Are you considering complementary and alternative health? Want to take black cohosh to lessen the symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats?
Considering adding nutritional supplements to your daily routine to help lower your blood pressure?
Decided to take yoga to maintain your flexibility and balance as your rheumatoid arthritis progresses?
Talk to your doctor?
If you are under the treatment for a medical condition or taking any medications for a condition like diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease or any other chronic condition, your doctor should know of any other complementary and alternative health treatment that you try.
Some of the treatments like nutritional supplements, exercise routines and other complementary and alternative health treatments may affect the treatments that your doctor prescribes in a number of ways. Some of those are:
Interactions of drugs with complementary and alternative health treatment reduce the effectiveness of medical treatment
Do you know that vitamin B6 can interfere with tetracycline? Or that it may reduce the effectiveness of drugs used for the treatment of cancer and depression? Or it may affect certain birth control pills ineffective? Your health care provider should know these things.
If you do not tell your doctor that you are taking vitamin supplement with B6 in it, then it will result in unwanted pregnancy, or interrupting your medical treatment for a medical condition.
Most of the vitamins and nutritional supplements have similar interactions, that why your doctor should know about everything that you are taking before he prescribes any complementary and alternative health treatment for you.
Interactions of drugs with complementary and alternative health treatment increase the effectiveness of medical treatment
Most of you consider that this can be a good thing, am I right or not. Think again about this. If your doctor prescribed a blood thinner like coumadin, wafarin, or aspirin then you must be away from ginkgo biloba since it also has blood thinning properties. The result is tiny bleeds in the brain.
If you are diabetic, most of the herbal and vitamin supplements may affect how your body uses insulin or sugar. If your doctor knows about your taking of those supplements then he can adjust your dosage or your schedule to take advantage of the difference.
Before beginning a new fitness or exercise program, every time ensure with your doctor.
If you are under the treatment for any medical condition, a change in your activity level may also change your requirements for medication. In addition to this your doctor may have some concern about the type of exercise that you choose.
For instance, an arthritis patient taking up aerobics could worsen the problem. A low-impact workout could actually help maintain and even improve joint function and flexibility.
Knowing about your complementary and alternative health choice may help others also.
Visit your doctor regularly before you decide to try aromatherapy to help control your migraines. It can help your doctor to treat some other patients with the same problem.
When your doctor observes a positive result from a complementary and alternative health treatment that you are taking then he can suggest it as a possibility to other patients.
The final thing is that you and your health care provider are partners in your complementary and alternative health treatment. If you consider and follow the rules which your doctor suggests then you are taking chances with your health and your life.
