How Tylenol Works

Juliet
Jan 25, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Jan 30, 2022

Composition of Tylenol

Tylenol helps to relieve the pain when we have headaches, muscle aches, fever, etc, and the substance that stops us from feeling the pain is Acetaminophen(C8H9NO2). This substance is recommended for first-line therapy in pain conditions by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the most mysterious thing is how this works in our body.

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How Tylenol Works

There are different theories about how acetaminophen, which is in tylenol, works in our body and how it prevents pain. Unlike other pain killer substances, acetaminophen has more than one method to suppress the pain according to many researchers.

First theory of how acetaminophen suppresses the pain is blocking an enzyme from prostaglandins which sends pain signals to our body like other pain killer substances. Prostaglandins produce a lot of COX-1 and COX-2 when arachidonic acid(C20H32O2) levels are low. Arachidonic acid(C20H32O2) is an essential fatty acid that helps our wound to be healed, so when this function gets slower, prostaglandins need to tell our body that we are hurt and we need to fix it. Therefore, we get more pain, so acetaminophen makes serotonergic pathways descend.

Another theory shows that acetaminophen works on the endocannabinoid system. This system gives to our body huge chemical signals, especially immediate signs like hunger, temperature, and alertness. Therefore, suppressing that system can help us to relieve the pain.

Tylenol side effects

Tylenol is a very helpful medicine as it is popular for relieving headaches. However, it is also a dangerous drug that can hurt our liver and also our life when we overdose. Confusion about dosing of this drug may be caused by the availability of different formulas, strengths, and dosage instructions for children of different ages.