eShopper

Cancer and Grapefruit Juice

I have taken medications in the past with warning labels about not drinking grapefruit juice while on the medication. Now researchers at the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center are using the interaction of grapefruit juice and cancer drugs as a positive advantage. Chicago's ABC affiliate WLS channel 7 reporter Sylvia Perez has filed the following report.

Many patients are warned to avoid grapefruit because it can change the way the body metabolizes, or breaks down, some medications. That gave researchers at the University of Chicago Hospitals an idea. Why not use its potent effect on medication to do some good? So grapefruit is purposely being teamed with a drug in hopes of creating an effective and safe new treatment for cancer patients running out of options. The grapefruit.

On the one hand it's a nutritional jackpot, packed with vitamins and nutrients. On the flip side, it contains a substance that interferes with the body's ability to break down some medications. It inhibits an enzyme and allows more of the drug to enter the body. That can be dangerous. What basically happens is the drug becomes a higher dose than what the doctor prescribed.

You may contact the University of Chicago for more information about the study or visit WLS above for the complete story.

Supplements

We want you to make informed decisions regarding your health. This blog contains many stores that sell supplements in our Health category. Please take the time to view this story that CBS News ran on their blog.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the "Evening News" ran a two-part story on supplements. Monday's story focused on herbal supplements, while last night's centered on dietary supplements. Both pieces featured science and medical writer Dan Hurley, who has a new book out that is critical of the supplement industry.

Hurley argues that most supplements don't work, and he says that some can even be harmful, an argument the "Evening News" backed up by interviewing a woman whose "nose was burned off" by an herbal supplement. Each piece also included a comment from someone who says Hurley has it wrong: Monday we had Steve Mister, who works for the supplement industry, and who said that Hurley's book should be discounted because of "lack of science, historical inaccuracies and emphasis on anecdotal evidence and opinion." And Tuesday gave us David Seckman, head of the Natural Products Association, who says supplements are safe and effective.

If you are taking supplements or are considering taking them, please evaluate both sides of this argument. You should be aware that some supplements do interact with prescription medications and you should consult with your doctor before taking them.

story by science and medical writer Dan Hurley