Urinary Tract Infection Treatment

Urinary Tract Infection Treatment - Antibiotics vs A Natural Treatment?

Did you know that almost 10 million people visited the doctor last year for urinary tract infection treatments? Most of these people did this to relieve the painful symptoms associated with urinary tract infections which include: frequent urination; need to urinate but to no avail; frequent needs to urinate during the night; aches above pelvis; clouded urine; blood in urine; fatigue; vomiting; fever; and chills and night sweats. The symptoms of urinary tract infections can make life miserable and a U.T.I. treatment should be considered immediately!

If a urinary tract infection is left untreated, pain will become significantly worse and you could risk greater complications to your body including severe kidney problems. But what should you choose for a treatment? Antibiotics or treating the urinary tract infection naturally?

Unfortunately, of those 10 million doctor visits, most people get prescribed antibiotics to treat their urinary tract infection. Many patients will take the antibiotics and be fine while other patients will take the same antibiotics and nothing will happen except more pain. Even more unfortunate, most patients who take the antibiotics do not understand what urinary tract infection antibiotics are doing to their body.

Antibiotics Uncovered

Antibiotics have their purpose in the medical field and have done some good in some cases. However, antibiotics are being prescribed more than ever before and might be causing more harm and good. If you or a love one suffers from a urinary tract infection please pay close attention! The word 'antibiotic' literally translates as 'anti-life.' Why do you think this is?

Antibiotics (especially urinary tract infection antibiotics) are drugs used to kill bacteria (E-coli). You might think this is good but unfortunately urinary tract infection antibiotics can NOT tell the difference between 'good bacteria' and 'bad bacteria'. In a perfect world, the antibiotics would only kill the E-coli and nefarious germs that cause urinary tract infections in the bladder. However this is not the case, U.T.I. antibiotics will most of the time kill those harmful bacteria and good bacteria. And all bacteria is NOT bad!

Antibiotics Effect on Body

For instance, urinary tract infection antibiotics will also kill intestinal flora which helps digest food and immune system bacteria which aids in a healthy immunity. Over time and through more antibiotics, digestion complications will arise as well as destruction of the immune system. Also, as we become more and more dependent upon antibiotics, the harmful bacteria in our bodies become more and more tolerant of antibiotics. The result is doctors prescribing harsher antibiotics to kill the tolerant harmful bacteria (and more 'good bacteria'). Are you skeptical? A 2003 medical report stated that 42% of E. coli was resistant to one or more of the 12 antibiotics that researchers investigated.

A Better Option

You do not have to treat your urinary tract infection with antibiotics! In fact, one of the best ways to treat a urinary tract infection is by allowing your body to cure the urinary tract infection itself. By given the correct means, the body can actually cure itself in less than 12 hours naturally (no harmful antibiotics). Treating U.T.I is as simple as preventing bacteria from residing in the bladder by simply keeping your acidic levels high while flushing your body with the correct fluids.

Chest Infection Antibiotics

The public are now generally aware that antibiotics will only help with bacterial infections. Most chest infections of the upper respiratory system are caused by a virus of which there are over 150 strains.

Although antibiotics were used extensively in the past for a chest infection, they are not normally recommended as they can do more harm than good, as there is now increasing concerns with the side effects of chemical medicine. Studies have shown that antibiotics will not increase the recovery time of an illness in fact, it is known that they can have a detrimental effect on other medication which might have been prescribed, such as Warfarin the blood thinning drug or the contraceptive pill which can make the pill ineffective. Antibiotics are known to disturb the gut flora which affects the healthy populations of bacteria in the body.

The other reason that antibiotics are not now preferred is the knowledge that bacteria have the remarkable ability to mutate becoming resistant to other stronger and ever more sophisticated drugs developed to combat them.

