Scientists at the University of Stellenbosch (South Africa) have found that a combination of herbal supplements and prescription drugs can be deadly. The researchers' article was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
Experts analyzed 49 medical cases, including those in which prescription drugs were ineffective with dietary supplements. They also looked at the results of two studies, each of which looked at 15 medical cases.
Experts have shown that substances such as statins, which help lower cholesterol levels, and warfarin (an anticoagulant), can interact with dietary supplements such as St. John's wort. This happens if both of them work in the same organs, which either cancels the effect of the drug, or enhances it.
According to doctors, although nutritional supplements are considered harmless, they contain active substances that, when combined with powerful drugs, become extremely dangerous. For example, there are cases when cancer patients stopped working in cancer patients due to ginseng tinctures, transplanted kidneys were rejected due to chamomile, and HIV levels in the blood increased after taking ginkgo supplements.