Feeling no pain--or empathy.

• Position: Acetaminophen - Brief article

When you take acetaminophen to reduce your pain, you also may be decreasing your empathy for both the physical and social aches that other people experience, suggests a study by Ohio State University, Columbus. Researchers found, for example, that when participants who took acetaminophen learned about the misfortunes of others, they thought these individuals experienced less pain and suffering, when compared to those who took no painkiller.

"These findings suggest other people's pain doesn't seem as big of a deal to you when you've taken acetaminophen," notes study coauthor Dominik Mischkowski, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology. "Acetaminophen can reduce empathy as well as serve as a painkiller."

In an earlier study, it was discovered that acetaminophen also blunts positive emotions like joy. The main ingredient in the painkiller Tylenol...