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Effects of Antibiotics over an Extended Period : First of all, it should be noted that any potentially effective drug has possible side effects. In fact, no medication, whether it is by prescription or available over the counter, should be utilized without some consideration of the potential for toxic effects. Antibiotics, even used for short periods of time, let alone for life-long therapy, raise the issues of both toxicity and the emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistance.
It is also important to note that antibiotics are frequently used in settings where they will not provide any benefits. An example of this sort of inappropriate use of antibiotics is for viral infections, such as the common cold. In fact, there is a tendency for patients to believe that if they are ill with an "infection", an antibiotic is the solution. Well, it's not always.
In reality, inappropriately used antibiotics will do nothing except place the patient at an unnecessary risk for potential side effects. In addition, too much use of an antibiotic can cause bacteria to become increasingly antibiotic resistant. Consequently, the resistant bacteria will not respond to the antibiotic in the future when this therapy may truly be needed. Thus, antibiotics should be used sparingly and with caution in all situations. If a physician tells a person that an antibiotic is unlikely to be helpful, it is in that person's best interest to not take the antibiotic.
a PPI, metronidazole (Flagyl), tetracycline and bismuth subsalicylate
These combinations of medications can be expected to cure 70%-90% of infections. Some doctors may evaluate patients for eradication of Helicobacter pylori after treatment with a urea breath test or a stool antigen test, particularly if there have been serious complications of the infection. Endoscopic biopsies to determine eradication of the bacteria are not necessary. Blood tests are not good for determining eradication since it takes many months for the antibodies to Helicobacter pylori to decrease. Patients who fail a course of treatment are retreated, often with a different combination of medications.
Antibiotics are NOT Antivirals : An Antiviral is an agent that kills a virus or that suppresses its ability to replicate and, hence, inhibits its capability to multiply and reproduce. For example, amantadine (Symmetrel) is a synthetic antiviral. It acts by inhibiting the multiplication of the influenza A virus. Given within 24-48 hours of the onset of symptoms of the flu, it can lessen the severity of the disease.
br> The development of antivirals has lagged far behind that of antibiotics. A virus is just genetic material, DNA or RNA, perhaps with a few enzymes, wrapped in a protein coat. A viral is technically not alive which makes it hard to kill. Further, viruses replicate (make copies of themselves) by hijacking the machinery of the cell they infect, so it is difficulty to kill the virus without killing the cell. Some viruses can also remain dormant in the body without replicating, thereby avoiding drugs that inhibit replication. The antivirals that have been developed are generally less effective than one would like. Viruses can replicate rapidly and, in many cases sloppily, giving rise to mutations that make them resistant to drugs. And for fast-moving viral infections like flu or a cold, a drug must be very powerful to make a difference before the disease runs its natural course.
Antibiotics Cycling Won't Stop Resistance : Alternating the most commonly used antibiotics -- a method called cycling -- to stop the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria won't work. Instead of cycling -- alternating between two or more classes of antibiotics as often as every few months -- an approach called mixing is suggested, where a patient is randomly administered two or more antibiotics.
br> Cycling is a new approach that's currently undergoing clinical trials in patients. The theory behind cycling is that, just as a pathogen begins to develop resistance to a particular antibiotic, a new antibiotic is introduced and the pathogen has to start all over again in building resistance to the new antibiotic. But pathogens actually encounter new antibiotics more frequently with mixing than with cycling, according to this study, based on numerical models that examined how microbial infections spread in hospitals and how microbes develop antibiotic resistance.
br> Mixing is already relatively common in hospitals, even though it's not planned, the study authors noted. That's because individual doctors develop preferences for the kinds of antibiotics they prescribe, meaning that patients receive a variety of antibiotics at random.
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