Warning over grapefruit health risk
Grapefruit poses a potentially lethal health risk to increasing numbers of patients taking prescription drugs, experts have warned.
The fruit contains chemicals which can interact with certain drugs, making them more potent.
Adverse effects can include acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, internal bleeding and sudden death.
While it is well known that some patients should avoid grapefruit, or grapefruit juice, the list of drugs involved has risen sharply in recent years.
Between 2008 and 2012 the number of medications with the potential to cause serious harm by interacting with grapefruit increased from 17 to 43, said scientists writing in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Each year, more than six of these drugs on average were being made available to patients.
Dr David Bailey, from Lawson Health Research Institute in London, Ontario, and colleagues described the trend as “disturbing”.
They wrote: “Unless healthcare professionals are aware of the possibility that the adverse event they are seeing might have an origin in the recent addition of grapefruit to the patient’s diet, it is very unlikely that they will investigate it. In addition, the patient may not volunteer this information. Thus, we contend that there remains a lack of knowledge about this interaction in the general healthcare community.”
More than 85 drugs in total can interact with grapefruit, and of these 43 can have serious side effects, said the researchers. The list of danger medicines includes treatments for anxiety, depression, allergy, HIV infection, seizures, heart rhythm abnormalities and high cholesterol.
A modest single helping of grapefruit can have an effect even if consumed hours before a drug is taken, said the scientists. Frequent exposure to grapefruit could make matters worse. Combining the cholesterol-lowering drug simvastatin with a 200 millilitre glass of grapefruit juice once a day for three days more than tripled its concentration level. Older people with a reduced ability to tolerate drug overdoses were at greatest risk.
“The current trend of increasing numbers of newly marketed grapefruit-affected drugs possessing substantial adverse clinical effects necessitates an understanding of this interaction and the application of this knowledge for the safe and effective use of drugs in general practice,” the experts concluded.
The NHS have updated their website with the latest news and advice on this topic …the link to view it is here
If you have any concerns read the leaflet provided with your medication or contact your GP or pharmacist for advice.
Disclaimer
All content on Silverhairs.com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated at all as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. Silverhairs.com will not be responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content on www.silversurfers.com and we are also not liable for the content of any external websites or links from or to Silverhairs to any other websites. Please always consult your own doctor if you’re in any way concerned about any aspect of your health.
Do you take any prescription medication that cannot be combined with grapefruit?
Latest posts by Sally - Silversurfer's Editor (see all)
- Freezing this Christmas, a charity single could hit the number one spot - December 20, 2024
- Theatre tickets from £10 for 50+ London shows with See It Live in 2025 - December 19, 2024
- Should Waspi women be entitled to compensation? - December 17, 2024
- What was your favourite childhood toy? - December 17, 2024
- It’s never too late to play bridge - December 15, 2024