The immune deficiency effect is the concern of modern medicine throughout the world. George Jacoby of the Harvard Medical School, quoted in Laurie Garret's book, 'The Coming Plague- Newly Emerging Diseases of the World out of Balance', Penguin Books-"Bugs are always figuring ways to get around the antibiotics we throw at them, they adapt and come roaring back again", no wonder, bacteria were around long before man inherited the earth and will always find around the antibiotic effect, and chest infections antibiotics in particular.

Chest infection antibiotics will normally only be considered if you are aged and have a temperature over 38 (100F), or any other condition such as Asthma or a long term condition of the lungs, you are a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and if your immune system is compromised as a result of Cancer treatment chemotherapy, or you have diabetes or pleurisy which is the inflammation of the lining of the lungs.

PNEUMONIA

The greatest benefit of antibiotics seemed to be for reducing the risk of pneumonia after a chest infection, particularly in the elderly. This conclusion was as a result of research by I. Peterson and colleagues of The Centre for Infectious Disease and Epidemiology, Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, University College, London. They found that the greatest benefit of administering antibiotics for pneumonia reduced the risk after a chest infection. The size of this risk increased with the age of the patients. In the over 65 groups, 403 patients per 1000 were at risk of pneumonia, if a chest infection was untreated .This was reduced to 146 per 1000 if treated with antibiotics. Just 39 patients over 65 years would need to be treated with antibiotics to prevent one case of pneumonia compared to 119 patients between the ages of 1 and 64 year.

Their studies taken from records between 1991 and 2001 concluded that antibiotics should only be prescribed in more serious cases of chest infections.

PREVENTION

Your immune system will be stronger and you will be better able to prevent viral and bacterial infections if you lead a healthier lifestyle!

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Tetracycline Antibiotics

Tetracycline Antibiotics For Acne Treatment

Discovered in the late 1940s, Tetracyclines are a family of broad spectrum antibiotics used to treat a wide range of bacterial infections. The original tetracyclines were derived from Streptomyces bacteria, but the newer derivatives are semisynthetic.

The tetracycline antibiotics are the workhorses in oral acne therapy. They're the first-line oral antibiotic drugs of choice in the management of moderate to severe acne. They were first widely prescribed by dermatologists in the early 1950s when it was discovered that they were effective as a treatment for acne.

Oral antibiotics work to reduce the P. acnes population (a contributing factor in acne), which, in turn, decreases inflammation.

Tetracyclines exert their bacteriostatic effect by inhibiting protein synthesis in bacteria. In addition to these antibacterial effects, tetracyclines have strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Tetracycline is the most widely prescribed antibiotic for acne. A typical tetracycline regimen for treating moderate to severe acne starts with a dose of 500 to 1000 milligrams a day, which is decreased as improvement occurs. Long-term, low-dose tetracycline therapy may be continued for many months to suppress acne. Higher doses may be prescribed for very severe acne. The main drawback for this antibiotic is that it must be taken on an empty stomach to be the most effective.

Two synthetic derivatives of tetracycline used to treat acne are doxycycline and minocycline.

Doxycycline proves especially effective in treating inflammatory acne. This antibiotic is often used for people who do not respond to or cannot tolerate erythromycin or tetracycline. The dosage of doxycycline is started at 50 to 100 mg twice a day. It should be taken with food, otherwise it can cause significant nausea. Doxycycline is more likely than tetracycline to increase sensitivity to the sun, or cause sunburns.

Minocyline has a long history of use in treating acne. It is often effective in treating acne that has not responded to other oral antibiotics. Minocycline is especially useful for pustular type acne. It also seems to produce fewer incidents of antibiotic resistance. However, minocycline accounts for serious side effects more frequently than other tetracyclines.

In particular, this drug may cause rare but seriouse side effects such as lupus-like syndrome, serum sickness like reaction (SSLR) and secondary intracranial hypertension.

