Drinking fruit juice 'could render vital drugs useless'
Published Date:
20 August 2008
FRUIT juices, including grapefruit, orange and apple, can dramatically reduce the effectiveness of heart and cancer drugs, it was claimed yesterday.
The drugs could be rendered useless if patients take them at the same time as drinking juice, Canadian researchers said.
The evidence emerged from a study in which grapefruit juice was found to shut certain drugs out of the body.
Other fruit juices, notably orange and apple, are believed to have the same effect.
Patients consuming fruit or juice run the risk of wiping out the benefits of their medicines – among them vital treatments for heart disease, cancer, organ transplant rejection and infection, the scientists warned.
For 20 years it has been known that grapefruit juice can boost the potency of some drugs, increasing the risk of an overdose.
Some prescription drugs now carry labels warning patients not to drink grapefruit juice or eat fresh grapefruit at the same time as taking the medicines.
The latest research, presented at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, US, shows that juice may have the opposite effect with some other drugs.
The full article contains 191 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
19 August 2008 10:14 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
