This section will be dedicated to general information, advice and tips. Some of these could help you cope with or thwart side effects of given medications, while others will simply help maintain your health.

Infections are most generally transmitted via our hands. It is therefore recommended to use an antiseptic soap rather than the usual brand names. This will ensure the doing away with more of those nasty germs.

Five motions are recommended when washing your hands :

1. Rub the palm of your hands.
2. Criss-cross your fingers and rub them together to clean the space between.
3. Rub your thumb and the space between it and the index.
4. Thoroughly rub your finger tips.
5. Rub the back of your hands and your wrists.

If, like me, you are an avid soft drink consumer, take note that, because of the high level of phosphorus, you may contribute to lowering your body's calcium reserve and raise the risk of osteoporosis. Use moderation in your POP intake.

Following a skin disease that refused to go away a good friend suggested I try "Calendula Cream" rather than cortisone cream. Because of its mild antiseptic and healing qualities. Calendula is a plant used in homeopathy treatments.

Produced by Boiron Laboratories it is available in most drugstores. It can be used in the treatment of rash, scurf, chapping, lesions and other kinds of skin irritation. Your pharmacist will no doubt be able to guide you furthur.

The reason is the grapefruit juice may increase blood concentration of cyclosporine A. The mechanism of this effect is not known, but flavonoids in grapefruit juice may inhibit cytochrome P4503A4.

Results show that flavonoids in grapefruit juice can inhibit metabolism of cyclosporine A. Moreover, the amount of narangin, the flavonoid that gives grapefruit its distinctive taste and which is thought to be responsable for inhibiting drug metabolism, varies between grapefruit cultivars by a factor of at least 5-7. The concentration of narangin in juice is also affected by the type of juice extractor, the extractor pressure, and the finisher pressure of the process. Add to this seasonal and climatic changes, manufacturing batch-to-batch variation, differences in reconstitution of concentrate, and differences in the ration of fruit-pulp/pith/skin, and the narangin concentration in grapefruit juice is unlikely to be constant.

Novartis, formely Sandoz, manufacturer of cyclosporine A (Neoral) mention that a transplant person should abstain from swallowing anything which could contain grapefruit.

If you are very fond of this citrus fruit and decide to continue to consume it, it is recommended to talk to your doctor, so he will take note and won't be surprised if your cyclo level is playing yo-yo.

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