Government safety advisers are recommending that doctors check their patients’ diets before prescribing certain drugs, because some interactions can be detrimental or even fatal.

News like this is one of the reasons I’m considering a food/ diet/ health blog for the Spinneyhead family.

Avoiding interaction: what not to mix

Warfarin to prevent blood clotting

Reacts with cranberry juice and green vegetables. Efficacy may be reduced by ice cream, soya beans and avocados, although clinical significance and prevalence of this problem is unclear

Cholesterol-lowering or immunosuppressant drugs

Patients should not drink grapefruit juice

Sedatives; other drugs including paracetamol

Should not be mixed with alcohol

Lithium to treat bipolar disorder

Patients must not vary intake of salt once they have been stabilised on the drug

Oral contraceptives; anti-depressants in the SSRI class; anti-HIV drugs

Do not mix with St John’s wort, even though there is evidence that it can help treat depression too

Antibiotics in the tetracycline and quinolone classes

Milk and dairy products can reduce their effectiveness

Technorati tag: Health,Diet, Food