Antibiotics and Their Types

Antibiotics and Their Types, Uses and Side Effects

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. Antibiotics are one class of antimicrobials, a larger group which also includes anti-viral, anti-fungal, and anti-parasitic drugs. Antibiotics are chemicals produced by or derived from microorganisms (i.e. bugs or germs such as bacteria and fungi). The first antibiotic was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928 in a significant breakthrough for medical science.

Antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed medications in modern medicine.

Some antibiotics are 'bactericidal', meaning that they work by killing bacteria. Other antibiotics are 'bacteriostatic', meaning that they work by stopping bacteria multiplying.

Each different type of antibiotic affects different bacteria in different ways. For example, an antibiotic might inhibit a bacterium's ability to turn glucose into energy, or its ability to construct its cell wall. When this happens, the bacterium dies instead of reproducing.

Some antibiotics can be used to treat a wide range of infections and are known as 'broad-spectrum' antibiotics. Others are only effective against a few types of bacteria and are called 'narrow-spectrum' antibiotics.

Side effects of antibiotics

Antibiotics can literally save lives and are effective in treating illnesses caused by bacterial infections. However, like all drugs, they have the potential to cause unwanted side effects. Many of these side effects are not dangerous, although they can make life miserable while the drug is being taken.

In general, antibiotics rarely cause serious side effects. The most common side effects from antibiotics are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting. Fungal infections of the mouth, digestive tract and vagina can also occur with antibiotics because they destroy the protective 'good' bacteria in the body (which help prevent overgrowth of any one organism), as well as the 'bad' ones, responsible for the infection being treated.

Some people are allergic to antibiotics, particularly penicillins. Allergic reactions cause swelling of the face, itching and a skin rash and, in severe cases, breathing difficulties. Allergic reactions require prompt treatment.

Types of antibiotics

There are many different kinds of antibiotics. The type of antibiotics you take depends on the type of infection you have and what kind of antibiotics are known to be effective.

The main classes of antibiotics:

• Aminoglycosides
• Cephalosporins
• Fluoroquinolones
• Macrolides
• Penicillins
• Tetracyclines

Macrolides

There are a couple of new relatives of erythromycin (azithromycin and clarithromycin) that work the same way, but kill more bugs and have slightly fewer side effects. The erythromycin-like antibiotics are also known as macrolides. Macrolides belong to the polyketide class of natural products. Macrolide antibiotics are used to treat respiratory tract infections, genital, gastrointestinal tract, soft tissue infections caused by susceptible strains of specific bacteria.

Macrolides bind with ribosomes from susceptible bacteria to prevent protein production. This action is mainly bacteriostatic, but can also be bactericidal in high concentrations.

Macrolides cause very little allergy problems compared to the penicillins and cephalosporins, the biggest concern with these medicines is that they can irritate the stomach.

The most commonly-prescribed macrolides:

• erythromycin
• clarithromycin
• azithromycin
• roxithromycin

Aminoglycosides

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are used to treat infections caused by gram-negative bacteria. Aminoglycosides may be used along with penicillins or cephalosporins to give a two-pronged attack on the bacteria. Aminoglycosides work quite well, but bacteria can become resistant to them. Since aminoglycosides are broken down easily in the stomach, they can't be given by mouth and must be injected. When injected, their side effects include possible damage to the ears and to the kidneys. This can be minimized by checking the amount of the drug in the blood and adjusting the dose so that there is enough drug to kill bacteria but not too much of it. Generally, aminoglycosides are given for short time periods.

The aminoglycosides are drugs which stop bacteria from making proteins. This effect is bactericidal.

The most commonly-prescribed aminoglycosides:

• amikacin
• gentamicin
• kanamycin
• neomycin
• streptomycin
• tobramycin

Cephalosporins

Cephalosporins are grouped into "generations" by their antimicrobial properties. Cephalosporins are categorized chronically, and are therefore divided into first, second, and third generations. Currently, three generations of cephalosporins are recognized and a fourth has been proposed. Each newer generation of cephalosporins has greater gram negative antimicrobial properties than the preceding generation. The later-generation cephalosporins have greater effect against resistant bacteria.

