A Dose Of Danger

A CBS 2 News Special Assignment

CBS 2 News' Thelma Gutierrez reports on the potential problems of mixing medicine with the wrong foods.

Special Assignment: A Dose Of Danger aired Wednesday, February 10, 1999 at 11 p.m.

They help us heal and keep us healthy. But some drugs mixed with the wrong food can get you into big trouble.

For Hela Shapow, that's a scary thought.

"In some situations it can be life threatening," Shapow told CBS 2 News' Thelma Gutierrez. "I am very strict with that. I know it's no good. I want to be alive."

Shapow had open-heart surgery and now depends on the blood thinner coumadin to live.

The problem is, coumadin doesn't mix with Shapow's favorite foods.

"The vegetables I'm not allowed to eat are broccoli, cauliflower, all leaves. I don't eat," said Shapow.

Who would think that such healthy foods could be a problem?

But doctors warn that millions of Americans might be mixing their drugs with the wrong foods, making their drugs more potent -- even toxic, said Gutierrez. The wrong foods could also stop the drugs from working altogether.

"When we're looking at toxicity, we're looking at actually hypertensive crisis or possibly even death," Sav-On Drugs Pharmacist Monica Vera-Schubert told Gutierrez.

Did you know you should never take grapefruit juice to wash down blood-pressure pills known as calcium channel blockers?

Other normally nutritious foods can actually block a drug from working. If you take blood thinners like coumadin, watch out for vegetables rich in vitamin K, such as cabbage, broccoli and brussel sprouts.

And then there are foods that interact with certain drugs, causing dangerous side effects.

If you take anti-depression medications known as MAO inhibitors, stay away from avocados, bananas, summer sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella and most aged cheeses. You might end up with severe headaches, nausea and even heart palpitations.

Just about everyone takes antibiotics, but even these drugs shouldn't be mixed with certain foods.

"There are a couple that are very popular," said Schubert. "Tetracycline and cipro, those antibiotics actually should not be taken with diary products. It will actually decrease the absorption."

Your doctor and pharmacist will give you instructions but they say it's up to you to listen and read.

"What we do is give them some literature about their medication. So they can reinforce what we've taught them at the counter," said Schubert.

Some of the advice given includes food to avoid with your medicine and whether or not you should take the medicine on an empty stomach.

"Some medications are not absorbed as well with foods," Dr. Michael Glovsky told Gutierrez. "An example of that is one of the newer asthma drugs called accolate. They should be taken on an empty stomach."

Shapow takes her doctor's recommendations seriously. After all, she has a lot to live for.

"When I left the hospital, they gave me a whole list (of) what I may eat, what I'm not allowed to eat," said Shapow. "I have four grandchildren, I'd like to see them growing so I'd like to be alive."

But staying alive means you need a healthy diet, and the I-Team doesn't want to scare you away from healthy food. Talk to your doctor or nutritionist about coming up with a diet that works best with the medications you're taking.

More information:

• Consumer Campaign Warns About Some Risky Foods, Medicines
• The Grapefruit juice-drug interaction page provides the latest information on this topic.
• Food-Medication Interactions Web site provides user-friendly resources on food and drug interactions.