Medications have become a part of our everyday life. They relieve us from acute and chronic pains. Thus, it is essential to know the difference between different medical drugs to make the right choice.
Panadol and aspirin are two generic medications that are used to relieve pain. However, despite their common basic function, there are several differences between them.
Key Takeaways
- Panadol is a brand of paracetamol, an analgesic and antipyretic drug used to relieve pain and reduce fever.
- Aspirin is an anti-inflammatory drug that can relieve pain, reduce fever, and prevent blood clotting.
- Both medications are effective for pain relief, but aspirin offers additional benefits for cardiovascular health, while Panadol is gentler on the stomach.
Panadol vs Aspirin
The difference between panadol and aspirin is that while panadol may relieve from acute mild migraine, aspirin provides relief from inflammatory conditions like Rheumatic fever, Kawasaki disease and pericarditis. People with liver or kidney problems should not take the panadol drug. On the other hand, people who are prone to gastric or peptic ulcers or those with a bleeding disorder should not consume aspirin.
Panadol is a generic medication used in treatment of pain and fever. It comprises paracetamol that works by blocking the prostaglandins.
Panadol is available to consumers in more than 80 countries across the globe. Some common uses are panadol may be in the treatment of menstrual cramps, toothaches, and backaches.
However, an overdose of the drug can result in side-effects including hypertension and nausea.
Aspirin is a medical drug used to relieve inflammation and minor pains. Aspirin is a NSAID, and it first came into use around 4000 years ago.
Aspirin is used to treat patients to prevent further heart attacks and blood clots. It is not advisable for people below 18 years of age to consume aspirin. However, there may be some exceptions.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Panadol | Aspirin |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Another name of panadol is acetaminophen. | Another name of aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid. |
| Unfit For | Panadol should not be taken by individuals with long-term alcohol abuse, or are underweight or allergic to the drug. | Aspirin should not be taken by individuals with a bleeding disorder or those undergoing a surgery. |
| Symptoms of overdose | Overdose of panadol may cause swelling, rashes or difficulty in breathing. | Overdose of aspirin may cause ulceration, indigestion, and bleeding of the gut. |
| Side Effects | An overdose of panadol may make an individual feel nauseous or abdominal pain. | An overdose of aspirin may cause temporary hearing loss or seizure. |
| Uses | Panadol has a use to cure post-surgical pain and migraines. | Aspirin has a use to cure susceptibility to cancer in people with high risk. |
What is Panadol?
Panadol is a trade name for the medication paracetamol. The basic function of panadol is to treat fever as well as mild to moderate pain. Panadol is known to relieve pain from acute mild migraine.
In addition, it may also slightly reduce the pain from tension headaches. Panadol is also effective to treat post-surgical pain. However, it is inferior to ibrufens effectiveness in this respect.
Panadol, or paracetamol, is on WHOs List of Essential Medicines. The recommended dosage of panadol for every adult is only four to five grams per day.
A higher dosage of panadol may result in toxicity or even liver failure. An overdose of panadol accounts for a significantly large proportion of drug overuse in New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States.
Some common side-effects associated with panadol include nausea and abdominal pain. A drop in the hemoglobin level is another likely outcome of chronic consumption of panadol.
In terms of mental illnesses, an overdose of panadol may increase susceptibility to hypertension. Nonetheless, evidence of the association of panadol overdose to autism spectrum disorder is rather moderate.
Panadol is available as a generic medication in the market. Panadol is an extremely toxic drug for cats.
However, panadol may be significant for use in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain in dogs only to a limited extent.
In human beings, Panadol is an effective drug which can be used to cure toothaches, muscle aches as well as pain caused by flu or cold.
What is Aspirin?
Aspirin refers to a generic medication which has a practical application in the treatment of fever pain or inflammation.
Rheumatic fever, Kawasaki disease and pericarditis are some of the particular inflammatory conditions which can be treated with the help of the Aspirin drug.
In addition, Aspirin is also used to treat patients in order to prevent further heart attacks and blood clots.
Aspirin is beneficial as it prevents both the risk of getting cancer and dying from it. However, it is not advisable for people above the age of 70 years to use Aspirin regularly in the absence of health problems.
In addition, individuals below the age of 60 years must consult a doctor before initiating a daily consumption of aspirin.
An overdose of Aspirin can either be acute or chronic. Acute poisoning occurs when an individual consumes a large dosage of Aspirin at once .
In the case of chronic poisoning, an individual consumes more than normal dose of Aspirin over a relatively longer period of time. Mortality rate of acute and chronic Aspirin overdose is 2% and 25% respectively.
The dosage of Aspirin depends upon the weight and age of an individual.
It is very essential to consider both these aspects in order to avoid any side effects of the drug such as the swelling of skin tissue or abnormally high blood levels of Potassium in the body.
Excessive consumption of Aspirin, in addition, may increase the susceptibility to gastrointestinal bleeding.
To conclude, it is essential to monitor the consumption of Aspirin in order to prevent the occurrence of side-effects.
Main Differences Between Panadol and Aspirin
- Panadol should not be taken by individuals with long-term alcohol abuse, or those who are underweight or allergic to the drug. In contrast, aspirin should not be taken by individuals with a bleeding disorder or those undergoing a surgery.
- Panadol is commonly used to cure post-surgical pain and migraines. On the other hand, aspirin is commonly used to cure susceptibility to cancer in people with high risk.
- Symptoms of panadol overdose include swelling, rashes or difficulty in breathing. In contrast, symptoms of aspirin overdose include ulceration, indigestion, and bleeding of the gut.
- An overdose of panadol may make an individual feel nauseous or cause abdominal pain. In contrast, an overdose of aspirin may cause temporary hearing loss or seizure.
- While the scientific name of panadol is acetaminophen, the scientific name of aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid.
Last Updated : 01 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
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I never knew about the potential side effects of Aspirin on gastrointestinal bleeding. I learned a lot from this article.
I agree, it’s interesting to know the different symptoms of overdose for both medications. I found that especially informative.