Drug interactions fall into various categories. Drug interactions can be inhibitory, where one drug actually inhibits the actions of anther drug. It is important to distinguish this from drug interactions that are masking, meaning that the drugs disguise one another’s effects. This can be dangerous because the user will not be aware of the drug since there is a lessened high, yet the drug will still be influencing their body and can still cause harm.
Interactions of drugs can be additive, which means that the effects of both drugs are present and unhindered by another. Drug interactions can also be synergistic. Synergistic interactions are those where the effects of the two drugs are multiplicative, rather than additive. The presence of two or more drugs in the body can keep the body so busy metabolizing one that metabolism of the second drug is delayed. For example, the presence of alcohol keeps the liver so busy that a Xenox or Seconol will remain in the body two or three times longer than normal. The combination of one or more depressants/sedatives is a very dangerous drug interaction. Exaggerated respiratory depression is the biggest danger with the use of alcohol and another depressant. That combination also causes more blackouts. The synergistic effect causes 4,000 deaths a year. In addition, almost 50,000 people are treated in emergency rooms because of adverse reactions to multiple drug use (March, 1997).
Over $78 billion in prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are produced each year in the United States. Although, it has been seen that most people use these drugs the way they are meant to be used, a considerable amount or persons are found to misuse them. Some people might take them without a doctor’s prescription or use them more than the prescribed dosage (Holder, H.D., 1992). Some tend to mix them with other drugs, which can have terminal results......
