WEBVTT - Can a Medicine's Inactive Ingredients Be Harmful?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>lauring vocal bomb. Here people turn to medications to help

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<v Speaker 1>them feel better, but sometimes the inactive ingredients found in

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<v Speaker 1>prescriptions can have just the opposite effect. While you might

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<v Speaker 1>assume that only the active ingredients in a prescription are

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<v Speaker 1>going to have any impact, the inactive components, which often

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<v Speaker 1>make up more than half of every dose, can affect

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<v Speaker 1>you as well. The inclusion of inactive ingredients isn't optional, however,

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<v Speaker 1>they perform necessary functions. They can help extend the life

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<v Speaker 1>of the drug on the shelf or make drugs more palatable.

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<v Speaker 1>Enactive ingredients are also necessary to simply hold the components

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<v Speaker 1>of a tablet together, and there are critical part of

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<v Speaker 1>many sustained and immediate release capsules. The actual active drug

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<v Speaker 1>ingredients are usually only a small percentage of the complete drug.

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<v Speaker 1>Many times potentially problematic inactive ingredients are everyday allergens like lactose,

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<v Speaker 1>peanut oil, dyes, sugars, and preservatives. Lactose and other types

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<v Speaker 1>of sugars appear in about half of all medications and

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<v Speaker 1>can cause gastro intestinal distress and patients. Other ingredients like

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<v Speaker 1>gluten and peanut oil are less common, but can cause

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<v Speaker 1>much more severe reactions. So here's the good news. If

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<v Speaker 1>you think you have an allergy, and especially a severe

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<v Speaker 1>allergy to any of these components, you can consult an

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<v Speaker 1>allergist to obtain a diagnosis, and then work with your

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<v Speaker 1>doctor or pharmacy to identify what commercial medications contain inactive

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<v Speaker 1>ingredients that you're sensitive to and what alternatives are available.

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<v Speaker 1>Another option for people with specific requests who want an

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<v Speaker 1>added layer of security is to turn to a compounding

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<v Speaker 1>pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. Before drugs were manufactured in mass,

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<v Speaker 1>one size fits all quantities, all medications were compounded. That is,

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<v Speaker 1>when a prescription came in, the active ingredient was handweighed

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<v Speaker 1>and packaged specifically for the individual patient. So if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to avoid gluten, or dyes, or peanut oil or

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<v Speaker 1>all of the above, a compounding pharmacist can put it

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<v Speaker 1>all together in a way that's in line with your

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<v Speaker 1>needs and preferences. Gelatine capsules have become something of a

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<v Speaker 1>sticking point for people who wish to avoid animal products

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<v Speaker 1>for personal or religious reasons. This is because gelatine is

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<v Speaker 1>typically derived from mammal products, and often from cows. But

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<v Speaker 1>these days alternatives made from other sources are available, capsules

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<v Speaker 1>made from fish or vegetable products like seaweed. Our bodies

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<v Speaker 1>are not one size fits all, and our medication doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have to be either. Today's episode was written by Ali A.

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<v Speaker 1>Hoyt and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartMedia's How Stuff Works. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other topics, visit our home planet, how

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<v Speaker 1>stuff Works dot com. And for more podcasts from my

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