[The prescription and drug interactions: prospective study in 896 patients treated for arterial hypertension in general medicine].

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of potential drug interactions in primary health care. It reports the analysis of 896 prescriptions for hypertensive patients collected from 237 general practitioners. The mean number of prescribed drugs was 4.

[Acute alcoholic intoxication and drugs].

Acute alcohol ingestion can induce drug interactions, either pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic. Metabolically, they especially result from interference in the enzymatic systems which catalyse ethanol oxidation, the blocking of alcohol dehydrogenase, blocking of the microsomal oxidation system of ethanol with accumulation of the xenobiotic and risk of overdose, and blocking of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase with an antabuse effect. Pharmacodynamically, the main interactions result from the action of drugs having a sedative effect, such as tranquilizers but also antidepressants, neuroleptics, analgesics, H1 antihistamines, central antihypertensive drugs (CNS depressant?), etc.