Chew on this: Sour news on grapefruit

1. Marini, Rich. (2013, September 22). Health Zone - Prescription Drugs: Chew on this: Sour news on grapefruit. Houston Chronicle, K12.
2. Category of problem: Health
3. Level of problem: National Level
4. The article concerns: A study by David Bailey, a Canadian researcher, found that grapefruit has an ability to cause prescription drugs to build up in the body.  
5. Why is this important to families / individuals OR how does it affect individuals / families?
1. The studies found that substance in grapefruit juice disrupt enzymes in the body that metabolize drugs.  Without the enzyme, the drug keeps accumulating, sometimes to dangerous levels, often causing symptoms like gastrointestinal bleeding and heart rhythm disruption.  The elderly are most at risk since they tend to take more prescription drugs and consume more grapefruit.
6. What are your views on the issue / policy?
1. Prescription drugs that target specific areas in a person's body have many benefits in curing or curtailing diseases and other maladies.  To find that taking these medications with certain fruits or fruit juices is discouraging.  Who would have assumed that taking drugs, for instance, with your favorite breakfast beverage could lead to a potentially dangerous situation within the body worse than the ailment itself?  We could ass assume that taking drugs with alcohol could be hazardous, but fruit juice?  What else do we not know about the threats to our bodies that are lurking beyond taking medication with anything besides water?  And, is even THAT a safe alternative?  Realizing that every probable vulnerability of taking drugs can never be alleviated, but maybe a little more research could be done upfront to learn the effects of citrus juices on the effectiveness or deficiencies of a drug before it went to market.  For that matter, what are the side effects of ingesting drugs with Gatorade or Red Bull - you know somewhere, someone is doing just that.  It is known that statin drugs cause harm to the body's liver over time, but can that be intensified by taking drugs, like Lipitor or Crestor, such that the damage occurs even quicker if a person drinks citric fruit juices?  What about anti-depressants or heat medications?  It is scary to think that something we think is doing our bodies good may be killing us because of the way we take them.  You would think, in this day and age of medical technological advances, that a drug would be secure no matter how it was consumed.  It certainly makes me aware of the medicine I will take in the future, and I will ask about those issues with my doctor when I do have to take something.