Drug interaction: What you should know | Health

Drug interactions occur when two or more medications, supplements or substances interact with each other, affecting their effectiveness or potentially causing adverse effects. ‘Drug interactions’ appear sometime during conversations, at some point of time but if you are wondering about what it means exactly and why should we know about it, National Institute of Health simply defines drug interaction as a reaction between two (or more) drugs or between a drug and a food, beverage or supplement.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Akhilesh Sharma, President and Chief Medical Officer at Alkem Laboratories, highlighted that majorly there are three types of drug interactions:

• Drug-drug interactions- reaction between two or more different drugs

• Drug-food interactions- reaction between food and drug

• Drug-disease interaction- a reaction to a drug because of certain disease conditions

He shared, “Some drug interactions can cause loss of effectiveness of drugs, unforeseen undesirable effects or sometimes escalate the drug activity. Some drug interactions can even life-threatening.” According to him, common examples of drug interactions include:

• A pain killer like aspirin may increase bleeding risk if patient is blood thinners i.e., anticoagulants.

• Alcohol consumption: while on sleeping pills increases risk of falls etc; or with medications having effect on liver e.g., paracetamol, increases liver injury risk.

• Consuming milk with buffering antacids, increases risk of ‘milk alkali’ syndrome.

Talking about who has high risk of developing drug interactions, he said, “Drug interactions affect more frequently the patients who do not follow instructions of treating physician. Additionally, those with multiple health ailments simultaneously and old age people receiving polypharmacy are also at risk of developing severe drug interactions.”

Revealing how to avoid drug interactions, Dr Akhilesh Sharma advised, “Openly talk to your doctor about all medications you take or wish to take as OTC in case of urgency & properly inform of health issues you may be suffering from (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, depression etc.) even if unrelated to the consulting specialist. Even herbal or nutraceutical medicines available in market can interact with many drugs. Follow strictly doctor’s instructions on medications, avoid self-medications. Carefully read instructions for medicines & understand given drug-interactions.”

Bringing his expertise to the same, Harish Ramachandran, Country Head – Clinical Effectiveness at Wolters Kluwer India, said, “Providing safe and effective care for every patient is at the heart of healthcare practice. However, with every patient’s needs being unique, managing their medication regimens can be challenging. This is especially true when patients require multiple medications to manage their conditions, which can lead to an increased risk of drug-to-drug interactions. The complexity of prescription regimens and the variety of conditions that might lead to medication-related issues make it difficult to identify potential drug interactions before they cause harm.”

He warned, “Drug interactions can seriously compromise patient safety and result in hospitalizations, extended hospital stays, and higher medical expenses. In addition, clinicians face mounting pressure to optimize medication management and improve patient outcomes. Hence, it is important to consider each patient’s medical history, current prescriptions, allergies, and pharmacological sensitivities while prescribing medicines.”

Fortunately, evidence-based drug referential systems are now available which offer a powerful solution to address these issues, as per Harish Ramachandran. He suggested, “By leveraging these technologies and a comprehensive database of medical knowledge and clinical practice guidelines, care providers can better identify potential risks and prevent unwanted drug interactions. This enables them to make informed decisions about medication regimens, ultimately improving patient safety and delivering high-quality care. As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, we can expect the role of technology to expand and become even more crucial in optimizing medication management and improving patient care.”