Children as well as adults who take paracetamol could be increasing their risk of developing asthma, a new study has suggested.
In an article published in this month's edition of the journal Chest, Canadian researchers linked the common analgesic, called acetaminophen in North America, to the respiratory disease after analysing 19 different studies with a combined sample of 425,140 people.
"Epidemiologic studies have identified an increased risk of asthma with acetaminophen use, but the results have been conflicting," the researchers wrote.
"We sought to quantify the association between acetaminophen use and the risk of asthma in children and adults.
"The risk of asthma in children among users of acetaminophen in the year prior to asthma diagnosis and within the first year of life was elevated.
"Only one study reported the association between high acetaminophen dose and asthma in children. There was an increase in the risk of asthma and wheezing with prenatal use of acetaminophen."