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Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Side Effects and Interactions

Drug interaction

Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples

nounCore term

In pharmacy & pharmacology, drug interaction means: A change in the effect of a medicine caused by another medicine, a food, a drink or a disease, which can make the medicine weaker, stronger or more harmful.

In Turkish: ilaç etkileşimi

How it is used

Pharmacists check for interactions every time they dispense. You will meet drug-drug, drug-food and drug-disease interactions, often graded as minor, moderate or major. Grapefruit juice with some statins and alcohol with sedating medicines are classic examples.

Example sentences

  1. The software flagged a drug interaction between clarithromycin and simvastatin.

  2. Is there a drug interaction between these two, or can he take them together?

Common collocations

  • check for drug interactions
  • potential drug interaction
  • major drug interaction
  • drug-food interaction
  • contraindicationA condition or situation in which a particular medicine should not be used because the risk of harm is too high, such as pregnancy, an allergy or a certain disease.
  • polypharmacyThe use of many medicines at the same time by one patient, often defined as five or more, which raises the risk of interactions and side effects.
  • side effectAn effect of a medicine that is not the main reason for taking it; most side effects are unwanted, such as nausea, drowsiness or a headache.
  • metabolismThe chemical changes that the body, mainly the liver, makes to a drug, usually turning it into substances that are less active and easier to remove.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Side Effects and Interactions

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.