Archive for April 2010

Critical Things to Remember

The following points are critical to remember when taking any antibiotic:

  1. Take all the medication that your doctor has prescribed for the recommended length of time. Because antibiotics tend to work fairly rapidly, you may feel much better after taking only a few days’ worth of a prescribed seven-day course of antibiotics. Never stop taking the medication because you feel better. Taking the full prescribed course of antibiotics ensures that the infection is eradicated and won’t recur.
  1. Because your doctor chooses antibiotics based upon your individual medical history along with the type of bacteria likely to be causing your infection, never assume that an antibiotic prescribed for someone else will be effective for you - never “borrow” antibiotics. Sharing any prescription medications is a dangerous practice and can even be deadly. Likewise, never “save up” antibiotics for your own later use.
  1. Antibiotics generally work rapidly. Be sure to ask your doctor when to expect results and find out what you should do if you experience no improvement after a couple of days.
  1. Antibiotics can cause a number of side effects. Nausea, diarrhea, and allergic reactions are some known side effects of antibiotics. Antibiotics also may kill naturally-occurring bacteria that protect the body from yeast infection, so yeast infections may occur while you are taking antibiotics. Be sure to ask your doctor what kind of side effects you may experience with a particular antibiotic. Always call your doctor if the side effects are severe or worrisome.
  1. If your doctor directs you to stop taking an antibiotic or switch to a different antibiotic, properly dispose of all unused medication. Ask your pharmacist about take-back programs and places where you can return unused or expired medications for safe disposal. A person needing an antibiotic should be evaluated by a physician each time an antibiotic is needed - don’t save old antibiotics to treat future infections.
  1. Ask your doctor or pharmacist whether or not you should take the medication with food and if you should change your habits during the course of treatment (for example, avoiding direct sunlight, not drinking alcohol or eating certain foods).
  1. Be certain that you have a clear idea of the directions for taking an antibiotic. If you have questions, ask. For example, does “four times a day” mean every six hours even in the night, or just at meals and at bedtime?

Antibiotics 101

“Taking antibiotics when they are not really necessary will not speed your recovery and can even contribute to a problem known as antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance refers to the capacity of many bacteria to become resistant to a particular antibiotic so that it is no longer effective against these bacteria. It is known that the increasing use of antibiotics when they really aren’t needed has contributed to this problem and has led to the evolution of many bacterial strains that no longer respond to treatment with common antibiotics; a phenomenon known as antibiotic resistance (medicinenet).”

Things that can help prevent resistance

  • When they dose a patient let the patient know the dose
  • Tell the patient to never overdose or under dose
  • Take antibiotics till the doctor says otherwise
  • Wash your hands
  • inform of possible side effects
  • keeping taking never stop until bottle is or container is empty
  • lastly pay attention to what the doctor says since they are trained to do this

Creative video for antibiotic resistance

Hospital’s are a Nightmare

Hospitals are crawling with different type’s of bacteria or viruses. Most Bacteria only harm someone if it is in the wrong spot at the wrong time. People infected with antimicrobial resistance will most likely have more hospital visits (FDA). This happens because the resistant bacteria will be harder to treat with common drugs. Between five and ten percent of bacteria in hospitals are resistant to at least one antibiotic (FDA).

Fighting a War They May have Caused

Antibiotics are suppose to help fight the rise of super bacteria, but they may be the cause of them. Due to the increasing use of antibiotics in humans, animals, and plants, have resulted of many kinds of bacteria becoming resistant. The use of antibiotics are only for curing bacterial infections not viral infections. Due to people using antibiotics on viruses, which cause, colds, cough, sore throat, flu, sinus problems, bronchitis, or ear infections.

First Antibiotic

The very first antibiotic was penicillin, which was discovered during World War 2 by Alexander Flemming who discovered it by chance.

Vaccines

Vaccines are not the same as antibiotics. For one they don’t get rid of a virus but prevent it. They do this by having the doctors inject a inactive virus into the bloodstream thereby giving the body the tools to fight back if the active virus were to appearĀ  in the body.

Antibiotics

An antibiotic is a medicine designed to get rid of a bacteria infection. The misuse of this can lead to antibiotic resistance. Doctors should inform patients of the potential risk of developing antibiotic resistance and teach them how take antibiotics properly.

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