Drug interactions have become a significant iatrogenic complication, with as many as 5% of hospitalizations and 7,000 deaths annually attributable to drug-drug interactions in the United States. There are several reasons these numbers have increased. First, many new medications have been brought to market in recent years. Second, advances in medical care have resulted in increased longevity and more elderly patients than ever before -- patients who are more likely to be following polypharmacy regimens. Population patterns in the U.S. have amplified this trend, with aging baby boomers swelling the patient pool and demanding treatment with medications advertised on television and in print. Fortunately, drug interactions can be prevented with access to current, comprehensive, reliable information, and the Clinical Manual of Drug Interaction Principles for Medical Practice provides just that in a user-friendly format psychiatry clinicians (including residents and nurses) and forensics experts will find indispensable. With this new edition, the book has evolved from "Concise Guide" to "Clinical Manual" and offers the expanded coverage and features healthcare providers need to keep up with this critical field. The book is well organized, with major sections on metabolism; cytochrome P450 enzymes; drug interactions by medical specialty; and practical matters, such as the medicolegal implications of drug-drug interactions and how to retrieve and review the literature. In the section on P450 enzymes, each chapter addresses what the individual enzyme does and where, its polymorphisms, and drugs that inhibit or induce activity. Each chapter also includes extensive references and study cases to help the reader understand and contextualize the information. A number of additional features enhance the book's scope and utility: The book boasts the very latest information in the area of drug metabolism, transport, and interaction. The chapter on P-glycoprotein (a drug transporter) was expanded from the last edition to include a broader array of transport mechanisms. The highest ethical standard was adhered to in the development of this volume, which was not supported in any way by pharmaceutical makers or distributors. All eight contributors to this excellent resource are experts in the fields they have addressed, and clinicians can trust that the information contained in the Manual reflects the very latest research. This exceptionally practical manual is essential to maintaining the highest standard of care.

An understanding of drug interactions has become essential to the practice of medicine. Since publication of the first edition of this Concise Guide in 2001, our increasing pharmacopoeia—coupled with prolonged human life spans—has made polypharmacy commonplace. Like the first edition of this unique pocket reference, the Second Edition is written expressly for clinicians. With four new contributors, this bestseller includes expanded sections on both phase I and phase II metabolism, updates of existing chapters and tables, new graphics, and extensive Web site references. Brand-new chapters discuss P-glycoproteins, "minor" cytochrome P450 enzymes, pain management with narcotic and nonnarcotic analgesics, prescribing guidelines, and medicolegal issues. This exceptionally practical guide is divided into four parts: 1. An easy-to-read, succinct review of pharmacology, written with clinicians in mind, explaining the importance of understanding our metabolic system and pharmacokinetics and P-glycoprotein drug interactions. 2. Thorough, carefully referenced reviews of the most clinically relevant phase I and phase II metabolic enzymes highlighted with newly expanded tables and study cases. 3. A section unique to this book on drug interactions by medical specialty, with drug tables arranged by how they are used in specialties such as gynecology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, psychiatry, and pain medicine. 4. Chapters on practical matters: prescribing guidelines, how to identify drug interaction patterns, strategies for reviewing the current literature, and medicolegal concerns. Enhanced by detailed descriptions and clinically based explanations, and complemented by a unique pocket guide to the most common and potent inhibitors and inducers of drug metabolism, this updated concise "how-to" guide will prove indispensable for busy students, teachers, and practitioners in all medically specialties.

A concise compilation of the known interactions of the most commonly prescribed drugs, as well as their interaction with nonprescription compounds. The agents covered include CNS drugs, cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics, and NSAIDs. For each class of drugs the authors review the pharmacology, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, chemistry, metabolism, epidemiological occurrences, adverse reactions, and significant interactions. Environmental and social pharmacological issues are also addressed in chapters on food and alcohol drug interactions, nicotine and tobacco, and anabolic doping agents. Comprehensive and easy-to-use, Handbook of Drug Interactions: A Clinical and Forensic Guide provides physicians with all the information needed to avoid prescribing drugs with undesirable interactions, and toxicologists with all the data necessary to interpret possible interactions between drugs found simultaneously in patient samples.

For many, drug interactions are one of the most frustrating challenges in family medicine, geriatrics, and ambulatory care practice. Even if one is up to speed on what drugs interact with one another, it is often unknown how to manage that specific interaction. Throughout the book, I share some of my management tips and pearls to help you feel more comfortable with managing drug interactions. This book is a perfect piece of education for pharmacists, nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, and nurses who are looking to pick up clinical, real-world practice pearls.

Prescribing more than one drug to a patient raises the possibility of one drug affecting the intesity of action, duration of action, and the occurrence of serious side effects assoicated with another drug. 'The Handbook of Drug Interactions' provides an easy to use, clinically relevant approach to this increasingly complex problem, bringing together information from all available sources. For each drug a simple, at-a-glance table gives an immediate guide to whether action is increased, decreased, or changed in other ways by co-administered drugs. These tables are then cross-referred to more detailed text that indicates what action needs to be taken. Mechanisms of interactions and the latest references are included for those with a particular interest in the subject. Drugs are grouped according to their clinical use and there is minimal use of complicated pharmacological terminology. The index includes alternative drug names to ensure relevance around the world.