The All-In-One Guide to Drug Interactions

We are lucky enough to live in a time where lots of incredible drugs exist to cure the most serious conditions that remain untreatable in the past. As stated by the CDC or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 48.7% of Americans have been taking at least one prescription drug over the last 30 days and about 21.8% of Americans use up to 3 or more prescriptions. It’s uplifting to know that there are now plenty of treatment options that can help to cure some of the most common ailments. However, the impressive availability of the different medications has also resulted in the increased risk of drug interactions.

Drug interactions refer to the combination of some drugs with other substances, which alters the medicine’s effect on the body. This could cause the medications to be more or less potent than intended. These combinations can also lead to unexpected side effects in the body, and others are harmful.

If you’re going to take different kinds of medications and you’re suffering from certain health conditions, you have to be especially mindful of these different kinds of medications. You must also make sure that your doctors are aware of all the drugs, supplements, herbs, and vitamins that you’re taking. Even if you were only taking one medication, it would be best to talk to your doctor regarding the drugs you’re using so they can identify any possible interactions. This advice is useful to both non-prescription and prescription drugs.

Drug Interactions Types

Drug-Drug.  This is an interaction in between two drugs or more. It could involve over the counter medications, prescription medications, supplements, vitamins, and herbs. One example is a patient who is taking a diuretic, a type of drug that works by getting rid of the excess water and salt in the body. Yet, this patient also takes Ibuprofen and this medication could reduce the effectiveness of diuretics since ibuprofen can make the body to retain fluid and salt.

Drug-Food. This happens when the beverage and food consumption alters the effect of the medication. Perhaps, you’re taking certain statins to help lower your cholesterol, yet you drink plenty of grapefruit juice, this could end up with too much drug staying the body and could increase your chances of developing kidney failure or liver damage.