Cephalosporins are used to treat pneumonia, strep throat, staph infections, tonsillitis, bronchitis, otitis media, various types of skin infections, gonorrhea. Cephalosporin antibiotics are also commonly used for surgical prophylaxis. Cephalosporins are closely related to the penicillins.

Cephalosporins have a bacteriocidal effect by inhibiting the synthesis of the bacteria cell wall.

The most commonly-prescribed cephalosporins:

• First generation
• cephazolin
• cefadroxil
• cephalexin
• cephradine


• Second generation


• cefaclor
• cefuroxime
• cefprozil
• loracarbef


• Third generation


• cefotaxime
• cefixime
• cefpodoxime
• ceftazidime
• cefdinir


• Fourth generation


• cefepime
• cefpirome

Fluoroquinolones

Fluoroquinolones are known as broad-spectrum antibiotics, meaning they are effective against many bacteria. Fluoroquinolones are used to treat most common urinary tract infections, skin infections, and respiratory infections (such as sinusitis, pneumonia, bronchitis). Common side effects of fluoroquinolones include mainly the digestive system: mild stomach pain or upset, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. These are usually mild and go away over time. Fluoroquinolones should not be given during pregnancy.

Fluoroquinolones inhibit bacteria by interfering with their ability to make DNA. This activity makes it difficult for bacteria to multiply. This effect is bacteriocidal.

The most commonly-prescribed fluoroquinolones:

• ciprofloxacin
• gatifloxacin
• gemifloxacin
• levofloxacin
• moxifloxacin
• norfloxacin
• ofloxacin
• trovafloxacin

Penicillins

Penicillin was the first antibiotic discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1929. Penicillins are used to treat skin infections, dental infections, ear infections, respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, gonorrhea. Penicillins are sometimes combined with other ingredients called beta-lactamase inhibitors, which protect the penicillin from bacterial enzymes that may destroy it before it can do its work.

Penicillins are usually very safe. The greatest risk is an allergic reaction, which can be severe. People who have been allergic to cephalosporins are likely to be allergic to penicillins.

Penicillins block the construction of bacteria cell walls, causing the walls to break down, and eventually killing the bacteria.

The most commonly-prescribed penicillins:

• amoxicillin
• ampicillin
• bacampicillin
• oxacillin
• penicillin

Tetracyclines

Tetracyclines are a family of antibiotics used to treat a broad spectrum of bacterial infections. Tetracyclines were discovered in the late 1940s and were extremely popular when they were first discovered. The tetracycline antibiotics have a very broad spectrum of action.

Tetracyclines are used to treat mild acne, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme Disease, upper respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, typhus.

The most commonly-prescribed tetracyclines:

• tetracycline
• doxycycline
• minocycline

Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotics are extremely important in medicine, but unfortunately bacteria are capable of developing resistance to them. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are germs that are not killed by commonly used antibiotics. When bacteria are exposed to the same antibiotics over and over, the bacteria can change and are no longer affected by the drug.

Bacteria have number of ways how they become antibiotic-resistant. For example, they possess an internal mechanism of changing their structure so the antibiotic no longer works, they develop ways to inactivate or neutralize the antibiotic. Also bacteria can transfer the genes coding for antibiotic resistance between them, making it possible for bacteria never exposed to an antibiotic to acquire resistance from those which have. The problem of antibiotic resistance is worsened when antibiotics are used to treat disorders in which they have no efficacy (e.g. antibiotics are not effective against infections caused by viruses), and when they are used widely as prophylaxis rather than treatment.

Resistance to antibiotics poses a serious and growing problem, because some infectious diseases are becoming more difficult to treat. Resistant bacteria do not respond to the antibiotics and continue to cause infection. Some of these resistant bacteria can be treated with more powerful medicines, but there some infections that are difficult to cure even with new or experimental drugs.