Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Study shows women's medication use higher than expected
University of Minnesota press release at EurekAlert - "Women's use of all medications--including herbal supplements--is higher than anticipated, and they're unlikely to tell their health care providers about the medications they take, according to a University of Minnesota researcher. A study being published in the Feb. 24 issue of American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology determined that that health care providers need to spend more time asking about medication usage. ... Researchers also found that nearly 25 percent of patients took medications for anxiety, depression or other mental health issues. Of patients who used oral contraception, 2.3 percent took St. John's wort, which can reduce the efficacy of the birth control pill. The study also found several women taking prescription antidepressants also self-medicated with St. John's wort, an herbal supplement commonly used to treat depression, which has been shown to have potentially harmful interactions with prescription antidepressants."