Understanding Tylenol's Effects and Risks

Tylenol doesn’t reduce inflammation — it mainly works inside your brain. Normally,

your body makes prostaglandins, chemicals that tell your brain you’re in pain.

Tylenol weakens the COX enzyme in the brain that creates those prostaglandins. With fewer pain

signals being made, your brain “turns down” how intense the pain feels. That’s why headaches

and fevers improve, even though inflammation itself doesn’t change. The danger comes from how your liver

processes Tylenol. Most of it is broken down safely, but a small portion becomes a toxic

compound called NAPQI. Your liver neutralizes this using glutathione. If you take too

much Tylenol, you run out of glutathione, and the toxic NAPQI starts damaging liver cells.