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MADRID, March 18 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Most pills and capsules, over-the-counter or prescription, they include components other than the actual drug. These compounds, called "inactive ingredients," help to stabilize the drug or its absorption and can make up more than half of the mbad of a pill.
Although these components are generally considered benign, a new study from the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Brigham and Women's Hospital, in the United States, reveals that almost all pills and capsules contain ingredients that: They can cause allergic reactions or irritation in some patients. In most cases, doctors do not know which of these ingredients are included in the pills that they prescribe to their patients because there are many different formulations available.
" For most patients, it does not matter that there is a little lactose, a little fructose or a little starch. However, there is a sub- patient population, of currently unknown size, who will be extremely sensitive one of the main authors of the study, Daniel Reker, postdoctoral fellow of the Swiss National Foundation for Scientific Research, at the Koch Institute for research on cancer of the integrator at MIT.
The researchers hope that their study, published this Wednesday in the journal "Science Translational Medicine", will educate patients and health professionals about this problem and will help stimulate reforms to protect patients from drugs that do not tolerate well.
" There is currently an imbalance in the amount of information and understanding about the inactive components of drugs. ents ", emphasizes Giovanni Traverso, badistant professor in the department of mechanical engineering at MIT, gastroenterologist at Brigham Hospital and one of the main authors of the study.
Traverso began to badyze this problem about five years ago, after an experience with a patient that he was treating. The patient, who had celiac disease, had a poor reaction to omeprazole, a common acid suppressant used to treat stomach ulcers.
The specific formulation of omeprazole that the patient had taken contained ingredients derived from wheat products (potentially containing gluten). This information was only available from the manufacturer at that time. One week after getting the drug, the patient had indicated that he was feeling sick while taking this medication. "This really brought to light the little we know about pills and their potential adverse effects," says Traverso, "I think there is a huge undervaluation of the potential impact that can have on inactive ingredients. "
Currently, when doctors write a prescription, they specify the type and dosage of the active drug, but nothing about inactive ingredients. Many drugs are offered in dozens of different formulas, and the one that patients get depends on their insurance, their pharmacy and the manufacturer who provides it. The information provided with the drug usually lists inactive ingredients, but not the amount of each, and may be difficult to decipher. For example, ingredients containing gluten may not appear as "gluten".
SPECIALLY FREQUENT ISSUES AGED 65
Researchers reviewed medical journals and discovered several studies describing patients with allergic reactions to inactive ingredients, such as lactose and chemical dyes. These studies generally did not include patients with intolerance to a particular ingredient, who were less severe and who caused symptoms such as bloating or stomach pain.
However, scientists believe that these more moderate reactions can affect many more patients . Potential problems may be particularly common in people over 65, of whom 30% take at least five pills a day, which could allow essential components to accumulate.
Next, researchers sought to find everything they could about the inactive ingredients found in prescription and over-the-counter medications. By obtaining most of their information in a database called Pillbox, administered by the National Library of Medicine, scientists were able to determine the composition of almost all prescription and over-the-counter drugs available in the United States.
They found that for most medications, more than half of the pill is composed of inactive ingredients and that it even reaches 99% for some. They also found that about 93% of drugs contain allergens such as peanut oil, lactose or dyes, and almost all contain compounds that some patients can not tolerate, such as gluten and some types of sugars. About 55% of drugs contain sugars, called FODMAP sugars, that can trigger digestive problems in some people with irritable bowel syndrome . According to the researchers, when drugs contain peanut oil, manufacturers post warnings on labels, but for most other allergens or irritants, it's unclear whether a compound such as the lactose or gluten is present in the drug. Even though patients are aware of their allergies and sensitivities and correctly decipher drug packages, they may not have many different treatments because no tablet can avoid all these ingredients , add the researchers. ! function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
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