Millions of consumers are using the Internet to get health information. And thousands of web sites are offering health information. Some of those sites are reliable and up-to-date; some are not. How can you tell the good from the bad? First, it's important to carefully consider the source of information and then to discuss the information you find with your health care professional. These questions and answers can help you determine whether the health information you find on the Internet or receive by e-mail from a Web site is likely to be reliable. Be sure your privacy is protected: look for privacy and security policies that are easy-to-find and easy-to-understand. Don't give any personal information such as social security number, credit card, or medical or health history, unless you are sure the website will keep your information safe and private. Make sure the site requires a prescription and has a pharmacist available for questions.
If you take several different medicines, see more than one doctor, or have certain health conditions, you and your doctors need to be aware of all the medicines you take. Doing so will help you to avoid potential problems such as drug interactions. Reading the label every time you use a nonprescription or prescription drug and taking the time to learn about drug interactions may be critical to your health. You can reduce the risk of potentially harmful drug interactions and side effects with a little bit of knowledge and common sense. A drug may affect these enzymes by inhibiting them, which causes reduced activity of the enzyme and a buildup of the drug in the body. Or drugs may "induce" the enzymes, which causes increased activity of the enzyme and a reduction of the drug in the body. This phase of research in test tubes, known as in vitro studies, allows researchers to perform drug-interaction studies in labs by testing a drug with other drugs that have the same route. This has made the research faster and more accurate. If two drugs go through the same enzyme, the presence of one drug can prevent the metabolism of the other. So this allows you to look at the worst-case scenarios and ask: 'What if we put this drug with that one, knowing that they have the same route?'" Not everything that happens in a test tube will become meaningful in humans, though. Results from these test-tube studies can tell us whether need to do further testing in people to find out if an interaction is clinically significant. Three phases of clinical trials in humans must happen before a drug can be marketed. Phase 1 studies focus on a drug's side effects and how the drug is metabolized and eliminated from the body. Phase 2 studies focus on a drug's effectiveness. And Phase 3 studies gather more information on safety and effectiveness, which includes using the drug in combination with other drugs. Health professionals also use computer systems with drug-interaction screening software, electronic prescribing, and other technology. Mark Langdorf, M.D., chair of the department of emergency medicine at the University of California, Irvine, says, "In a busy emergency room, you have to quickly find out what a patient is taking and how those drugs could interact with other treatments." So rather than asking patients what medications they take, doctors should make the questions specific: "Are you taking any over-the-counter medication? Are you taking any herbal treatments or vitamins?" But it is good way -- consumers remind doctors of everything they take when they are prescribed a new medication. So a patient might say: "Now remember, I'm also taking birth control pills. Is there a risk of interaction with this new medicine?" Drug interactions with other drugs includes both prescription and over-the-counter medicines. Tricyclic antidepressants such as Elavil (amitriptyline) and Pamelor (nortriptyline) can interfere with blood pressure-lowering Catapres (clonidine). Taking the antibiotic Cipro (ciprofloxacin) with antacids lowers Cipro's effectiveness. Some antibiotics, such as rifampin, can lower the effectiveness of birth control pills. Sildenafil, the active ingredient in the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, should not be taken with nitrates for heart treatment because of the potential for dangerously low blood pressure.
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