Salt in ‘fast’ and ‘fizzy’ paracetamol may raise CVD risk
A large GP-based study suggests some types of paracetamol can increase a patient's risk of cardiovascular disease
“Hidden” salt in some types of paracetamol has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and death in a large GP-based study.
Effervescent and soluble formulations of 0.5g paracetamol tablets can contain up to 0.44g of sodium, the UK authors write in the European Heart Journal.
They warn that patients taking a maximum daily dose of two tablets every six hours would consume 3.5g of sodium, which is in excess of the WHO’s recommended total daily intake of 2g a day.
The researchers used data from 790 UK GP practices to compare outcomes for people who take sodium-containing paracetamol and those who take paracetamol with no salt.
