Interactions between medications

Several CM studies have explored interactions between medication and psychosocial treatments for substance use disorders. In a 12-week randomized, double-blind study of buprenorphine-maintained opioid- and cocaine-dependent patients, Kosten et al. (2003a) found that desipramine and CM together led to greater abstinence from cocaine and heroin and more consecutive weeks of abstinence than either treatment individually or placebo. A later... 

Interactions between medications caused polypharmacy. (Polypharmacy occurs when new medications are prescribed without discontinuing current medication, resulting in an adverse interaction of medications.)... 

It is common for some medications to be administered to the patient by the nurse on an as needed basis (PRN) such as analgesics (pain medication). PRN medication isn t scheduled on the MAR but is listed in a different section of the MAR. Therefore, the nurse must determine when PRN medication was administered and what PRN medication was administered before giving any medication. This avoids any potential interaction between medications. 

A number of psychosocial treatments for alcohol and other substance use disorders exist and are widely used. In this chapter, we discuss six of these psychotherapies as they are applied to alcohol, cocaine, and opioid dependence brief interventions, motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral treatments (including contingency management and community reinforcement approaches), behavioral marital therapy, and 12-step facilitation. We also describe studies that examined the efficacy of a medication in combination with one or more of the six psychotherapies. In the second section of the chapter, we highlight research that directly studied the interaction between psychosocial and pharmacological treatments. 

Although studies directed at measuring the interaction between diverse types of psychotherapy and different medications are complex, additional research in this area is needed. Such studies offer the methodological sophistication required to understand the complicated relationships between interventions that can substantially affect treatment outcomes. 

Mitochondria-associated toxicities, such as pancreatitis, are frequently demonstrated in HlV/HCV-coinfected individuals, and may significantly influence treatment options (de Mendoza and Soriano 2005). Yet, no cell culture or animal models have been developed to predict nucleoside-induced pancreatitis. Nevertheless, an association of HCV replication and mitochondrial DNA depletion in primary human lymphocytes obtained from HIV/HCV-coinfected individuals under concomitant administration of HCV and HIV medications was demonstrated by de Mendoza and coworkers (de Mendoza et al. 2007). They claimed that the use of HCV medication together with certain antiretroviral agents seemed to enhance mitochondrial damage due to a synergistic deleterious interaction between the anti-HCV and anti-HIV drugs. In contrast, an improvement in mitochondrial content with effective... 

New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute. Drug-Drug Interactions Between HAART, Medications Used in Substance Use Treatment, and Recreational Drugs. 2005. Available at www.hivguidelines.org... 

Although there is a common belief that natural herbs do no harm, emergent cases reported that renal failure was associated with chronic use of certain herbal preparations. Another important issue is the interaction between herbs and Western medication. There is a tendency, from that assumption, to neglect the possible side effects induced by the combination of both medications. Drug-drug interactions are listed in the following examples. 

Markowitz ME Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY Examine the interaction between elevated lead and low iron levels on the response to clinical intervention in young children between 18 and 30 months of age National Institute of Child Health And Human Development... 

Adsorption of (bio)polymers occurs ubiquitously, and among the biopolymers, proteins are most surface active. Wherever and whenever a protein-containing (aqueous) solution is exposed to a (solid) surface, it results in the spontaneous accumulation of protein molecules at the solid-water interface, thereby altering the characteristics of the sorbent surface and, in most cases, of the protein molecules as well (Malmsten 2003). Therefore, the interaction between proteins and interfaces attracts attention from a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from environmental sciences to food processing and medical sciences. 

Dickinson BD, Altman RD, Nielsen NH, Sterling ML Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association Drug interactions between oral contraceptives and antibiotics. Obstet Gynecol 2001 98 853-860. 

Levin, B.C. Paabo, M. Gunman, J.L. Harris, S.E. Braun, E. "Toxicological Interactions Between Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide," Proceedings of 16th Conference of Toxicology, Air Force Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory, Dayton, OH, October 1986 Toxicology 1987, 47, 135-164. 

The suitable materials for the above mentioned domains are polymers, metals and ceramics. Among these, polymers play an important role. Even the polymers have a lot of remarkable properties that could be used in biomaterials design, the interaction between these artificial materials and tissues and blood could create serious medical problems such as clot formation, activating of platelets, and occlusion of tubes for dialysis or vascular grafts. In the last few years, novel techniques of synthesis have been used to correlate desirable chemical, physical and biological properties of biomaterials. 

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