When we take a new drug we worry about the possible side effects that could appear following the action of its active ingredients in our body. But what are the consequences of ingesting the excipients?
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When we take a new drug we worry about the possible side effects that could appear following the action of its active ingredients in our body. But which ones instead consequences of ingesting the excipients?
It is rare to reflect on what can happen following contact with the excipients with which a certain drug is made, often we don't even pay attention to which ones are present and which are not. Research tells us instead that this is a mistake: these apparently harmless substances can trigger allergies and intolerances.
excipient we mean a certain substance in a medicine that is pharmacologically inactive, that is, it is not therapeutic, but is used in the preparation for several reasons: such as preservative, dye, to facilitate the transportability of the active principle, etc.
We don't often talk about excipients and yet a study by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston wanted to carry out research on these substances, coming to the conclusion that they are not at all inactive but that on the contrary they can be downright dangerous.
The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, analyzed the fact that there are over 350 different excipients contained in over 42 oral medications. Among such a large number of excipients there would be 38, contained in 92,8% of the drugs analyzed that can cause allergic reactions.
Among these in particular are:
- lactose (contained in 45% of drugs)
- food coloring (contained in 33% of drugs)
- peanut oil (contained in 0,08% of drugs)
The study was born following a real case in which a patient with celiac disease was mistakenly prescribed a drug that, among the excipients, contained gluten.
Research argues that it would be useful to make a map of all the excipients and related drugs in which they are contained in order to prescribe the best by evaluating the situation of each individual patient, in particular if he already has full-blown sensitivities.
Up to now it is probable that the problem has been underestimated or ignored since the excipients are considered present in such low quantities as not to be considered relevant for the purposes of allergies and intolerances. In reality, what the safety threshold of each individual is is not certain and in some cases even very low levels may be enough. It must also be considered that there are people who take several drugs at the same time and therefore the dose of excipients inevitably goes up. At risk in this sense are mainly elderly people.
This research reminds us once again that we must never underestimate the intake of drugs, including the most common ones.
Read also:
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- The black list of drugs to avoid: they do more harm than good
- The deprescriber arrives in Turin, the doctor who removes the drugs you no longer need
