Conxita Mestres Miralles
University Ramon Llull.Barcelona, Spain
Title: FOOD-DRUG INTERACTIONS. WHERE ARE WE NOW?
Biography
Biography: Conxita Mestres Miralles
Abstract
Since the description of the serious interaction between IMAO drugs and tyramine containing foods in the 50s, food-drug interactions have won increasing importance and care. This is an important issue taking in account the increasing use of medications, especially in frail older people that are often polymedicated. Nowadays, we also include all the relations between nutritional status and drug treatment in this area. However we still facing some difficulties, such as: - Lack of information in new commercialized drugs, due to the fact that these interactions are not studied or evaluated in premarketing assays - Very few are described in patient’s handout - There are few databases and information sources, where health care professionals could find reliable and complete information. Moreover, not always health care givers takes fully in account or give the importance due to this kind of interaction. Therefore, I think that more work is needed in this area. For instance, to continue increasing the assays and works to detect unknown food-drug interactions and to have more knowledge about its importance in the patient outcome. And what is also very important is to increase the knowledge and awareness between physicians, pharmacists, dietitians and nurses, initiating them since the degree studies
