Since these two affect our body’s system to some extent, it is but normal for them to sometimes not agree with each other. If you take a closer look to most prescribed medications and even OTC ones, they bear warnings of types of food not to take when the medication is supposedly still active within our bodies. Even the seemingly harmless ones can sometimes worsen your current state if you are not too careful. One of the most popular amongst which is alcohol.

Let’s take alcohol first since it really does affect the body even without the presence of any medication and because of the nature of the substance, it can sometimes be considered as drugs. Truth be told, it alters the body’s composition resulting to impaired judgment and diminished alertness.  When taken together with common drugs, it can heighten intoxication proving to be lethal at times. If you are a diabetic, you know better than to take anything with alcohol since it makes sugar levels go higher even without meds. Take it with antibiotics and you get stomach cramps. Alcohol is also known to induce rapid absorption to time-controlled release capsules just by dissolving its shell faster than it normally would. Due to its poor interaction with most—if not all kinds of—medications, seniors are forewarned not to take them unless approved by their health care providers.

While simply warning a senior not to have a drink due to rounds of medications they are currently taking is manageable, it’s one of those things that is easier said than done since it’s a known fact that alcoholism is also an existing problem for the senior population hence the need for close monitoring of the senior in question.  Geriatric doctors have also reported that pinpointing an illness when a chronic drinker is involved is much harder than diagnosing a nondrinker as alcohol tends to mask the uglies and mislead professionals.

If there’s one drug that probably has established authority over your medicine cabinet, it’s the ever popular aspirin. Aspirins are popular for saving us from potential heart attacks. Taken during the first hour of a suspected attack, it can instantly give relief to a person but please note that aspirins are never intended for such purposes much less serve as a maintenance drug which is a common practice to most seniors. This discovery—aspirin being a first-aid med for heart attack—is purely accidental. Furthermore, aspirin is also prescribed for treatment of arthritis since it is mostly safe to consume even on a daily basis. However, years of aspirin intake can cause bleeding in the gastrointestinal tract later in life. Also, it depletes iron in the body.

Mismatched food and drug can occur anytime and definitely at any age. Seniors however are more exposed to these things since their bodies can no longer process both properly.