Take acetaminophen to prevent prostate cancer? Not so fast!
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Editor's note: From time to time, we publish good or bad news that you may not find elsewhere. This news did not seem to be reported by those mainstream news outlets.
By David Liu
Foodconsumer.org on May 20 reported a study that found an association between long-term use of acetaminophen with reduced risk of prostate cancer, of course, in men.
E. J. Jacobs and colleagues of the American Cancer Society, authors of the study, reported that men who took more than 30 pills of acetaminophen-based painkillers each month for five or more years were 38 percent less likely to develop any type of prostate cancer. The risk reduction for aggressive prostate cancer was 51 percent.
The study was published in the May 17, 2011 issue of the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
This may be good news for many people even though this study is observational and an causal relation has not been estabolished. But the news is not complete. Another recent study suggests using acetaminophen for a long period may double the risk of hematologic malignancies.
Hematologic malignancies can occur in both myeloid and lymphoid cells. Cancers in lymphoid cells include lymphomas, lymphocytic leukemias, myeloma, and diseases in myeloid cells include acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative diseases.
R.B. Walter of University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues published the study in the May 9, 2011 issue of Journal of Clinical Oncology suggesting that high use of acetaminophen may double the risk fo incident hematologic cancers other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.
Walter et al. analysed data from a large prospective study population of 64,839 men and women aged 50 to 76 years who participated in the Vitamins and Lifestyle study between 2000 and 2002 and were followed up through December 2008. During this period, a total of 577 incident hemotologic malignancies were identified.
After adjustment for "age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, smoking, self-rated health, arthritis, chronic musculoskeletal pain, migraines, headaches, fatigue, and family history of leukemia/lymphoma, the researchers found men and women who used acetaminophen more than four days a week for four or more years were 84 percent more likely to be diagnosed with hematologic malignancies.
Specifically, acetaminophen use was linked with 126 percent, 81 percent, and 142 percent increased risk of myeloid neoplasms, non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and plasma cell disorders respectively.
However, acetaminophen use was not associated with risk of chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma.
The researchers also found aspirin and non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are likely useless for prevention of hematologic malignancies.
Although one study suggests that use of acetaminophen may help cut risk of prostate cancer, results from the other study suggests that it would be too early to recommend taking acetaminophen as a preventative measure against prostate cancer.
Like many other western medicines, acetaminophen renders some acute symptoms while long term effects like risk of cancer and other chronic diseases remain unknown.
Short term side effects include dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth and nose and throat, headache, nausea and difficulty sleeping while adverse effects can be severe allergic responses, chest pain, hallucinations, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, stomach pain and fatigue among others.
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