Warning: Mixing Grapefruit with Prescription Drugs Can Be Deadly!
Grapefruit lovers, beware! If you’re undergoing prescribed medications, the last thing you want to do is to drink a glass of grapefruit juice. In a new study, researchers found that mixing this fruit with certain drugs may lead to serious side effects that can be life-threatening.
According to the study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the number of prescription drugs that negatively react with grapefruit is rising. From 17, the number went up to 43 between 2008 and 2012. In just four years, 26 new prescription drugs were found to cause harm when taken with grapefruit. That’s more than 6 drugs per year on average, said Dr David Bailey, a clinical pharmacologist at the Lawson Health Institute Research Centre in London, Ontario. He described it as a “disturbing trend”.
In total, there are 85 drugs that can negatively interact with grapefruit, said the researchers. The list includes treatments for anxiety, depression, HIV infection, allergy, high cholesterol, seizure, and heart rhythm abnormalities.
Regular consumption of the fruit can make treatments worse. For instance, taking simvastatin (drug used to lower bad cholesterol), with a 200 millilitre glass of grapefruit juice once a day for three days can increase the concentration level of the drug three times. This may lead to rhabdomyolysis or the breakdown of muscle fibres, which leads to kidney failure. Another drug for heart disease called dronedarone (Multaq), may lead to a rare form of ventricular tachycardia or rapid heart rhythm, when taken with grapefruit.
Other possible effects of combining grapefruit with certain medications are respiratory failure, internal bleeding and sudden death.
Grapefruit and other citrus fruits such as Seville oranges contain chemicals, particularly furanocoumarins that boost the potency of certain medications. This doubles the effect of the drug, which usually leads to symptoms similar to drug overdose.
Even if the fruit is consumed several hours before taking the drug, it can still create an undesirable chemical reaction. The researchers warned that older people who have a low tolerance with drug overdose are more at risk of suffering from the deadly effects of mixing grapefruit with prescription drugs.
Dr Bailey argued that patients might not tell their doctors about their grapefruit consumption because they do not know that the negative interaction may occur. Thus, it is important that healthcare professionals should inform patients beforehand about it. He added that unless doctors are aware of the possibility that the adverse effects of drugs they’re seeing in the patients originated from grapefruit consumption, they are less likely to investigate it.
But not all citrus fruits pose health risks. Sweet oranges like the navel and Valencia varieties don’t contain furanocoumarins, said Dr Bailey. So if you want to take your pill with sweet orange juice, it’s definitely okay.
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Source of this article:
Scientists Warn Grapefruit Consumption Could Make Prescription Drugs Lethal
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