While there are some people who refuse to take aspirin, many Americans, especially middle aged and older people, take a potpourri of medications every morning and night.
Each medication, whether it is a prescription, over-the-counter remedy or an herbal supplement, contains powerful ingredients that have the potential to interact with each other. These drugs can also interact with certain foods, medical conditions, such as diabetes, and even with sunlight. Such interactions can cause unexpected and sometimes dangerous side effects. They can also worsen an existing side effect, or make a life-saving drug less effective.
Not only are people taking more medications, they're seeing more doctors. In the past, people saw one doctor for all ailments, but today, people may have four or five specialists in addition to their primary physician. They also tend to get their prescriptions filled at multiple pharmacies including those online. Although one doctor isn't likely to meet all of your medical needs, one pharmacy probably can.
"Going one pharmacy reduces your risk of drug interactions," says Bethanne Brown, a visiting instructor of clinical pharmacy at the University of Cincinnati. "That way the pharmacist has a profile of your other medications." If you can't go to just one pharmacy for some reason, the next best thing is to list all of your medications and share that list with your health care providers and pharmacists.
Copyright 2009 NBC Health
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