ADVERSE DRUG INTERACTIONS, WHAT SHOULD GIVE ME PAUSE?

Adverse Drug Interactions include What You Eat, Herbs, and Over the Counter Medication

Here are a few things to consider as you start thinking about drug interactions and the ways in which they might affect you.  First of all, consider the many things you consider to be ‘foods’ which in fact have significant medicinal properties or can act like drugs.  Coffee and some teas, for example, contain caffeine, which is known to inhibit the absorption of iron into the bloodstream.  Consumption of alcoholic beverages should be treated as consumption of a drug.  Tobacco products, proven carcinogens in their own right, contain the substance nicotine.  Many highly processed snack foods contain chemical preservatives of which you should take note.  Grapefruit and grapefruit juice contains an enzyme that stops certain drugs from metabolizing – a pharmacokinetic drug interaction.  (http://www.caring.com/articles/medication-mistakes-6-10).  Many meats and cheeses that are stored on shelves and not refrigerated are saturated with chemical preservatives that can interact adversely with medications.http://www.mdanderson.org/education-and-research/departments-programs-and-labs/departments-and-divisions/clinical-nutrition/food-drug-interactions/index.html

Many people have also gotten use to taking certain over-the-counter medications to treat recurring conditions, and sometimes don’t even think of these medications as drugs anymore.  Some people get headaches, and reach almost without thinking for a bottle of acetaminophen.  People with allergies are used to taking an antihistamine.  Others have recurring muscle aches they self-medicate with ibuprofen.  Still others occasionally take a sleeping aid, or a homeopathic “daily pill” such as Echinacea or ginseng.  No medication should be taken unconsciously, but this is doubly true when it comes to being treated for cancer