The practice is particularly common in United States with an alarming 2.2 million indulging in the act. The imprudent combinations of prescriptions like blood thinners and cholesterol pills, with over-the-counter dietary supplements make patients vulnerable to side effects and drug-to-drug interactions.
The survey done between June 2005 and March 2006 collected medical data of nearly 3,000 adults, aged between 57 and 85, through in-person interviews.
Based on responses, the researchers comprehended that every 1 in 25 American adults indulged in risky or even fatal drug interactions. Older men were at worst risk with every one in 10 taking potentially harmful combination, researchers asserted.
The three most risky combinations were aspirin and ginkgo supplements, lisinopril (blood pressure drug) and potassium, and statins with niacin (a vitamin B supplement).
While aspirin when combined with ginkgo supplements increased the risk of profuse bleeding, the lisinopril and potassium mix was implicated to cause abnormal heart rhythms.
Whereas, prescription cholesterol drugs when mixed with over-the-counter niacin supplements increased the risk for muscle damage, researchers noted.
"Older adults in the United States use medicine and they use a lot of it," Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau of the University Of Chicago Medical Center in Illinois said. "While medications are often beneficial, they are not always safe."
"If they need to self-medicate with over-the-counter or dietary supplements, they should definitely consult with their physicians or pharmacists," she advised.
Alternatively, patients can check their risk factor for each non prescription drug they take by keying in the names of the drugs at the website http://www.consumermedsafety.org. Launched by Michael Cohen, a pharmacist and president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, the site empowers a patient to check for any potentially dangerous interactions among drugs.
The results of the study feature in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and University of Chicago.
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