Samantha Austin

Ms. Day

10-21-10

Science Research

The Relationship between Pain Relievers

and Illness

Abstract• This project was designed to determine the effects of pain relievers on the

human body’s immune system such as a weakened ability to fight off sickness. The motivation behind the experiment was to add insight into the rapidly growing knowledge of medicinal use in adolescents. It was hypothesized that if there was an excessive use of commercially sold pain relievers, there would be a decrease in the human body’s immune system’s ability to fight off viruses. Participants in this study were all under the age of 20. The procedure was to create a one to two page survey with questions inquiring about the participants’ use of commercially sold pain relievers and the last time they became ill. The number of participants gathered was 60. Data was then gathered and evaluated based on participants’ responses by making graphs that show the amount of pain relievers taken in correspondence to the amount of illness the participant has experienced. In the findings, it was mainly found that the more pain relievers taken, the more the participants said they experienced the common cold as an illness. Most participants recorded taking more than one pain reliever and experiencing illness more than once per month. Volunteers recorded their illness as mainly being the common cold

Previous studies show…• The popular pain

medication, commonly used for headaches, Tylenol, is linked with the side effect of liver damage.

• Aspirin and similar nonprescription products can cause stomach bleeding and inhibit blood from clotting when taken with alcohol.

Previous studies show…

• Pain relievers are shown to interact with cells, specifically, the nervous system and brain, to inhibit pain perception.

• Danger to a patient may be imminent if antibiotics and other pain killers suppress the immune system.

Previous studies show…• Medications that are commercially sold for colds

and fevers may not be entirely necessary since they tend to only ease symptoms such as coughing.

• This project will attempt to find the affect of pain relievers on the human body’s immune system.

Variables… • How many times the individual has taken commercial pain killers (such as Ibuprofen, Aleve, Advil) would act as an independent variable.

• How many times the individual has gotten sick would be the dependant variable.

Purpose…• The purpose of

this study would be to find the correlation between these two variables.

=

Hypothesis…

• It is hypothesized that if there is an excessive use of commercially sold pain killers, then they will decrease the ability of the human body’s immune system’s ability fight off viruses such as the common cold.

The Procedure:

Gather volunteers

Issue survey and get the participants

consent.

25 people who have rarely ever

used pain relievers and 25 who have used them often in the last year.

Create a one or two page

survey

Distribute these

surveys to the

volunteers

Gather data and evaluate subject’s

responses

Make graphs that show the amount of pain relievers

taken in correspondence to

the amount of illness the person has experienced

Present the findings to

the scientific community

# PILLS # SICK # OF

PPL

WHAT ILLNESS

none none 7 All said they had the common cold as their illness

none 1 7 6 said they had the common cold as their illness

none 2 to 3 2 1 said they had the common cold as their illness

none 4 to 5 + 0

1 to 5 none 10 They all said their illness was a common cold

1 to 5 1 8 All said they had the common cold as their illness

1 to 5 2 to 3 14 9 out of 14 said their illness was a common cold

1 to 5 4 to 5 + 0

6 to 10 none 0

6 to 10 1 3 All said they had the common cold as their illness

6 to 10 2 to 3 4 2 said their illness was the common cold 2 said it was a fever

6 to 10 4 to 5 + 1 Said the common cold was her illness

11 or more none 0

11 or more 1 0

11 or more 2 to 3 2 All said they had the common cold as their illness

11 or more 4 to 5 + 2 Both said their illness was the common cold

The column “# of pills” refers to the number of pills taken.

The next column, “# sick,” refers to the number of times a person became sick.

Those two columns become A category.

The next column refers to the number of people who chose that category.

The next column says what illness those volunteers had experienced.

For example: # of Pills # Sick # of People Type of Illness1-5 1 5 all said the had the common cold as their

illness

This means that five people said they took 1-5 pills and got sick 1 time. All five the people who chose that category said the illness they experienced was the common cold.

16

32

64

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

none 1 to 5 6 to 10 11 or more

#of

Pe

op

le S

ick

# of Pills Taken

People Who Had the Common Cold

Amount Sick Total # of People

This graph shows the amount of people who had the common cold out of the total amount of people who took a certain amount of pills.

Results

• Results found indicate consuming increased amounts of pain suppressants can lead to a greater risk of becoming infected by the common cold.

• Almost all participants recorded that they had experienced the common cold when they had taken pain suppressants.

Results

• Some participants listed their illness as a fever.

• The other options including the Flu, Bronchitis, Viral fever, Muscle soreness, Strep throat, Heartburn, and Migraines, were not selected and therefore not experienced.

• The graph illustrates that the number of people who consumed 1 to 5 pills was chosen the most out of the four amounts of pain relievers.

• That category had the greatest number of people who became ill with the common cold.

Results

• It was expected the majority of participant who consumed one to five pain relievers would become ill at least two to three times.

• Results that were collected that were deviations from expectations were: a large amount of participant recording taking

no pain relievers and not becoming ill. there was a large amount of volunteers who

recorded taking on to five pain relievers and becoming ill zero times.

Results

• Errors that occurred were:

– the question regarding the amount of illness experienced was not worded as clearly as it could have been

– there was a typing mistake in the last question of the questionnaire.

–A factor that could have affected the validation of this study was the amount of volunteers who returned the questionnaire.

Results

• Improvements that could have been made:

-because it was a survey I could not measure the amount of buildup it takes until you start to experience the effect they have on your immune system.

ConclusionThis research study attempted to find the relationship between illness and pain suppressants.

The hypothesis, which was, if there was an excessive use of commercially sold pain relievers, there would be a decrease in the human body’s immune system’s ability to fight off viruses, was disproven. This is proven by the tally; ten people said they took one to five pain relievers and got sick zero times.

- This shows that even though the volunteer took pain relievers, they did not become ill therefore proving my hypothesis incorrect.

Results that were collected that were deviations from expectations, were a large amount of participants recording not taking pain relievers and not becoming ill.

Also there was a large amount of volunteers who recorded taking one to five pain relievers and not becoming ill.

It was expected the majority of participants who consumed one to five pain relievers would become ill at least two to three times.

Sources of error that occurred in this study were, the question regarding the amount of illness experienced was not worded as clearly as it could have been, and there was a typing mistake in the last question of the questionnaire.

A factor that could have affected the validation of this study was the amount of volunteers who returned the questionnaire.

Improvements that could have been made were the amount of organization, the time management, and the inefficiency. If their was more data collected that identified with the categories of 8 to 10, and 11 or more pain relievers, the results would have been more valid.

In the future I would like to continue this project and do it in reverse.

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