[Interactions between psychopharmaceuticals and other drugs]

Abstract

Today, the simultaneous administration of several different drugs is the rule rather than the exception. In the case of elderly patients in particular, psychopharmaceuticals are administered in combination with other substance classes, with the potential result that an unfavorable interaction of the various drugs can occur. In such a situation, it is of importance, both for the general medical specialist/internist and the psychiatrist to be acquainted with pharmacokinetic fundamentals of psychopharmaceutic drugs, in particular the role of the hepatic cytochrome P-450 system. Such knowledge is important for avoiding negative interactions and resulting complications, such as, for example, an anticholinergic syndrome or other intoxication situations.