Antibiotics are drugs that work in a unique way - they can help us, but they can also harm us. Much depends on how we take them. It is worth knowing the rules of taking antibiotics.
The truth about antibiotics
- Antibioticsare not suitable for treating flu.
Fluis a viral infection, as are most common colds with a runny nose and cough. Influenza viruses are not sensitive to substances contained in antibiotics. Even a very bad feeling or a highfeverduring a viral infection is no reason to use an antibiotic.
- Although the drug has worked, the treatment must be completed.
Don't stop your treatment halfway when you feel better, because all germs need to be eradicated, not just their activity suppressed. This takes some time. Therefore, take the entire dose prescribed by your doctor.
- Treatment with traditional antibiotics should not last less than 5 days.
Otherwise, the bacteria will become resistant to the substance used, and the entire treatment will fail. Use an antibiotic in accordance with the recommendation of the doctor prescribing a given preparation on the prescription, but also in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions given in the package insert.
- When using an antibiotic, the hours of taking the drug are important.
It's best to remember about fixed times. The day does not end at sunset - it lasts for 24 hours and when the antibiotic is to be administered, for example, four times a day, i.e. every six hours, this includes day and night (e.g. at 6, 12, 18 and 24).
- During antibiotic treatment, take probiotics, yoghurt and drink kefir.
Antibiotics destroy not only pathogenic germs, but also our natural microflora present on the natural bacterial flora by consuming probiotic products, kefir and yoghurt (but leave a few hours apart from one to the other).
- The overuse of antibiotics causes germs to defend themselves better.
The constantly growing bacterial resistance is a problem of modern medicine. An increasing number of infections do not respond to treatment because the arsenal of available drugs no longer contains effective antibiotics against which germs would be defenseless. The bacteria have become resistant to these pharmaceuticals andtaught to defend against them. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is the cause of many failures in the treatment of serious infections, often ending in serious complications.
ImportantHow was penicillin?
Although it is hard to believe, but less than a hundred years ago, the fight against bacteria was practically impossible, because the first antibiotic - penicillin - began to be used only during World War II, thirteen years after it was discovered by British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming. And although this scientist received the Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1945, he did not produce the first penicillin! He was only lucky to be the first to notice how the Penicillium chrysogenum mold fungus inhibited the growth of bacteria. It was 1928. In Fleming's London laboratory, many strains of bacteria called staphylococci had been grown for years. One of the cultures was poorly protected and spores of the fungus got into the medium. After some time, it turned out that the mold colony was thriving, while the bacterial colony had dissolved. So the mold destroyed the staphylococci! Fleming's insights initially went unnoticed. It was not until June 1941 that the mass production of penicillin began in the United States, and at the end of the war, the drug was made available to civilian treatment. However, the production of penicillin was not patented, because it was decided not to protect something that was not an invention, but only duplicated the spontaneous actions of nature. As a result, treatment with natural penicillins became cheaper over the years, and pharmaceutical manufacturers began to chemically modify them.
Myths about antibiotics
- Antibiotics can cure any disease.
Antibiotics are not a panacea for all diseases. They are very effective drugs, but not all types of microorganisms are fought. They only help to eliminate infections that have been caused by bacteria.
- You can buy some antibiotics at a pharmacy without a prescription and heal yourself of the infection.
You cannot ask a pharmacy for over-the-counter antibiotics. They should only be recommended by a doctor, after finding out that the patient has a bacterial infection. Antibiotics are not vitamins!
- A modern antibiotic will cope with any pathogenic bacteria.
It is best to take an antibiogram before starting the treatment, i.e. answer the question what type of bacteria causes a given infection and to which chemicals it is sensitive.
- Most respiratory infections should be treated with antibiotics.
Although as much as 75% of all antibiotics are prescribed for respiratory infections,however, only half of these treatments are justified by bacterial contamination. Meanwhile, pharyngitis (except angina!), Laryngitis, bronchitis, and even otitis media are caused by viruses.
- As antibiotics destroy bacteria, it is worth using them prophylactically.
Antibiotics are absolutely not suitable for prophylactic treatment - it is a completely misguided and dangerous idea. They are only effective when we know the type of germ responsible for the infection. The prophylactic use of antibiotics only brings us closer to the dangerous immunization of all bacteria.
- To shorten the infection, you can use the antibiotic left over from the previous treatment.
Never do that! First, you must not use antibiotics on your own (even the leftovers that your doctor recently prescribed for you) or prescribed to someone else. Secondly, it is worth trusting your own immunity sometimes. Your body will cope with most infections of the upper respiratory tract on its own, usually it takes several days (and e.g. milk with honey). Especially when there is no fever and no bacterial infection has been confirmed.
- Antibiotics should always be taken with a meal.
Antibiotics contain substances that can react differently with food. Therefore, ask your doctor about the details of the treatment or read what the manufacturer of the drug wrote about it in the package insert.
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