Herb-drug interactions

Herbal and dietary supplements are part of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The conventional suggestion is that you should tell a doctor about any CAM you are using. This suggestion implies that your doctor will be able to guide you about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The problems are:

-         The conventional MDs are not experts in CAM

-         CAM do not have to be put through the research and tests that conventional MDs are used to looking at before giving their opinion.

It is important for you to learn about the supplements you are using. Potential interaction between herbs and allopathic medicines you are taking is one of the important concerns. In case of some products, enough data may not be available.

 Pro-Per™ Tips:

-         Most of the pharmacies have computer programs that can check for any known interaction between any CAM and allopathic medicines. Request your pharmacist to check for any potential interaction between all the medicines and herbs you are taking.

-         You can go to a website that I recently saw that tabulates some drug-herb interactions.

-         Another site lets you enter different products you are taking and gives you known interactions. This site for drug-herb interactions can be accessed by clicking here.