There are nearly 1500 documented interactions between medications, herbal medicines, and dietary supplements. These interactions can cause a wide variety of harmful effects. An official website of the United States government The.gov means it's official. Federal government websites usually end up in .gov or .thousand.
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Adults report that they are simultaneously taking a prescription drug with a dietary supplement.
It is essential for adults to explore dietary supplements and herbal remedies to learn about their effectiveness, the usual dosage, and drug interactions. Physicians should consult reliable resources on dietary supplements, or from clinical or pharmaceutical pharmacists, to help evaluate the safety of specific combinations of herbal supplements and medications. The direct pharmacological effects of an herbal supplement can antagonize or exacerbate the clinical effects of the drug without changing the concentration of the drug.The competition between an herbal supplement and a drug by a shared ADME mechanism can cause a change in the concentration of the drug at the site of action. St. John's Wort and the golden seal are known to cause clinically important drug interactions and should be avoided by most patients receiving any drug treatment. However, many other supplements are expected to cause interactions based solely on in vitro studies that have not been confirmed or refuted in human clinical trials.
Some supplements may cause interactions with some medications, but are likely to be safe with other medications (e.g., some supplements have a low chance of drug interactions and, with certain caveats, can be safely taken with most medications). If your healthcare provider says it's okay to use an herbal supplement together with a medication, be careful. A third group of supplements contains herbs that have demonstrated a low risk of interaction with some drugs and a moderate or high risk of interaction with other drugs. That's why you should talk to your healthcare provider before taking herbal supplements if you take prescription medications. Since most patients do not disclose the use of supplements to doctors, the most important strategy for detecting herbal and drug interactions is to develop a relationship of trust that encourages patients to discuss the use of dietary supplements.
About half of adults in the United States say they have used one or more supplements in the past 30 days. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health defines dietary supplements as a variety of products, including herbs, vitamins and minerals, and probiotics. It can also be difficult to ensure that a supplement contains adequate concentrations of active components. While most of these supplements have available information on pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interactions based on clinical research in humans, there are few supplements with clinical data that consistently support important drug interactions or that clearly demonstrate that there is no risk of interactions. It is critical that doctors maintain an ongoing and open dialogue with patients about the use of dietary supplements.
Herbal supplements can strongly affect the body. Some don't work well with prescription drugs. This is called a drug interaction. Herbal supplements can interact with medications used to treat heart and blood vessel problems, such as high blood pressure and heart failure.
Some of these drug interactions can be risky. To ensure safety when taking dietary supplements and herbal remedies together with prescription drugs, it is important to consult reliable resources on dietary supplements or from clinical pharmacists or clinical pharmacists to help evaluate the safety of specific combinations.
