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Chronic ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and arthritis all require potent medication, and with each new prescription, the risk of drug interactions grows. In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA,1998;279:122-1205) reported that an estimated 700,000 patients were injured and 1.5 million were admitted to hospitals in one year due to prescription drug-induced conditions.
Furthermore, with the increasing popularity of herbal remedies, many people are experimenting with herbs they find on their pharmacists' shelves. But mixing herbs and prescriptions can be risky.
Concurrent use of herbs may mimic, magnify, or oppose the effect of prescription drugs, although more research studies are needed to identify and verify the problems.
For example, if you mix warfarin with ginkgo, garlic, dong quai, or danshen, you may experience bleeding. Taking St John's wort with some anti-depressants (serotin-reuptake inhibitors) may decrease the efficacy of your prescription for digoxin, theophylline, cyclosporin, or phenprocoumon. Your risk of hypertension may increase if you combine tricyclic antidepressants with the herb yohimbine.
Even the ordinary food you eat can alter the chemical actions of a prescription drug so that it is no longer helpful. Certain foods and beverages may increase or decrease the amount of a drug that is absorbed into the body. Conversely, some drugs may interfere with the absorption or elimination of nutrients from your food.
Here are some examples:
The acidity of citrus fruits, coffee, cola drinks, pickles, and tomatoes may cause antibiotics such as Erythromycin and Penicillin to be destroyed in the stomach.
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