pain, but how tylenol achieves this is still a mystery.2 

Unfortunately, tylenol is actually very toxic if too much is taken, and that may be a lot less than people think.3 It may be possible to take too much if you take other generic painkillers, where the active ingredient is also acetaminophen.4 The major consequence of tylenol overdose is liver failure from toxic liver disease.4 To put it in perspective, the cause of most (>50%) of all liver diseases in the united states is caused by tylenol overdosing.5 Fortunately, there is an antidote, called N-acetylcysteine that prevents the effects of overdosing by helping your liver create more chemicals that help get rid of the tylenol.2 

It’s not all bad news though. A lot of people are familiar and commonly use tylenol as their go-to painkiller at home, but there are a lot of alternatives that are less toxic to the body that you can use. These chemicals are called non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs, which are a lot more common than you might think. Some of these drugs are: advil, aleve, midol, and motrin.4 Although there are also side effects that are associated with these drugs as well, the risk of developing these are lower than that of tylenol.4 

References

(1) PubChem. Acetaminophen, 2004. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Acetaminophen (accessed January 16, 2020).

(2) Jaeschke, H. Innate Immunity and Acetaminophen-Induced Liver Injury: Why so Many Controversies? Hepatology 2008, 48 (3), 699–701. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.22556.

(3) McGill, M. R.; Jaeschke, H. Metabolism and Disposition of Acetaminophen: Recent Advances in Relation to Hepatotoxicity and Diagnosis. Pharm. Res. 2013, 30 (9), 2174–2187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-013-1007-6.

(4) Tylenol vs Advil: What's the difference? https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/tylenol-advil-difference-3126965/ (accessed Jan 28, 2020).

(5) Larson, A. M.; Polson, J.; Fontana, R. J.; Davern, T. J.; Lalani, E.; Hynan, L. S.; Reisch, J. S.; Schiødt, F. V.; Ostapowicz, G.; Shakil, A. O.; et al. Acetaminophen-Induced Acute Liver Failure: Results of a United States Multicenter, Prospective Study. Hepatology 2005, 42 (6), 1364–1372. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.20948.