Overuse of Medications can cause liver problems

Alcohol is not the only cause of liver damage. Overuse of Medications can cause liver problems too. In the extreme cases it can lead to liver failure.

Overuse of over-the-counter drugs and certain prescription drugs is known to cause liver damage. Some of these drugs include antidepressants, mood stabilizers, corticosteroids (used for treating inflammation) and pain relievers. It’s therefore important to review the side effects and adverse effects of medications before taking them.

Even many of the prescribed medicine in India can cause liver inflammation and liver problems. For e.g. Drugs containing sulfonamides prescribed by many doctor. But they are also known to cause idiosyncratic liver injury. Hepatotoxicity appears to be a class effect, in that virtually all sulfonamides used today have been linked to rare, but convincing cases of drug induced liver injury. Most typically, the injury appears within one to three weeks of starting therapy, often preceded or accompanied by signs of hypersensitivity such as fever, rash, facial edema, lymphadenopathy, arthralgias, and eosinophilia or atypical lymphocytosis (or both). Hepatotoxicity from sulfonamides may represent a part of a spectrum of hypersensitivity due to sulfa-derived medications and have been linked to many cases of DRESS (drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms) as well as Stevens Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrosis. The severity of injury varies widely. Most instances of sulfonamide related liver injury are mild-to-moderate in severity and self-limited in course. Importantly, sulfonamides can cause acute liver failure, particularly in instances with a precipitious onset and hepatocellular pattern of serum enzyme elevations. Indeed, the sulfonamides remain one of the most common causes of drug induced acute liver failure.

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In one of the instances, an old lady in New Delhi was given sulfonamide drug which caused sever itching in her body and led to liver inflammation. Her condition deteriorated with swelling on face and arms but luckily the doctors identified the cause of the problem and she was able to recover in due course.

Too much acetaminophen can cause liver damage

Each year, hundreds of people suffer from liver damage associated with taking too much acetaminophen, U.S. health officials say.

Officials at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on several occasions the agency has asked its expert advisory committees for advice about acetaminophen, used to treat pain and fever, but also found in hundreds of over-the-counter and prescription medicines. Based on this advice and extensive review of the available scientific evidence, the FDA continues to believe that acetaminophen's benefits outweigh its risks.
 

Many people taking these products might not be aware they contain this active ingredient. Taking too much acetaminophen can damage your liver. So it's important to check products, both OTC and prescription, before taking to see if they contain acetaminophen and to make sure we know how to take safely.

The OTC products that combine acetaminophen with other ingredients often treat the pain and fever that come with conditions like a cold and the flu. In prescription medicines, acetaminophen is combined with other ingredients to help relieve moderate to severe pain, the FDA said.

To make sure you don't get too much acetaminophen, look at the labels of all the medicines you plan to use, the FDA advised. On OTC medicines, the word acetaminophen appears on the front of the package and on the Drug Facts label under the "Active Ingredient" section.

On prescription medicines, the label may spell out acetaminophen or have a shortened version of it, such as "APAP," "acet," "acetamin," and "acetaminoph." If you aren't sure if your medicine contains acetaminophen, ask your healthcare professional for help, officials said.