Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Acetaminophen |
AcetaminophenNoun1. An analgesic for mild pain; also used as an antipyretic; (Datril and Tylenol and Panadol and Phenaphen and Tempra and Anacin III are trademarks of brands of acetaminophen tablets). Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definitions |
Health | Analgesic antipyretic derivative of acetanilide. It has weak anti-inflammatory properties and is used as a common analgesic, but may cause liver, blood cell, and kidney damage. (references) |
Medicine | Commercial name for acetyl aminophenol. Source: European Union. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The drug acetaminophen or paracetamol is an analgesic (a pain reliever).
In North America it is sold in generic form or under a number of trade names: for instance Tylenol (McNeil-PPC, Inc), Anacin-3 and Datril while it is known as Panadol in parts of Asia and Australasia. In some formulations acetaminophen is combined with the opiate codeine. It relieves headaches and other minor aches and pains, and lowers fever. Its chemical formula is C8H9NO2.
Compared to other common analgesics such as aspirin and ibuprofen, which belong to a class of drugs known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs, acetaminophen has the advantage of not causing stomach problems, though it doesn't reduce inflammation or act as an anticoagulant.
Common dosage is 500mg (up to 1000mg) every 4 hours for adults. Doses above 150mg/kg or 7.5g for an adult is likely to cause hepatotoxicity. Overdoses of acetaminophen can lead to liver failure and a painful death if untreated; because of the wide over-the-counter availability of the drug, it is often used in suicide attempts. Acetaminophen should not be taken after alcohol consumption, because the liver, when engaged in alcohol breakdown, cannot properly dispose of acetaminophen, thus leading to hepatotoxicity.
Treatment for acetaminophen overdose is the use of intravenous N-acetylcysteine.
It was first synthesized in 1873 by Harmon Northrop Morse, but was not used medically until 1893. It did not gain popularity until after WW II when it was found to be a metabolite of phenacetin (this fact was first discovered in 1899 and rediscovered in 1948), offering similar effects but markedly less toxicity.
The US patent on acetaminophen has expired and generic versions of the drug are widely available under the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984, although certain Tylenol preparations are protected until 2007. US patent 6,126,967 filed September 3, 1998 was granted for "Extended release acetaminophen particles".
Method of action
Acetaminophen, like the other drugs mentioned above, works by reducing the activity of the cyclo-oxygenase 2 (COX) enzyme which produces prostaglandins. While the other drugs operate as competitive inhibitors and directly block the active site of COX, acetaminophen blocks COX indirectly; this indirect blockage is effective in brain and endothelial cells but not in platelets and immune cells which have high levels of peroxides. This is the reason that aspirin fights inflammation and acts as an anticoagulant.References
External links
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Acetaminophen."
Synonyms: AcetaminophenSynonyms: Anacin III (n), Datril (n), Panadol (n), Phenaphen (n), Tempra (n), Tylenol (n). (additional references) |
Crosswords: Acetaminophen |
| English words defined with "acetaminophen": Anacin III ♦ Datril ♦ Panadol, Phenaphen ♦ Tempra, Tylenol. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "acetaminophen": acetyl aminophenol ♦ Fulminant Hepatic Failure. (references) |
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Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Your doctor may also give your child pain relievers, such as acetaminophen. (references) | |
Acetaminophen is the basic ingredient found in Tylenol® and its many generic equivalents. (references) | ||
In the case of severe pain or pain following surgery, acetaminophen may be combined with codeine. (references) | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
Expressions using "acetaminophen": Acetaminophen and Pseudoephedrine ♦ Acetaminophen poisoning ♦ Butalbital Compound and Acetaminophen ♦ Hydrocodone and Acetaminophen ♦ Oxycodone and Acetaminophen ♦ Propoxyphene and Acetaminophen. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "acetaminophen"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||
French | acétaminophène, paracétamol. (various references) | ||||||||||
German | Acetaminophen (paracetamol), Paracetamol (paracetamol). (various references) | ||||||||||
Italian | acetaminofene (paracetamol), paracetamolo (paracetamol). (various references) | ||||||||||
Pig Latin | acetaminophenay acetaminofen, acetaminofe/n. (various references) | ||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "acetaminophen": acetaminophens. (additional references) | |
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"Acetaminophen" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: acelaminophen, acetamenophen, acetominophen. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "acetaminophen" (pronounced usē'tumi"nufun) |
| 4 | -u f u n | paraffin, tamoxifen. |
| 3 | -f u n | deafen, dolphin, endorphin, Griffon, hyphen, ibuprofen, morphin, muffin, often, orphan, siphon, soften, stiffen, syphon, toughen. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-e-e-h-i-m-n-n-o-p-t" | |
-2 letters: nonemphatic. | |
-3 letters: emancipate, phenacaine, phenacetin, phonematic. | |
-4 letters: anthemion, antimacho, apothecia, emanation, hepaticae, impotence, machinate, nonimpact, phenacite, phenomena. | |
-5 letters: anatomic, anthemia, antiphon, aphanite, apothece, camphene, camphine, cenotaph, chainman, chainmen, champion, coinmate, conepate, copemate, echinate, emaciate, empathic, emphatic, encaenia, haematic, haematin, haptenic, hematein, hematine, hepatica, hepatoma, inchoate, monecian, neotenic, nominate, pantheon, patience, penchant, pentomic, petechia, phenetic, phonemic, phonetic, pinecone, pitchman, pitchmen, pointman, pointmen, ptomaine. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-e-e-h-i-m-n-n-o-p-t" | |
+1 letter: acetaminophens. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)41 63 65 74 61 6D 69 6E 6F 70 68 65 6E |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references).- -.-. . - .- -- .. -. --- .--. .... . -. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000001 01100011 01100101 01110100 01100001 01101101 01101001 01101110 01101111 01110000 01101000 01100101 01101110 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)A c e t a m i n o p h e n |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0041 0063 0065 0074 0061 006D 0069 006E 006F 0070 0068 0065 006E |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)35697186677975808182747180 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Non-fiction 6. Expressions 7. Expressions: Internet 8. Translations: Modern | 9. Derivations 10. Rhymes 11. Anagrams 12. Orthography | 13. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
