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I am sure most of you guys have heard about St. Johns Wort, but I just read an interesting article on Garlic. Garlic has a lot of drug interactions too and is a more common staple in our diet.
"Garlic is mainly used for its cardiovascular benefits, especially its effects on cholesterol and athersclerosis, and even blood pressure. ". The active components in garlic are mainly sulfur compounds, allin, and allicin. The active mechanism is unknown. However it is suggested that its cardiovascular acitivty can be contributed to its inactivation of hepatic enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis by allin.
As with St. Johns Wort, garlic has several general important drug interactions by inducing cyt 450 3A4 (for those who dont remember, 3a4 is responsible for around 1/3 of all drugs metabolism).
The important part is that patients should be advised with caution when using garlic preparations particularly if they take calcium channel blockers chemotherapy agents, antifungals, and oral contraceptives. It is also believe to reduce efficacy of some anti-retrovirals such as NNRTIs and cyclosporine. Intake of garlic should also be stopped one to two weeks prior to scheduled surgeries, as it may increase hemmorage.
Of course, everything is dose dependent but if the patient is taking garlic pills, you can be safe to point it out.
Article was taken from HERBAL MEDICINE PROS AND CONS: WHAT EVERY PHARMACIST SHOULD KNOW, by Kristi Quairoli PharmD. and featured on America's pharmacist February 2006.
"Garlic is mainly used for its cardiovascular benefits, especially its effects on cholesterol and athersclerosis, and even blood pressure. ". The active components in garlic are mainly sulfur compounds, allin, and allicin. The active mechanism is unknown. However it is suggested that its cardiovascular acitivty can be contributed to its inactivation of hepatic enzymes involved in cholesterol synthesis by allin.
As with St. Johns Wort, garlic has several general important drug interactions by inducing cyt 450 3A4 (for those who dont remember, 3a4 is responsible for around 1/3 of all drugs metabolism).
The important part is that patients should be advised with caution when using garlic preparations particularly if they take calcium channel blockers chemotherapy agents, antifungals, and oral contraceptives. It is also believe to reduce efficacy of some anti-retrovirals such as NNRTIs and cyclosporine. Intake of garlic should also be stopped one to two weeks prior to scheduled surgeries, as it may increase hemmorage.
Of course, everything is dose dependent but if the patient is taking garlic pills, you can be safe to point it out.
Article was taken from HERBAL MEDICINE PROS AND CONS: WHAT EVERY PHARMACIST SHOULD KNOW, by Kristi Quairoli PharmD. and featured on America's pharmacist February 2006.
