When drugs and herbs interact, the result is generally to either increase or decrease their effects. Sedative herbs such as kava could be too sedating if combined with sleeping pills. Herbs can also change the length of time medications are retained in the body. For example, by speeding up the elimination process, bulking agents and laxatives reduce absorption of medications in the intestine. In pharmacological terms, interactions fall into two general categories: pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic. Pharmacokinetic processes include changes in a substance’s absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion, in turn changing the amount and duration of the availability of a substance at receptor sites. Pharmacodynamic interactions are due to changes at the receptor site itself, and may increase or decrease a substance’s effect. While the drug industry and medical doctors have overemphasized the dangers of herb/drug interactions, the true dangers are drug/drug interactions. The average senior citizen takes five or more different medications, and nobody, including the pharmaceutical companies who manufacture them, knows what those drugs do when combined. These combinations certainly haven’t been proven safe or effective. It’s estimated that about 100,000 people die each year from prescription drug side effects, and about 300 per year from over-the-counter medications. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 9.4 percent of hospital admissions were due to a drug-induced illness. These patients were taking an average of 5.7 medications at the same time. Reprinted from Healing Immune Disorders, by Andrew Gaeddert.
