Topic: antibiotics

Time For Docs To Stop Handing Out Z-Packs Like Candy; Antibiotic Linked To Heart Trouble

Time For Docs To Stop Handing Out Z-Packs Like Candy; Antibiotic Linked To Heart Trouble

My friends, I have to admit that I have taken more than my fair share of z-packs in my life. Zithromax, the antibiotic known for coming in a handy little pack that tells you how many pills to take each day, is one of the most widely used and recognized antibiotics outside of penicillin and the bubble-gum stuff. And for a lady like me who is particularly susceptible to pneumonia, it’s a god-send. But according to new warnings from the FDA, it’s also more dangerous than I realized. More »

80% Of Antiobiotics Are Now Used For Livestock; Here’s Why You Should Be Scared

80% Of Antiobiotics Are Now Used For Livestock; Here's Why You Should Be Scared

With the discovery of antibiotic resistance, “superbugs,” and the knowledge that antibiotics can cause serious health complications (to the extent that you could need a fecal transplant to live), people are slowly becoming wary of taking antibiotics to treat everyday illnesses and minor infections. But it turns out that if we’re really concerned about antibiotic resistance and the over-prescription of drugs, we should be looking at our food, not our doctors: According to Mother Jones, the meat industry now uses a scary 80% of all antiobiotics in the U.S. More »

Stop Giving The Pill All The Credit—Penicillin Actually Launched Sexual Revolution

Stop Giving The Pill All The Credit—Penicillin Actually Launched Sexual Revolution

Once upon a time, young men and women couldn’t go about having sex all willy-nilly without worry, but then along came the Pill, divorcing us from our reproductive destinies and ushering in the sexual revolution—or so the story goes. A new economic analysis, however, shows how this legend may give birth control too much credit. A bigger factor in launching the modern sexual milieu may be the widespread use of penicillin for treating syphilis. More »

Amoxicillin: Another Antibiotic Found Ineffective For Cold And Cough

Amoxicillin: Another Antibiotic Found Ineffective For Cold And Cough

When we were kids, my sister and I loved taking amoxicillin for a childhood sickness. The liquid version, which we called “pink medicine” was bubble gum-flavored and tasted a lot better than other medications, or so we thought. But a new study says that amoxicillin, one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics in the country, is not as effective as previously thought when treating coughs and respiratory problems. More »

Get Smart About Antibiotics So They Don’t Kill Us

Get Smart About Antibiotics So They Don't Kill Us

I appreciate the way the CDC has framed ”Get Smart About Antibiotics” week, with that call to action first and foremost. “Antibiotic awareness” week sounds boring. “Superbugs are trying to kill you” week sounds like a bummer. But “Get Smart About Antibiotics” feels encouraging — get smart about antibiotics? yeah, I think I will! – which is good because being dumb about antibiotics is giving rise to antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistant bacteria are trying pretty hard to kill us all. More »

Antibiotics Could Make You Fat (If You Took Them As A Baby)

Antibiotics Could Make You Fat (If You Took Them As A Baby)

Over-use and mis-use of antibiotics has raised public consternation in recent years, and a new study isn’t apt to give them a popularity boost: Apparently, they could also make you fat. According to research published in the International Journal of Obesity, babies who are given antibiotics within the first six months of life are more likely to become overweight than their drug-free peers; adding to the fear that antibiotics are wrecking our digestion by killing off the “good” bacteria in our gut. More »

The Real Reason Farm Animals Consume Antibiotics–And What The FDA Is Trying To Do About It

The Real Reason Farm Animals Consume Antibiotics--And What The FDA Is Trying To Do About It

Good news: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that they are calling on our nation’s pork, beef, and poultry farmers to reduce the use of antibiotics in these animals. Bad news: Some watchdog groups say this recommendation doesn’t go far enough. And worse yet: The real reason these animals are fed antibiotics is not what most people think. More »

Good News: Meat Growers Might Finally Have To Stop Feeding Unsafe Antibiotics To Livestock

Good News: Meat Growers Might Finally Have To Stop Feeding Unsafe Antibiotics To Livestock

In 1977, the FDA started the paperwork to withdraw their approval for the non-therapeutic use of antibiotics in livestock, because they had found that the antibiotics had not been proven safe enough for regular consumption. But then the government body never actually finished it–not because antibiotics were shown to be safe, or because they reversed their decision–they just never got around to it. And as a result, for 35 years, Americans have been eating meat that contains antibiotics…and superbugs. Now, U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore Katz has ordered that they finish the job, once and for all. More »

Weekly Acupuncture Fixed The Bladder Infections That My Doctors’ Antibiotics Couldn’t

Weekly Acupuncture Fixed The Bladder Infections That My Doctors' Antibiotics Couldn't

Bladder infections are one of those pesky little issues that plague women more than men. About 20% of women will get a bladder infection in their lifetimes. Considering how easily they can be treated, that number doesn’t sound outrageous. But when they come back, it can get a lot worse. Nearly 20%of women who have a UTI will have another, and 30% of those will have one again. Of the last group, 80% will have recurrences.

I’m in that last group and have had chronic bladder infections for almost a decade. Little did I know when I woke up one morning a few years with a subtle pain in my lower abdomen that first time that the pain would intensify and plague me for years. I spent countless hours researching and seeing doctors to find a cure. And despite all the rounds of antibiotics they put me on, it wasn’t until I saw an acupuncturist that things really started to get better.

The first time it happened, I thought that maybe it was just a passing cramp, since it was that time of the month, but as the day went on it stopped being subtle and started to pulsate. Then it started to hurt when I peed. I had felt this once before and I knew the symptoms probably meant it was a bladder infection. More »

Coriander Oil Works Where Antibiotics Don’t

Coriander Oil Works Where Antibiotics Don't

Coriander is like some sort of Super-Herb, kicking food-borne-illness’s ass. A new Portuguese study reports that coriander oil proved “toxic to a broad range of harmful bacteria,” able to fight food poisoning and even antibiotic-resistant infections when used in foods and medicines. Coriander oil is picking up the slack where antibiotics fail us; score one nutritional/plant-based medicine, yes? More »

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