Tylenol make be affecting your ability to empathize

Do you pop a Tylenol whenever you have a headache? Turns out that tiny little pill may be doing more than just taking away the pain in your head.

According to a recently study from Ohio State University, acetaminophen, the active ingredient in pain killers like Tylenol and Excedrin, not only helps rid you of pain in your body but may be decreasing your empathy for others experiencing physical or social pain.

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“These findings suggest other people’s pain doesn’t seem as big of a deal to you when you’ve taken acetaminophen,” said Dominik Mischkowski, co-author of the study and a former Ph.D. student at Ohio State.

“Acetaminophen can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller.”

Mischkowski and his colleagues discovered this after surveying 80 college students, half of whom had consumed 1,000mg of acetaminophen. They had them each read through scenarios where people were going through painful situations and then have them rate the person’s pain using a scale of one to five. The group that had taken the pain killer rated these situations far less severe than those who had not taken the drug.

“We don’t know why acetaminophen is having these effects, but it is concerning,” said Baldwin Way, the senior author of the study and an assistant professor of psychology and member of the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center’s Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research.

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According to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, acetaminophen is the most common drug ingredient in the United States– it’s found in more than 600 different types of medicines. It’s estimated that 52 million people take acetaminophen each week.

Along with decreasing empathy, the study also found that acetaminophen was responsible for dulling participants’ senses to loud noises as well as positive emotions, like joy.

Reachers are concerned that these newly uncovered side effects may have a negative impact on personal relationships.

“Empathy is important. If you are having an argument with your spouse and you just took acetaminophen, this research suggests you might be less understanding of what you did to hurt your spouse’s feelings."

Do you take acetaminophen? Will this study make you think twice before taking it again? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.