You may want to think twice before you drink that glass of grapefruit juice with your morning medications. A new study appearing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal noted that there has been an increase in the number of medications being sold that may cause serious side effects when combined with grapefruit juice. ACSH s Dr. Josh Bloom explains, Several chemicals found in the juice inhibit the liver enzymes that metabolize certain drugs. This can result in abnormally high concentrations of the drug in the blood. Depending on the medicine in question, this effect can be quite dangerous.
David Bailey, a clinical pharmacologist at the Lawson Health Research Institute in London, who is responsible for discovering this interaction about twenty years ago, states that taking one tablet (of a statin used to lower cholesterol), with a glass of grapefruit juice is like taking 20 tablets with a glass of water. Even more scary is that although these warnings may appear on the information leaflet that comes with the medications, not everyone reads them. ACSH s Dr. Gilbert Ross doubts that many doctors even know the full range of these interactions. Use this exhaustive list to make sure you are not in danger of causing yourself harm and always ask your pharmacist or doctor about interactions.
