Antibiotic

Common Myths About Antibiotics

Getting sick, well, just plain sucks. You’re stuffy, you’re tired, you ache, and you just want it all to go away. And since all antibiotics work the same anyway you can just take whatever, right? Wrong. There are common myths about antibiotics, and the wrong information could leave you feeling worse.

I feel better, so I can stop taking them now.

Antibiotics work by killing bacterial colonies. When the colonies begin to reduce, your body begins to feel better. This doesn’t mean all the bacteria is dead; the stronger colonies are still alive, just diminished in number. If you stop taking the medication before your prescription runs out the stronger colonies will have the opportunity to grow, making you sick again. And because the weaker bacteria has been killed off, you’ll need to take stronger antibiotics.

I’m feeling sick. I think I’ll just have some of these pills that were left over from last time.

This myth goes hand in hand with the previous one. If you took your prescription properly and followed all the instructions, you wouldn’t have any antibiotics left over. When self-medicating you don’t have the diagnostic resources a medical professional has, and you could easily misinterpret your symptoms. Taking the wrong medication without treating your illness could be dangerous.

I have a cold/the flu, so I should take antibiotics.

The cold and the flu are caused by viruses and not by bacteria, so taking antibiotics to treat them won’t help. There are times when you’ll be prescribed antibiotics, but that is when you’ve already developed a secondary bacterial infection or if you are at high risk for developing one. In certain cases, people who have a history of chronic bronchitis or pneumonia are given antibiotics and steroids to help fight off the risk of becoming sicker once they’ve already gotten the flu. This could lead to the misconception that antibiotics do in fact treat certain viruses.

Filed Under: Medical Care Supplies Tagged With: Antibiotic, Bacteria, Health, Influenza

Tips When Taking Antibiotics

Nobody likes taking medication, especially antibiotics. They’re stinky, they taste bad, and if you’re lucky you’ll only get a stomach ache. More often than not you’re running to the bathroom and counting down the days until the prescription runs out. Even though you may be stuck with them for a while, there are ways to make the time pass easier.

Stay hydrated

Feeling bad sucks, but if you don’t replenish the liquids you’ve lost you’ll feel much worse. Stay away from sugary drinks like sodas and diuretics like coffee. Instead, drink water or liquids with electrolytes.

Eat yogurt

Antibiotics are not picky; they’ll kill all the bacteria in your body, even the stuff you want to keep. To help combat newly emerging intestinal issues or vaginal yeast infections, eat yogurt. It’s rich in probiotics and will help reestablish colonies of good bacteria in your system.

Tell your doctor about other medication

Antibiotics have been known to interfere with the effectiveness of certain medication. If you are taking anything else, be sure to tell your doctor. Either your current medication or the effectiveness of the antibiotics could be compromised.

Finish your prescription

You’ll begin to feel better about halfway through your bottle of antibiotics. Continue to take them until the prescription is finished. The pills are beginning to kill off the colonies in your body, and that’s why you feel better. But the stronger colonies are still alive in your body, and if you stop taking your medication they will begin to grow again, except now you’ll have a much stronger bacterial infection.

Tell your doctor about possible side effects

If you start breaking out into hives, are experiencing unusual swelling, or generally feel worse than you did before you started taking your antibiotics, tell your doctor immediately. You could be developing an allergic reaction and if it’s severe enough it could be life threatening.

Filed Under: Medical Care Technology Tagged With: Antibiotic, Bacteria, Infection, Probiotic

Getting to Know Your Antibiotics

When you leave the doctor’s and head to your local pharmacy with a prescription you are under the assumption that what you have been given is exactly right in treating your condition. That’s because it’s given to you by a doctor you trust and so you never feel the need to question him. But do you even know what he’s writing down? Do you know what it is your are taking and what it is supposed to treat? Maybe you don’t feel the need to know because you believe that trust is enough to see it through but it never hurts to have a list of a few antibiotics in your head to know what they do and how they treat you.

Azithromycin – This is called the Z-Pak. It is one of the more popular drugs on the market. It is considered a macrolide. You will often see this prescribed to you if you have a respiratory tract infection. While it can be given for a genital infection as well as a gastrointestinal tract infection, but it is most commonly prescribed when you get flu like symptoms. The upside to Azithromycin is that there is very little side effects and not a whole lot of allergic reaction. However, they do advise taking the food on an empty stomach as it is not a drug that settles well.

Cephalexin – This one is usually written as Keflex and it is considered a Cephalosporin. This is a pretty common antibiotic. The range for cephalosporins are pretty big. Keflex can be used to treat a variety of things from pneumonia, staph infections, tonsillitis, bronchitis, and even the sexual transmitted infection known as gonorrhea. The only issue is that this drug is closely linked to the penicillin family an that could be potentially harmful to someone who has an allergic reaction to penicillin drugs. The side effect with this is the same as with most medications. There is a slight risk of issues with the stomach but beyond that there is nothing that would propose any danger to a patient on this medication.

Filed Under: Medical Care Supplies Tagged With: Antibiotic, Health, Penicillin

Learning About Cephalosporins

: Image via Wikipedia

If you’re a middle aged person then you have probably been to the doctor at least a dozen times in your life for routine check ups and to treat those symptoms that make you feel a little “under the wheather.” In all the time you have been receiving medications you have probably received medication that is classified as a cephalosporin. This might not mean anything to you but this class of drugs is one of the most important drug classes in the world and it has been around forever.

Cephalosporin’s were first discovered in 1948 by an Italian scientist. He noticed that certain cultures were good in treating the condition typhoid fever. However it was not good enough for use as an antibiotic until years later. Since then it has become one of the more popular drugs in the world.

So how does a cephalosporin work? They disrupt the synthesis of peptidoglycan in the layer of bacterial cell walls. The peptidoglycan is a very important layer when it comes to the integrity of the cell wall and its structure. Now cephalosporins are used for the treatment of infections that are caused by certain bacterias susceptible to a particular form of antibiotic. It is used to treat staph infections, pneumonia and other bacteria infections. It is a wonder drug of sorts and it has arrived in different generations as well.

The is the first generation which consisted of cephazolin, cefadroxil, cephalexin, and cephradine. Then the second generation came around and that itself consisted of cephaclor, cefuroxime, cefprozil, and loracerbef. The third, and most current(beyond the fourth proposed generation) came along as the strongest of the generations. It contained ceftotaxime, cefixime, cefpodoxime, ceftazidime, and cefdinir(which is a drug usually given to infants.)

These drugs are some of the most widely prescribed drugs on the planet. There is however, and allergic reaction potential to them. If you happen to have an allergy to penicillin then you may have an allergy to a cephalosporin but if you don’t then you can look for them the next time you get sick with anything.

Filed Under: Medical Care Research Tagged With: Antibiotic, Cephalosporin, Health