Learning about the potential for drug interactions can help you stay healthy and alive.

When investigations into the deaths of Heath Ledger and Michael Jackson focused on lethal combinations of medications, Americans heard a lot about the dangers of combining prescription drugs.

And yet, as well-publicized as these fatalities were, many may not have understood the key message—dangerous and deadly drug interactions can happen to anyone who takes more than one over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription medication.

The potential for dangerous interactions or death is very real. Since 1999, accidental drug interactions have risen 68 percent, making the problem the second-leading cause of accidental death in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

The Potential for Problems
The risk for an adverse interaction increases with the number of medications you take. Two medications have a 5 percent potential for an adverse drug reaction; five medications, a 50 percent chance; and eight medications, close to a 100 percent chance.

Even if you take your medications in prescribed amounts, drugs can build up in your body over time, or one drug can interfere with the breakdown of another by your liver, causing toxicity. Interactions can also increase or decrease the drug’s effectiveness, side effects, or both. In some instances, an interaction can result in a new side effect that isn’t connected with the use of either drug.

Fatalities can occur not only when you combine sedatives and narcotic pain relievers, but when you take more commonly prescribed drugs. You can face problems, for example, when you combine isosorbide dinitrate for heart disease with sildenafil for hypertension.

Essential Prevention
As complex as the causes of dangerous interactions can be, simple steps can help you avoid them:

• Make a list of all the prescription and OTC medications and supplements you take. For each, include the amount and the time you take it. Ask your doctor to review this record at every appointment, especially if you receive a new prescription.
• Ask your doctor and pharmacist the following questions before taking a new drug:
  • Can I take it with the other medications I already take?
  • Should I avoid certain foods, beverages, or other products when taking it?
  • Is it OK to take the drug with the chronic conditions I have?
• Fill all your prescriptions at one pharmacy so the pharmacist can catch potential interactions.
• Read the drug label carefully. Make sure you understand how much of the drug to take, how often, and any interactions with conditions or other drugs.
• Don’t mix medications into food or beverages. Doing so may change the way the drug works.
• Avoid drinking alcohol when taking most medications. Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea, vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, loss of coordination, and toxicity.
• Understand that vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs can interact with medications. For example, taking ginseng along with heparin, aspirin, or ibuprofen can increase these medications’ bleeding effects.
• Keep medications in their original containers so you can easily identify them and review any warnings.
• Be aware that receiving care from several doctors increases your risk of being prescribed dangerous medication combinations. If you see more than one physician, make sure your primary care doctor knows the details of everything you take.

By Barbara Floria, senior writer for Vitality. For more information, visit the Food and Drug Administration at www.fda.gov and search for “drug interactions.”

© StayWell Custom Communications. Information is the opinion of the sourced authors and organizations. Personal decisions regarding health, diet, and exercise should be made only after consultation with the reader's own medical advisers. This material may not be reproduced for redistribution without written permission from StayWell Custom Communications.