ccording to Dr. J. David Spence, a
professor of neurology, internal medicine and pharmacology at
the University of Western Ontario, there are some possibly
deadly interactions between Grapefruit and
common prescription medications.Writing in a recent article (Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics ; Vol. 61, No. 4), Dr. Spence informs us that there can be serious, if not deadly consequences, in mixing the popular citrus fruit with common prescription medications.
A chilling case is cited in which a 29 year old man, whom had been taking the prescription medication Seldane, twice a day, for over a year, drank two glasses of Grapefruit Juice and went out to mow the lawn. He suddenly became ill, stumbled into his home and collapsed. The coroner found that the man had died of terfenadine toxicity. What is now known, is that the flavonoids in grapefruit modifies the metabolism of many medications.
Some of these medications adversely effected by grapefruit interactions are:
-
Heart or Blood Pressure Medications:
- Plendil
- Procardia
- Sular
- Other, un-named Blood Pressure Medications
to react as if two, three or even seven times the recommended dose had been ingested.
-
Cholesterol Lowering Medications, These include:
- Zocar
- Mevacor
- Pravachol
- Other Cholesterol Lowering Medications
-
Other Medications mentioned as being adversely effected by Grapefruit:
- Estrogen (female hormone)
- Coumadin (blood thinner)
- Caffeine (as in Coffee)
- Cyclosporine (transplant drug)
- Tofranil (an antidepressant)
a glass of the juice daily, for a week, the drug interaction would be stronger.
The Source for this article is the newspaper column "People's Pharmacy" as published in
The El Paso Times. (1 September 1997, page 3D)
It recommends getting a copy of the book:
This website is hosted by