I love grapefruit. Unfortunately, at least one of my medications says, “No grapefruit for you!”
Please invent grapefruit that plays well with others!
~VOW
I assume you have looked into other drugs that don’t interact with grapefruit but still do what you need?
The main drug that argues with grapefruit is to lower my cholesterol. It’s a statin, and all statins argue with grapefruit.
My problem is, I have many problems! I’m on medication for several things, and it takes finesse to get the right drugs at the right doses, making sure they don’t conflict with each other.
It’s easier to just cooperate with the “no grapefruit” mandate.
But every now and again, I heed the siren call of that citrus.
~VOW
Dear scientists, when you get done with the previous silly request, would you mind working on something that really matters: fat-free fried pork rinds.
Dear Scientists- I can go my whole life and not eat a grapefruit and I’m fine with that. However if @VOW wants one you best find a way.
I would like a lab grown pancreas please. For crissakes they grew a ear on a mouses back. Why not a pancreas? Hmm? Why isn’t someone working on that?Diabetes is in epidemic levels around the world. How hard could it be? While your at it start on kidneys, too.
Or maybe just make icecream I can actually eat, tastes good and doesn’t kill me. 
I’m not going to provide cites since this is a question for a doctor or pharmacist, but IIRC, it’s only a handful of statins that interact with grapefruit and even then I thought it had to be in high enough amounts (don’t recall if it’s enough grapefruit or high enough dosages). I thought I heard somewhere along the line that it was only white or red grapefruit, but I’m not finding that.
In any case, it was easier to take the blanket ‘no grapefruit while on statins’ approach. Clearly enough people have heard the warning and take it seriously enough not to mess around with it.
TLDR if you really want grapefruit, ask your pharmacist or doctor if your statin interacts with grapefruit and if it does, talk to your doc about switching to a different one.
ISTM there are quite a variety of drugs, besides statins, that are incompatible with grapefruit.
The problem is that a certain chemical in grapefruit is metabolized by a certain enzyme, and many drugs are metabolized by the same enzyme. (Sorry, I don’t know the details and don’t feel like researching it right now. Google’s your friend.) There’s only so much of that enzyme, and it can only metabolize so much of those drugs or grapefruit in a given time period.
So the drug(s) and grapefruit compete for that enzyme, and there isn’t enough for it all. The effect is that the drug doesn’t get metabolized as quickly as expected, and may thus accumulate in greater amounts in your blood that intended. Then you can get overdose effects.
FWIW, this ‘problem’ is big enough that it actually impacts the grapefruit industry. Stores (like mine) that used to have multiple displays of several types of grapefruit, now just have a small selection. Someone I know that owns a large, nationally distributed, juice business mentioned that he used to make grapefruit juice at least once a week and now it’s less than once a month.
My supermarket stocks a variant of the grapefruit that’s low in furanocoumarins. It’s slightly smaller than a regular grapefruit, the skin is darker (closer to the color of a tangerine) but it’s also thinner and easier to peel, which is convenient. And the juice is sweeter and less acidic. Delicious with vodka.
Dear Scientists,
Please find a cure for lupus and a way to fix optic nerve damage, but grow a new pancreas for Beckdawrek first. I can wait.
It’s hard. Really hard. But they are working on it diligently.
One particularly hard part of the problem has been cracked. Scientists now know how to transform human stem cells and coax them into becoming insulin secreting cells. In a petri dish these cells organize themselves into islet like structures. And when implanted into mice those cells secrete insulin in response to changes in blood glucose.
And two different companies are well along the path to using that technology to developed a bio-engineered artificial pancreas. Both ViaCyte and Defymed are developing implants that would have some of those engineered insulin producing cells inside a semipermeable membrane. The membrane size is such that glucose could get in and insulin could get out. But immune system cells and antibodies would be too large to pass through the membrane. Net result is the patient would not need any anti-rejection drugs.
Now… kidney you say… they are working on that too, but it is not so far along.
@Iggy, I had read about some of that. The anti-rejection meds not being needed is news. Good news. Thanks.
@nelliebly, I think they could work on our various conditions at the same time.
I just want to chime in on the desire for grapefruit. In fact, I was just mentioning it to my fambly yesterday. I wish I’d remembered to ask my Dr when I saw her last month.
But the pancreas thing is good, too. 
Not exactly. The grapefruit isn’t competing for the enzyme; it’s an inhibitor. It shuts the enzyme down.
Okay, smarty, I did the research.
Um… Okay, Smeghead is right. Ignorance fought!
Cite:
A few details of interest from this article:
- Some statins, pravastatin among them, are less affected and may be
more safeless dangerous when taken with grapefruit, because they are metabolized by different enzymes. (But note: I use pravastatin, and the instructions do say to avoid grapefruit.) - Some other drugs, nifedipine among them, are similarly affected.
- The enzyme in question is cytochrome P4503A4 (CYP3A4).
- Occasional grapefruit with these drugs is probably safe. (Whatever you think that means.)
Are we just talking to Medical Scientists here, or can I request movie audio that is compatible with TV sound systems? All TV shows and some films (mostly family rated) have sharp clear sound, but many movies I don’t understand a single word.
A suggestion: have your hearing tested by a professional audiologist. I did, for similar problems and was surprised at the results. Once I got hearing aids, I was pleasantly surprised at what I could hear at movies and on television.
Much hearing loss occurs only in certain frequencies. You may have hearing loss in frequencies of sounds more often in non-family oriented movies (I think, for instance, that Disney movies use a higher frequencies type of sound to be more appealing to children). Those movies also more often have characters facing fully forward so you might be unconsciously augmenting your hearing by lip-reading and reading facial expressions. Adult movies often have more layered sounds, faces not facing forward, parties, multiple conversations, etc. that contribute to missing sounds and speech cues.
Try to use an audiologist not in a storefront, commercialized setting, like a university audiology teaching dept or an ENT physicians’ practice, my vet brother receives excellent care at the VA. Consider trying a hearing exam, you don’t have anything to lose and a lot to gain. My children now enjoying going to movies with me and watching tv together, I can hear my granddaughter much better, all priceless.
Oh, YES YES YES YES YES! Pancreas, kidneys, and heart please.
We get these parts and we can be Borg.
I’ll be Seven. don’t I wish?
Resistance is futile.
I’d like someone to create a working artificial stomach sphincter. That one at the top of your stomach, that’s supposed to close up tight and keep acid from climbing up into your esophagus. Mine is probably permanently slightly open and I must take PPIs to prevent constant heartburn.
I want a nice new functioning one, please.