Besin Destek Ürünleri ve İlaçlarla Etkileşimleri: Vitamin ve Mineraller

Dietary supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids, fibre, essential fatty acids, various plants, materials of herbal and animal origin, extracts of bioactive or similar materials with a nutritional and physiological effect. They are marketed in pharmaceutical dosage forms such as capsules, tablets, pastilles, powders or liquids etc. They are used to supply one's diet but they are not considered as food and not used to treat or prevent diseases also. Manufacturers of dietary supplements are responsible for manufacturing safe products that meet all the requirements of regulations. In Turkey, approval of dietary supplement production is under the competency of The Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, although Ministry of Health is responsible for controlling marketed products. The number of people using dietary supplements has increased over the last twenty years worldwide with the help of social media and online marketing. Dietary supplements are beneficial for health, however they can interact with prescribed or over the counter medications. These pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions may alter pharmacologic effects of drugs, by decreasing their absorption, inhibiting or inducing their clearance. The use of medications with narrow therapeutic indexes, older age and inadequate kidney or liver function are risk factors for more serious consequences. In order to prevent these interactions, patients should inform their physicians and pharmacists about supplements they are using. In this article, functions, deficiencies, daily and tolerable doses, toxic effects and common drug interactions of vitamin and mineral supplements are discussed.