Some Herbal/Dietary Supplements Are Dangerous When Taken With Prescription Medications

A comprehensive research review by Chinese and U.S. scientists has found that certain herbal and dietary supplements can be harmful when taken with prescription medications. The researchers analyzed 54 review articles and 31 original studies, finding particularly serious adverse effects when prescription drugs were taken with St. John’s Wort, magnesium, calcium, iron or ginkgo biloba. The greatest number of supplement interaction problems were with Warfarin, insulin, aspirin, digoxin and ticlopidine. Most of the interaction problems were caused by the supplements altering the way a drug is absorbed, distributed, metabolized and eliminated by the body.