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Acne: Trouble Over the Counter - Benzoyl Peroxide Banned by European Union
There are many over the counter (OTC) preparations for treatment
of acne. Sold as lotions, gels, creams, and cleansers, OTC
products can be a precarious buy and consumers should be aware
that chemicals applied to the skin can also be absorbed...
Betony The Healing Herb
Stachys officinalis common names: Betony, Synonyms and Common names: Betonica officinalis, Stachys officinalis, Bishopswort, lousewort, purple betony Evergreen Perennial Ht: 2' - 3' Wood Betony is a hardy perennial that likes full sun to...
Don't Suffer Needlessly From Chronic Pain
As a chronic pain sufferer myself, being diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back, along with bone disc degenerative disease, I have learned a lot about how chronic pain is treated, or I should say undertreated. It's a sad fact for a...
Overview of Acne
Acne is the most common form of skin disorder in America. Millions of people suffer from acne everyday. Although teenagers and young adults are more susceptible to have outbreaks, older adults who are going through menopause or pregnant may also...
What they didnt tell you about the Antihistamine Tavist
Antihistamines: Tavist
Tavist is an over-the-counter antihistamine which is
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Dietary Supplements and Prescription Drugs - What You Should Know
So much news is made of the occurrence and prevalence of
diseases such as cancer and AIDS; and of viruses such as Bird
Flu and SARS that one could be easily be mistaken in thinking
that humans are a species at risk. Although some of these
possible pandemics are a sobering thought, you may take solace
in the fact that we have a smaller chance of getting, and a
better chance of beating, a damning diagnosis than ever before.
In part, this has been achieved through the dual advance of the
pharmaceutical and nutritional sciences: we have an arsenal of
both nutraceuticals and drugs for prevention, treatment and cure.
At the last big count, 7.5% of Americans aged 18 to 44 take 3 or
more prescribed drugs, this rises to a huge 47.6% in those aged
65 or over. At the same time over a third of the US population
uses dietary supplements daily and over 20% have used some form
of natural product in the past 12 months. When these statistics
are put together it would be safe to assume that many people are
on at least one drug and nutraceuticals at the same time. What
is even more worrying is that an estimated 70% of patients fail
to tell their doctor they are undergoing alternative treatment
for their problems. Problems like depression, asthma, diabetes,
arthritis, allergies, flu and high blood pressure are now so
well characterized and supported by drugs that physicians may
feel less inclined to investigate the condition, or the person,
further.
Side effects of drugs are well known with huge legal cases such
as Vioxx bringing the industry and the regulation process into
the spotlight. Drug-drug interactions are also well documented
and millions of dollars are spent on research and testing to
find out exactly what can, and can't, be used concomitantly.
However, when it comes to nutraceuticals, few people have much,
if any, knowledge about what happens in the body when you take
these with prescription medicine. And with scant formal training
for herbal products or nutraceuticals in medical school, your
doctor may be more in the dark than you are.
Drug Supplements Interactions - Two Rights Can Make a Wrong
Many drugs are cleared from the body by certain enzymes in the
liver, especially those from a certain family called cytochrome
P450s. These enzymes may also be responsible for breaking down
other substances, such as alcohol, nutrients and herbal
products. These particular enzymes can be held up by breaking
down a nutraceutical you have ingested, while the drug will be
circulating in your bloodstream a lot longer than the physician
had planned. If you are taking multiple doses of the drug then
it can build up to dangerous levels, and if the drug has a
narrow window between good effects and harm then overdose is a
distinct possibility.
A good example is Digoxin, a cardiovascular drug. If Digoxin is
taken with licorice, the levels of the drug in the bloodstream
can be increased four fold, the effects and side effects will be
increased dramatically
to a possibly lethal endpoint.
Drugs and Nutraceuticals can also have a synergic effect when
taken together. They may produce the same reaction in your body
or interact in some way to produce unexpected and undesirable
results. This can happen with the anti-anxiety drug, Alprazolam
or Xanax. When Xanax is taken with the popular herb Kava, also
used for anxiety, they can have a drastic effect upon the
central nervous system. The reasons are not fully understood but
at least one person has been hospitalized with severe mental
problems by taking this combination.
Nutraceuticals may also have the opposite effect on these P450
enzymes and they can have what is called an "inductive effect"
whereby the nutraceutical boosts the activity of the enzyme to
higher than normal levels. The enzyme then breaks down and
clears the drug from the body much faster than was expected by
your physician. Because the dose of a drug is a very exact
calculation, a prescribed amount is designed to stay in the body
for a time long enough to be effective. If the drug is cleared
early it may have a reduced effect or no effect at all.
Further Information on Drug Dietary Supplement Interactions
You should first and foremost tell your doctor and pharmacist
what you are taking. Unfortunately, there is not a high level of
understanding in the medical or pharmaceutical world into herbs
and nutraceuticals although some research has been conducted
into the popular herbs such as St. John's Wort, Ginseng, Gingko,
Cayenne, Saw Palmetto and Valerian. A dietician may have better
knowledge than your doctor but there are also a number of
sources of information concerning prescription drug-dietary
supplement interactions on the internet below.
In addition to these resources, one online dietary supplements
company, Mitamins, offers a free drug interaction checker before
you buy. The website allows the design of a custom multivitamin
according to the prescription drugs you are taking. There is
also a good library where you can review the latest scientific
knowledge on your drug or nutraceutical.
The Merck Manual is a comprehensive resource of up to date
medical information and has some good primers on interactions as
well as in depth analysis.
http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec02/ch019/ch019a.html
The National Institute of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements
has a number of good fact sheets on different supplements
http://ods.od.nih.gov/Health_Information/Information_About_Indivi
dual_Dietary_Supplements.aspx
Mitamins is an online retailer of custom multivitamins and has
over 1,000 formulas to support everything from Alzheimer's, ADD
and Ageing to Weight Loss and Cancer. These formulas can be
safety checked and adjusted for interaction with over 1,600
drugs. http://www.mitamins.com/
About the author:
Mark is a qualified chemist and writer. He has worked in both
the drug development and the dietary supplement industries.
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