The risk of inactive ingredients in everyday drugs.

GASTROINTESTINAL diseases; ALLERGENS; ALLERGIES; COMMUNICATION; DOSAGE forms of drugs; IMMUNE system; PHARMACEUTICAL chemistry; PHYSICIAN-patient relations; RISK assessment; SERIAL publications; POLYPHARMACY; DRUG additives; DISEASE risk factors

The article offers information on a study by researcher Giovanni Traverso and others, on risks of inactive ingredients in drugs, published in the periodical "Science Translational Medicine." Topics discussed include average pill or capsule contains about nine inactive ingredients; views of Traverso on intolerances to ingredients such as fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols; and possibility of having an adverse reaction to a drug.