I had a friend who died suddenly of liver failure when she took Tylenol after a night of heavy drinking. How could this have happened?
*What you need to know about alcohol, acetaminophen (Tylenol), and liver failure.* Alcohol consumption changes the way that acetaminophen (Tylenol) is handled by the liver. The injury to the liver is not caused by normal doses of acetaminophen itself, but through the production of a toxic chemical produced when the liver metabolizes (breaks down) the Tylenol. Normally the liver has stores of a chemical called glutathione which combines with the toxic metabolite (called NAPQI) and thereby protects liver cells from being killed by it. If the liver doesn’t have enough glutathione, NAPQI binds to liver cells and causes “hepatic necrosis,” which means death of liver cells. Alcohol causes depletion of glutathione by causing it to be broken down by the liver faster than normal. Chronic alcohol intake can also causes people to eat poorly so they don’t make enough glutathione in the first place. Consumption of 1 bottle of wine, six cans of beer, or nine ounces of liquor over the course of a sin
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