Drug Herb Supplement Interactions Software Articles & Resources

Interactions [TM], the IBIS Guide to Drug-Herb and Drug-Nutrient Interactions, will be available on CD and also as a section on the IBIS website: .com/. The Guide is a pioneering professional guide to the scientific literature and clinical implications of interactions between prescription drugs and herbs, vitamins and other nutritional supplements.

With patients today using herbs and supplements in record numbers, physicians and pharmacists have felt an urgent need for an authoritative reference system to provide information on these substances. Now it's here in the form of an easy-to-use, comprehensive and well-documented database installed on your personal computer and available over the Internet.

Interactions [TM] Addendum: Can You Answer These Questions?

* Can St. John's Wort and Prozac be taken at the same time?

* How does vitamin C interact with chemotherapeutic agents?

* Are calcium supplements safe while taking digoxin?

* What effect does licorice root have on hypertension?

* Is Echinacea safe in autoimmune conditions?

If you don't know these answers, you need Interactions [TM].

Now with Interactions you can separate the facts from the fiction. When choosing the right medications for your patients, of course you do your best to avoid harmful side effects and drug interactions. But, what happens when your patients are also taking one or more of the hundreds of herbal remedies and nutritional supplements now available? Products labeled "natural" are not necessarily safe. On the contrary, the growing awareness of herbs and supplements as potential therapeutic agents has created increasing concern that these products can have significant negative effects if used incorrectly. In combination with pharmaceuticals, herbs and supplements may weaken or strengthen a drug's action or even create toxic side effects. As a responsible health care provider, it is critical that you know how use of herbal remedies and nutritional supplements might affect your treatment plan.

Until now, interactions between prescription drugs and even OTC pharmaceuticals have been well documented, but information about the effects of drug-herb and drug-nutrient combinations has been harder to come by. With Interactions you can quickly and accurately retrieve information on a desired drug, herb, or supplement. This enables you to prescribe with confidence, knowing that your medication choice has the power to be effective and that you are avoiding potential complications. Most of all, your patients will understand that you respect their health-oriented initiatives and are their partner in the safe use of herbs and supplements.

How Interactions Works

Interactions makes it easy for you to find the information you need from different starting points. You can choose your topic from lists of drugs, herbs, nutritional supplements, drug classes, or herb groups. Drugs are listed by brand name, generic name, or drug class and a reference database of these names is provided. Alternatively, a powerful search facility can be used to enter and locate the name of a substance or agent to find all entries on its interactions in the program. Once you've clicked on your desired topic, you are immediately presented with a summary outlining the therapeutic uses of the substance and an overview of known and potential interactions. You can access more detailed interaction information for each drug, herb or nutrient combination by clicking on the "Interactions" option. In this section, you can view detailed information on each potential drugnutrient or drug-herb interaction for the substance you have chosen, including key information on research, doses and mechanisms of actio n. Each entry is formatted for quick review and written in a thorough, practical style designed for sharing with patients. Essays on individual drugs and nutrients include a chemical formula drawing while color photos brighten each herb article. The monographs vary in length from several paragraphs to many pages depending upon the complexity of the interactions of the particular substance. In addition, each herb entry also includes a "Clinical" section describing the properties, therapeutic uses, and typical dosages for that herb. Finally, the sources of information for each substance are cited throughout the text and meticulously documented under the "References" section of each entry. The reference section provides comprehensive bibliographic data and offers abstracts for the most relevant journal articles.

IBIS Interactions features

* Designed for physicians and pharmacists, accessible to patients and consumers.

* Instant access to critical information on drug-herb and drug-nutrient interactions for hundreds of medications.

* Data includes impact of herbs and supplements on drug metabolism and dosages as well as potentiation synergistic effects and side effects.

* Be aware of essential clinical data on drug-induced nutritional depletion patterns and be able to offer safe and effective supportive strategies.

* Up-to-date information based on scientific literature from respected sources in medicine, pharmacology, clinical nutrition, and phytotherapy in concise and practical terms.

* Save time and increase efficiency with easy-to-use computerized information at your fingertips.

* Confidently predict the effects of your prescriptions.

* Freedom from avoidable risks and unforeseen complications due to interactions.

* Provide better service with educational information as easy to print out handouts.

* Build partnerships with your patients in their health-oriented initiatives.

* Know that medications, drugs, and nutrients are being used safely.

* Quickly identify drugs by generic name, trade name or drug class and herbs by their common or botanical name, all with easily accessible reference tables.

* Keep track of events with efficient forms for recording and reporting interactions and adverse reactions involving herbs and supplements.

System requirements: Windows 95f 98/NT or MacOS or higher. 16 MB RAM available, and 40 MB available on your hard drive to operate Interactions. 80 MB free hard drive space required for installation.

Integrative Medical Arts Group, Inc. (), headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, is primarily engaged in the development and distribution of healthcare information systems and other resources for medical professionals and the general public over the Internet and via software products. Integrative Medical Arts Group (IMA) is the Company's professional division responsible for the development of IBIS, the Integrative BodyMind Information System and Interactions: Guide to Drug-Herb and Drug-Nutrient Interactions. The site provides information about the company's professional products and services, and will soon offer on-line access to the IBIS clinical database. Health WWWWeb is the company's consumer division and host of the highly acclaimed education and resource website and the soon-to-be-launched askIBIS consumer health service.