Posted by 
Children given paracetamol in their first two years of life may be at greater risk of asthma. Paracetamol is recommended by the NHS to treat different childhood ailments like headache, stomach ache and cold symptoms,it can also be used to reduce fever. Researchers looked at 620 children who were considered at high risk of an allergic disease because they had a family member with illnesses such as asthma, eczema, hay fever or a severe food allergy.
Researchers found one variant of the GSTP1 gene was associated with almost twice the risk of developing asthma. Paracetamol use in infancy may have an adverse effect on respiratory health for children with particular genetic profiles and could be a possible cause of asthma. Children are not given paracetamol early in life for no reason. They are often given it because they have respiratory infection.
There is an evidence that the GST superfamily of genes, including three major classes are associated with various diseases, including cancers, asthma, atherosclerosis, allergies, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. According to professor Neil Pearce, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the problem is that children are not given paracetamol early in life for no reason. They are often given it because they have respiratory infection. It may be the infection which increases the risk of asthma, not the paracetamol.