Common Diseases and Medication Dietary Restrictions

Author: Chief Editor: Cai Yongmin
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1999-10-01
Features: This book is categorized by clinical departments, introducing dietary and medication taboos for 226 common diseases in internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, and otolaryngology. It provides dietary and medication taboos for various diseases, including their dietary and drug interactions. Each taboo is generally briefly explained with its principle. At the end of the book, there are indexes for disease names, food names, and drug names (all arranged by stroke order) for easy reference. This book can serve as a scientific guide for patients in various departments regarding diet and medication, a reference for clinicians when prescribing medications, and a reference for medical enthusiasts during leisure time.
Excerpt:
1. Digitalis should be used cautiously with Chinese herbal medicines and decoctions high in potassium. Chinese herbal medicines high in potassium include kelp, polygonum multiflorum, Artemisia annua, Leonurus cardiaca, Schisandra chinensis,, and Achyranthes bidentata, while decoctions include Ginseng Yangrong Tang and Chai Pu Tang. These drugs, when combined with digitalis, can reduce its efficacy and affect treatment outcomes, so they should be avoided if possible.
2. Digitalis should be used cautiously with Chinese herbal wines. There are many types of herbal wines containing ethanol, such as Shujin Huoluo Wine, Hufeng Wine, Fengshui Wine, and Guogong Wine. Excessive ethanol can lower blood potassium levels and increase the sensitivity of the heart to digitalis, making it easy to cause poisoning. Therefore, digitalis should be avoided when taken with herbal wines.
3. Patients taking digitalis should use calcium and calcium-rich Chinese herbal medicines cautiously. When treating with digitalis, patients should not take calcium supplements (e.g., calcium lactate, calcium gluconate) or calcium-rich Chinese herbal medicines (e.g., Dendrobium candidum, mother-of-pearl, tiger bone, oyster shell, gypsum, and wanglezi) and their decoctions (e.g., Baihu Tang and Zhuye Shigao Tang). Calcium ions have a similar effect on the heart as digitalis, enhancing myocardial contraction, inhibiting Na＋－K＋－ATPase, increasing the effect of digitalis, and also enhancing its toxicity, leading to arrhythmia and conduction block.
4. Patients taking digitalis should use bufalin, roperine, and their preparations cautiously. Bufalin and roperine have a strong cardiac-stimulating effect similar to digitalis, and their combination with digitalis can easily cause poisoning.
5. Patients taking digitalis should use ginseng cautiously. Some molecular structures of ginseng are similar to digitalis glycosides, and its cardiac-stimulating effect is mainly due to direct myocardial stimulation. When combined with digoxin, ginseng enhances the effect, making it easy to cause digoxin poisoning. Therefore, ginseng should be used cautiously during digoxin treatment, and the dosage should be adjusted appropriately if combined use is necessary.
6. Patients taking digitalis should use licorice and its preparations cautiously. The main component of licorice is glycyrrhizin, which, after hydrolysis, yields glycyrrhetinic acid, with a chemical structure similar to cortisone, exhibiting a deoxy-like effect. Large doses of licorice and its preparations can cause edema and hypokalemia in about 20% of patients, increasing the heart's sensitivity to digitalis and inducing digitalis poisoning. Therefore, patients receiving digitalis treatment should not take large doses of licorice. Additionally, diuretics commonly used to treat this condition, such as hydrochlorothiazide, should not be combined with licorice.
7. Patients taking digitalis should use auricularia cordata cautiously. Auricularia cordata mainly contains p-hydroxyphenylethylamine and N-methyltyramine, which have the effect of stimulating α and β receptors, increasing myocardial contraction, enhancing the effect of digitalis, and intensifying its toxicity, leading to arrhythmia. Therefore, digitalis should not be used with auricularia cordata.