The trial, which was conducted across 18 hospitals, disputes the conclusion of several retrospective studies that found children taking Tylenol, in which acetaminophen is the active ingredient, had their asthma symptoms worsen, according to the researchers. Those studies concluded medications like Motrin, in which the active ingredient is ibuprofen, may be safer.
“We found no matter how you slice it, there was absolutely no difference between Tylenol and Motrin,” says senior investigator and corresponding author Wanda Phipatanakul, MD, MS, of Boston Children’s Hospital’s Division of Allergy and Immunology. “Our findings should alleviate the concerns for safety.”
During the 48-week course of the NEJM study, the researchers detected no significant differences in worsening of asthma symptoms between groups of children taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen. The authors note the earlier studies did not use randomized design, which may have been the cause of their contradictory conclusions.
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