Mixing Meds---Another Alert

Cholesterol managing medications remain the single largest class of drugs sold in the world. High blood pressure medications are not far behind. The reason: unlike a medication to treat an acute and passing infection, these medications are often taken for a lifetime.

Here at Kardea, we look to the power of therapeutic nutrition and other lifestyle changes to allow an individual achieve healthy heart results either without the medications or at least with lower dosage levels.

Our interest is motivated less by the potential power of a given medication to achieve the specific result. Rather, our interest lies with the fact that a given drug is likely to be appropriate for one health concern. Yet, as we age, we often will face multiple condition --- and we take multiple medications for each condition---sometimes simply to treat the side effects of the first medications. I certanly have been watching my 83 year old mother and 90 year old father add an another medication with each passing birthday. It is the cocktail of medications that I find alarming. The long term interactions among these drugs are uncertain....but each drug is a powerful chemical agent.

Here is a case in point:

On November 17, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to take popular heartburn medications Nexium or Prilosec if they use Plavix, a widely prescribed blood thinner that guards against heart attack and stroke.

The two heartburn formulations can reduce the protective blood-thinning effect of Plavix, a medication widely advertised directly to consumers, by nearly one-half, according to a study undertaken at the request of the FDA.

Heartburn medications are commonly used with Plavix because it can cause upset stomach.

A leading medical industry watchdog welcomed the FDA's action, but said it's late and not forceful enough. The FDA should have required a more prominent "black box" warning, said Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. "You're getting a less effective dose of a potentially life-saving drug," said Wolfe, who also is a member of the FDA's Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee. "This is a serious issue."

Kudos to Dr Wolfe and the FDA...but one can only guess that more than one patient taking both Plavix and on these heartburn medications was prescribed a higher dosage or this Plavix or treated with yet another medication.