News 12. Herbal Supplements, Prescription Meds Can Be Deadly Mix.

<STYLE>P{margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:2px;}</STYLE> [NEW WORDS]   ♧ herbal : a. 풀의, 약초의   ♧ supplement : n. 보충제, 보충물   v. 보충하다, 추가하다   ♧ prescription drug : n. 처방약   ♧ kidney : n. 신장   ♧ transplant : n. 이식 수술   ♧ black cohosh: n. 블랙 코호시(여성 호르몬(에스트로겐)과 유사한 성분이 들어 있어서  19세기 유럽인들이 부인 질환에 사용했던 허브   ♧ alfalfa : n. 자주 개나리(사료 작물인 콩과 식물)   ♧ hot flashe : n. [생리] (폐경기의)일과성 전신 열감(熱感)   ♧ menopause : n. 폐경기   ♧ case study : n. 사례 연구, 개인 기록, 병력   ♧ interfere with : v. 방해하다(with) 간섭하다(in)   ♧ anti-rejection drug : 항 거부반응 약   ♧ dialysis : n. 투석   ♧ variable : n. 변수   ♧ John's wort : n. 요한초   ♧ depression : n. 우울증   ♧ birth control pill : n. 피임약   ♧ HIV(Human Immunodeficiency Virus) : 인체 면역 결핍 바이러스(AIDS 바이러스)   ♧ intensify : v. 강하게 하다, 격렬해지다   ♧ blood-thinning drug : n. 혈관수축제   ♧ internal bleeding : n. 내출혈   ♧ strain : n. 품종, 변종   ♧ fortify : v. 강화하다, 영양가를 높이다   ♧ nutrient : n. 영양소, 영양제   ♧ antibiotic : n. 항생제, 항상물질   ♧ pose risk : 위험성을 내포하다       Finally tonight, bad medicine. There was an important warning today about herbal medicines and food supplements. They've become very popular. Most are unregulated. But the World Heal Organization said an increasing number of people are getting sick and even dying after taking them with prescription drugs.   Alexis Southworth had a kidney transplant 17 years ago, and she was doing perfectly well. Then, her doctor suggested she start taking two popular herbal supplements; black cohosh and alfalfa, to control the hot flashes of menopause. Within one month... "It began to cause the kidney to not function properly and shut down."   Her case study, in The American Journal of Transplantation, suggests the herbal supplements may have interfered with the anti-rejection drugs she was taking. Today, she is on dialysis, waiting for another kidney transplant.   "I am angry. There's a lot of unknown variables with herbal medicines, and we don't know what it can do. And people need to be very cautious."   Especially when people start mixing dietary supplements and prescription medications. Recent studies suggest St. John's wort, used for depression, weakens the effect of birth control pills and HIV medication. Ginkgo biloba, taken for memory improvement, may intensify the effects of blood-thinning drugs, causing internal bleeding. Certain strains of garlic and ginseng may also intensify blood-thinning effects.   About 16 percent of Americans say they use both dietary supplements and prescription medications at the same time. But the real number may be much higher, as more and more of the foods we eat are fortified with herbs and nutrients. For example, calcium is now added to so many foods - bread, cereal, orange juice - that it can actually weaken the effects of antibiotics.   Makers of the antibiotic Cipro now warn that calcium may prevent the drug from working. Researchers are just beginning to discover how mixing nutritional supplements and prescription drugs can pose serious risks to patients.