MEDICATION
INTERACTIONS
How to reduce your risk
AMERICANS ARE TAK ING MORE MEDICINES
than ever—in the 65-and-older group, 65 percent use at
least three medications and 38 percent use five or more,
according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
These drugs improve and save lives. But they can have
a dangerous side too. They can interact with each other,
which can lead to serious, even life-threatening, problems.
WHAT IS AN INTERACTION?
Basically, drug interactions
fall into three categories:
1
Drug-drug interactions.
These occur when two or
more drugs interact with each other.
2
Drug-food/beverage interactions.
These happen when
drugs interact with something you eat or drink.
3
Drug-condition interactions.
These occur when medi-
cines have a bad effect on a medical condition—affecting
blood sugar in people with diabetes or blood pressure in
people with hypertension, for example.
Why are these interactions a concern? Because they
can affect the body in many potentially dangerous ways.
First, they can make drugs less effective—drugs either
don’t work well or they don’t work at all. For example, ant-
acids can limit the body’s absorption of heart medicines,
antibiotics and blood thinners.
Second, they can cause unexpected side effects. These
might include dizziness, irregular heartbeats, heartburn,
fatigue or nausea.
Finally, they can increase the action of drugs in the
body. This can cause an overdose or toxic effect.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Thankfully, there are steps you can
take to reduce your risk of drug interactions:
●
●
Keep an up-to-date list of all medications you use,
and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Include
prescription drugs, herbal products, vitamins and supple-
ments. Remember to include all medicines, including
Should I avoid grapefruit?
You’ve probably heard that grapefruit juice and fresh grape-
fruit can interfere with certain medications. Here’s why
those warnings remain valid:
Grapefruit juice has substances that can block enzymes
in the intestine and change how the body breaks down
some medicines. That can push too much of the drug into
the bloodstream—and maybe cause toxic overloads.
It can work the opposite way too. The fruit can keep
some medicines from being absorbed, so the medicine
doesn’t work well or doesn’t work at all.
Grapefruit—and in some cases, other common fruit
juices, such as apple or orange juice—might affect some of
these kinds of medicines:
■
Statins for lowering choles-
terol.
■
Blood pressure medicines.
■
Anti-anxiety drugs.
■
Anti-arrhythmia drugs.
■
Antihistamines.
Some
is an important qualifier. Grapefruit does not af-
fect all of the drugs in these categories.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor whether the drugs you
take are affected by any food, including grapefruit.
Also, carefully read the information sheets and guides
that come with prescription medicines and the Drug Facts
labels on over-the-counter medicines.
Sources: American Academy of Family Physicians; U.S. Food and Drug Administration
those you take sometimes (like antacids) or for a short
time (like antibiotics).
●
●
Use one pharmacy. Pharmacists are specially trained
to spot potential interactions, but they need a complete
picture of your medical conditions and the drugs you take.
●
●
Read labels and patient guides each time you use a
drug. Pay special attention to sections that detail warn-
ings and possible side effects.
●
●
Ask questions, such as, Can I take this drug with the
other medicines I use? Should I avoid certain foods, bev-
erages or other medicines? What signs of drug interac-
tion should I watch for?
●
●
If you experience something that doesn’t seem right,
tell your doctor. Ask if it could be a side effect or bad
reaction to medicine.
●
●
And finally, work with your doctor to try to reduce
the number of medicines you take. You are more likely to
have a drug interaction if you take more than three a day.
Additional sources: American Academy of Family Physicians; National Council on Patient
Information and Education; U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Keep an up-to-date list of all
medications you use, and share it
with your doctor and pharmacist.
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