worth looking into

[Guest guest]

maybe these can also affect gleevec and other cml drugs?

Some Fruit Juices Decrease Drug Benefits

FROM AOL

(Aug. 20) - Drinking certain types of fruit juice may negate the benefits of

some drugs prescribed for serious medical conditions, according to study

results announced this week.

Medications for heart disease, cancer and organ transplant rejection and

infection could lose their impact if taken with grapefruit, apple or orange

juices, the study found.

Grapefruit are loaded into a container before being trucked to a juice

factory

Silverman, Getty Images

If you like the juice made from grapefruit, you should be careful not to

drink it when taking certain medications. A new study finds that grapefruit and

certain other kinds of fruit juice can block absorption of drugs, rendering

them less effective.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,†said G. , a professor of

clinical pharmacology with the University of Western Ontario in London,

Ontario, who led the study presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American

Chemical

Society. “I’m sure we’ll find more and more drugs that are affected this

way.â€

The culprit appears to be naringin, which gives grapefruit its sour taste

and is also found in orange and apple juice, said. Naringin appears to

block the process in which drugs move from the small intestine into the blood

stream. That reduces a drug’s absorption — and its benefits.

conducted a study with healthy volunteers who took an antihistamine,

fexofenadine, used to fight allergies. The participants took the medication

with water, with water laced with naringin and with grapefruit juice. Those

who drank juice absorbed half as much medication into their systems as those

who took the drug with water.

said the three juices lowered the absorption of the following:

- Etoposide, an anticancer agent

- Certain beta blockers (atenolol, celiprolol, talinolol) used to treat high

blood pressure and prevent heart attacks

- Cyclosporine, a drug taken to prevent rejection of transplanted organs

- Certain antibiotics (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, itraconazole).

A study conducted with colleagues two decades ago found that

grapefruit juice had the opposite effect on a certain drug — felodipine, a

high-blood-pressure medication. Drinking the juice with the medication increased

the

absorption rate, threatening to create toxic levels of ingestion.

Since then, scientists have identified almost 50 drugs that can be

dangerously enhanced by grapefruit juice. Some prescriptions now sport labels

that

warn against mixing the medicine and grapefruits or grapefruit juice.

To be safe, recommends taking most medications with water. He said

patients should consult with their doctor or pharmacist before taking drugs

with juice.

2008 AOL LLC. .

Posted: 25 Aug, 2008 |

Categories: _General Topics_ (http://www.koshernexus.org/?cat=1) | Tags:

| By: _rebrapp_ (http://www.utj.org/) .

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