Health-care professionals might not be aware of the possibility to check into it and patients may not volunteer the information, Bailey said.ĭavid Bailey originally tested for an interaction between grapefruit juice and a medication in himself. They also suggested noninteracting alternatives that could be prescribed.īut the authors can't say how big a problem the interactions are because of a lack of awareness. Researchers advised that the affected drugs should not be consumed with those fruits. Why drug labels say 'Do not take with grapefruit juice' The authors noted that all sources of grapefruit - the whole fruit or 200 mL of grapefruit juice - and other citrus fruit such as Seville oranges (often used in marmalade), limes and pomelos can lead to drug interactions. Of the 85 known drugs that interact with grapefruit, 43 can have serious side-effects, including sudden death, acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding and bone marrow suppression in people with weakened immune systems. So it's not surprising that these levels go from what we call therapeutic to toxic." "Taking one tablet with a glass of grapefruit juice is like taking 20 tablets with a glass of water," Bailey said. Older adults also tend to be less able to compensate when faced with excessive concentrations of drugs compared with young and middle-aged people - another reason that those over 45 seem to be particularly vulnerable, they added. People older than 45 buy the most grapefruit and take the most prescription drugs, making this group the most likely to face interactions, researchers said in an article published in Monday's issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, titled "Grapefruit-medication interactions: forbidden fruit or avoidable consequences?" Others include agents used to fight cancer or suppress the immune system in people who have received an organ transplant. Many of the drugs are common, such as some cholesterol-lowering statins, antibiotics and calcium channel blockers used to treat high blood pressure. Taking one tablet of some medications with a glass of grapefruit juice can be like taking 20 tablets, says David Bailey. "Between 20, the number of drugs in the list has gone from 17 to now 44." "What I've noticed over the last four years is really quite a disturbing trend, and that is the increase in the number of drugs that can produce not only adverse reactions but extraordinarily serious adverse drug reactions," Bailey said. Grapefruit juice is known to interact with some types of medications, leading to an overdose hazard.īailey reviews new product monographs and prescribing information for the Canadian Pharmacists Association, and keeps a close eye on those with the potential to produce serious adverse reactions. Since then, he said, the number of drugs with the potential to interact has jumped to more than 85. More prescription drugs are on the market that can interact with grapefruit juice with potentially serious effects including sudden death, Canadian doctors warn.ĭavid Bailey, a clinical pharmacologist at the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ont., discovered the interaction between grapefruit and certain medications more than 20 years ago.
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