Harvard Health Letter cautions about medication interactions

BOSTON, MA. - About half of all Americans age 65 and over take at least 5 medications per week, and 1 of 8 take 10 or more. With so many people taking so many pills, there’s plenty of opportunity for harmful drug interactions. The April issue of the Harvard Health Letter reports serious drug interactions that you and your doctor should be concerned about.

The FDA maintains a thorough system for reporting drugs’ side effects, but currently lacks a standardized method for warning people about drug interaction. This is largely due to the uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding this issue.

The Harvard Health Letter asked Harvard Medical School experts to create a short list of known drug interactions that should be known by the general public. For example:

Warfarin (Coumadin), a blood thinner, should not be mixed with other drugs such as “sulfa” antibiotics like cotrimoxazole (Bactrim and Septra) because of the risk of serious bleeding. NSAIDs (over-the-counter pain relievers such as aspirin and ibuprofen) taken with ACE inhibitors (hypertension and heart failure drugs) could decrease the effectiveness of ACE inhibitors. Erectile dysfunctions drugs (Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis) interact with nitrate-based drugs to produce a sudden drop in blood pressure.

The article stresses the importance of speaking to your doctor about all drugs you are taking in order to avoid harmful interactions. Additionally, following all directions and warning labels correctly can be a useful preventive measure when taking medications.

Related Information:

• Medication Safety: Drug Interactions  More