Pharmacist Shares Insight on Zinc Interactions
Insight from Associate Professor of Clinical Specialties , is featured in a article about supplements and medications that can interact with zinc. Pino, a licensed New York State pharmacist, details zinc鈥檚 possible interactions with antibiotics, noting that the mineral can interfere with quinolone antibiotics (like Cipro), which are used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections, including urinary tract infections. The same is true for tetracyclines, a class of antibiotics commonly prescribed to treat acne and other infections.
鈥淶inc would decrease the efficacy of the antibiotic,鈥� Pino said. 鈥淚t wouldn鈥檛 cause true harm, but it would not make the drug effective, and that could lead to [patients] not getting better.鈥�
She also notes that these interactions are a two-way street, with antibiotics potentially impairing the body鈥檚 ability to absorb zinc, too.