Why Your Doctor Should Know If You Choose a CAM System

Should you take black cohosh to alleviate hot flashes and night sweats? Are you considering adding a nutritional supplement to your daily routine to help lower your blood pressure? Have you decided to take up yoga to maintain your flexibility and balance as your rheumatoid arthritis progresses?

Have you talked to your doctor?

If you’re taking medication prescribed by a doctor, or under treatment for a medical condition like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, asthma or any other chronic condition, your doctor should know of any complementary or alternative treatments that you try. Nutritional supplements, exercise routines and other alternative treatments may affect the treatments that your doctor prescribes in a number of ways.

1. Drug interactions that reduce effectiveness of medical treatments.

o Did you know that vitamin B6 can interfere with tetracycline? Or that it may reduce the effectiveness of drugs used to treat cancer or depression? Or that it makes certain birth control pills ineffective? Your doctor or pharmacist should know those things – but if you don’t tell them that you’re taking a vitamin supplement with B6 in it, you may end up with an unwanted pregnancy, or sabotaging your treatment for a medical condition.

Many vitamins and other nutritional supplements have similar interactions, which is why it’s vital for your doctor to know everything that you’re taking before he prescribes treatment for you.

2. Interactions that INCREASE the effectiveness of medical treatments.

o This could only be a good thing, right? Think again. If your doctor has prescribed a blood thinner like aspirin, coumadin or wafarin, you shouldn’t take ginkgo biloba since it also has blood thinning properties. The end result could be tiny bleeds in the brain or other systems.

There are also many herbal and vitamin supplements that may affect how your body uses insulin or sugar if you’re diabetic. If your doctor is aware that you’re taking them, he can adjust your dosage or your schedule to take advantage of the difference.

3. Always check with your doctor before beginning a new fitness or exercise routine.

o If you’re being treated for any medical condition, a change in your activity level can also change your requirements for medication. In addition, your doctor may have some concerns about the type of exercise that you choose. If you have arthritis, for example, taking up aerobics could exacerbate the problem – but a low-impact workout could actually help maintain and even improve your joint function and flexibility.

4. It may help others.

o One reason for your doctor knowing isn’t mentioned often, but it’s one more good reason to keep your doctor in the loop when you decide to try aromatherapy to help control your migraines. It can help him treat other patients with the same problem. Anecdotal evidence is not approved research by any means, but anecdotal evidence is often where research begins. When a doctor sees a positive result from a therapy in one patient, he’s far more likely to suggest it as a possibility to another.

The bottom line is that you and your medical care provider are partners in your treatment. If you withhold important information from him, you’re taking chances with your health – and your life.