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Drug Spotlight Program
Alcohol and Its Drug Interactions
Abstract
Alcohol interacts with a surprising number of commonly used drugs: antibiotics, anticoagulants, antihistamines, digitalis, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, nitroglycerine, diuretics, heavy metals, insulin, iron, puromycin C, and many others. It also interacts specifically with sedatives, opiates, phenothiazines, antidepressants, and other psychoactive drugs. This review calls attention to these interactions and what we know of their mechanisms. The physician is cautioned about the use of alcohol by his patients taking other medications and about the frequent difficulty of ascertaining the extent of the patient's alcohol ingestion.
Article and Author Information
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▸From the National Council on Alcoholism and Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York.
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▸Requests for reprints should be addressed to Frank A. Seixas, M.D., Medical Director, National Council on Alcoholism, Room 1720, 2 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
