Drug interactions Archives

The Impact of Medication on Gut Health

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Science is well aware of the problems antibiotics and heartburn drugs can create for your gut health, all while leaving you vulnerable to even deadlier infections if you rely on them a lot.

Unfortunately, the list of non-antibiotic drugs that can affect your gut has grown sharply too (coming on the heels of a report that found metformin, a go-to drug for diabetes alters gut health).

Out of more than 1,000 drugs tested by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 24 percent affected the growth of at least one bacterial species in the human microbiome, according to a study appearing in Nature.

Overall, 250 out of 923 non-antibiotic drugs tested on 40 samples of selected species of human gut bacteria (including one species of Lactobacillus) altered their growth.

What’s more, 40 drugs affected at least 10 strains of gut bacteria, and 14 of them were previously unknown to have an antibacterial effect on gut bacteria. The most dramatic inhibitors of gut bacteria include these commonly prescribed medications:

Calcium-channel blockers that treat an array of conditions, from Raynaud’s to high blood pressure.
Antineoplastic drugs that treat cancer.
Antipsychotic drugs that treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

What concerns researchers the most?

“This shift in the composition of our gut bacteria contributes to drug side effects but might also be part of the drugs’ beneficial action,” says Peer Bork, according to a press release.

“This is scary, considering that we take many non-antibiotic drugs in our life, often for long periods,” says Nassos Typas. “Still, not all drugs will impact gut bacteria and not all resistance will be common. In some cases, resistance to specific non-antibiotics will trigger sensitivity to specific antibiotics, opening paths for designing optimal drug combinations.”

Since this study finds that individuals taking any prescription medications are inadvertently harming their gut health, they should consider taking EndoMune Advanced Probiotic to ensure their gut health isn’t being comprised by their prescribed medications.

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Antibiotics Hurt Your Whole Grain Intake

Diet, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

It’s amazing how incorporating whole grains into your diet reduces your risks of serious health problems – stroke, cancer, chronic inflammation and type 2 diabetes – while delivering important minerals, vitamins and antioxidants your body needs.

Adding whole grains to your diet can be as simple as replacing white rice in your favorite meals with brown rice or quinoa, swapping out white flour tortillas with ones made with stone-ground corn or eating a little popcorn (just forget the fatty movie theater butter and salt).

However, all of that dietary goodness you’ve done for your health may evaporate when you take antibiotics, drugs that doctors prescribe too often.

Researchers at Aarhus University discovered this critical problem while examining the health of more than 2,200 Danish patients who developed cancer over a 13-year period in a 2016 study appearing in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research.

The problem occurs when antibiotics disrupt one component of whole grains, lignans (beneficial polyphenols found in a host of plant-based foods, including flaxseeds and sesame seeds), in the human gut.

Antibiotics prevent the conversion of lignans in the gut to enterolignans, chemical byproducts that behave like estrogen and have been associated with lower mortality rates among breast cancer patients.

Concentrations of enterolignans in women who had taken antibiotics dropped by 41 percent less than three months before giving blood samples and 12 percent among men, both compared to patients who didn’t take them.

Those numbers remained relatively low (26 and 14 percent among women and men, respectively) up to a year later too.

A follow-up study by part of the same Danish research team on pigs found enterolignan concentrations dropped 37 percent in animals treated with antibiotics, compared to a control group.

The easy advice would be to avoid taking broad spectrum antibiotic drugs as much as possible, but that’s just one part of the solution.

Unfortunately, our bodies are exposed to soaps, toothpastes and cosmetics on a daily basis that contain antimicrobial compounds like triclosan.

Constant exposure to these chemicals creates a backlash known as the hygiene hypothesis, in which your body’s ability to develop its own immunities to disease is weakened significantly. In other words, your environment may be “too clean” for its own good.

Protecting your body from the damage antibiotics and harmful chemicals can do to your gut is as easy and effective as taking a probiotic containing multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic for adults and EndoMune Junior Probiotic for kids.

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How Antibiotics Caused an Epidemic

Disease, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

If you do a random search of my blog, one of the most popular topics you’ll find is antibiotics, and for a good reason too.

Not so long ago, antibiotics were considered “the Holy Grail” of modern medicine. Unfortunately, that advantage lasted only until our bodies had absorbed way too much of a good thing.

Additional exposure to antibiotics in flesh foods we eat and powerful anti-microbial substances contained in cleaning solutions and hand soaps have done much to tip the scales in the opposite direction, however.

The result: Creating unintentional and serious harm to human health via our overtaxed and compromised immune systems.

Along those lines of too much being a bad thing for your health, the very same concerns are true about overdoing antibiotics, especially for those who never needed them in the first place.

A good case in point is a recent study conducted at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine that appeared in the September 2017 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers reviewed medical records of some 1,500 patients admitted to Johns Hopkins for many reasons, including chronic diseases and trauma, and all were treated with antibiotics for a minimum of 24 hours.

No surprise, 20 percent of the patients who were tracked experienced unexpected health issues, including kidney, blood and gastrointestinal problems. Also, between 4-6 percent of patients were stricken with Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections and other antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Although scientists reported no deaths associated with antibiotics, many suffered complications just the same.

More diagnostic testing
Repeat admissions to the hospital
More visits to the emergency room or local clinics
Longer hospital stays

The real takeaway of concern for you and me in this study: Nineteen percent of patients were prescribed antibiotics they didn’t need. Of that subgroup, 20 percent sustained adverse effects from taking medically unnecessary drugs.

One way you can protect your health from unnecessary antibiotics: Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor questions about potential side effects and how to recognize them, says lead study author Dr. Pranita Tamma, director of John Hopkins’ pediatric antimicrobial stewardship program, according to a press release.

“Too often, clinicians prescribe antibiotics even if they have a low suspicion for a bacterial infection, thinking that even if antibiotics may not be necessary, they are probably not harmful. But that is not always the case.”

Even when taking antibiotics are necessary, however, be aware they can do great harm by affecting the balance of beneficial bacteria in your gut that governs your health and recovery from disease in so many ways.

That’s why taking a probiotic, ideally with multiple species of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, is the best, safest and most effective way to protect your gut and boost your immune system, even when you need to take an antibiotic.

If you need guidance on how and when to take a probiotic, especially when you’re sick, be prepared by reviewing my updated probiotic protocol for kids and adults today.

How Antibiotics Caused an Epidemic Read More »

Multi-species probiotics conquer constipation

Digestive Health, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

All by itself, constipation is a serious health problem accounting for some 2.5 million visits to American doctors, not to mention a growing number of trips to the ER. Constipation is also one of the telltale symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a chronic condition that affects the colon.

In the past, people have attempted to treat their IBS symptoms with drugs like mesalazine and mexiletine with only mixed results and a lot of unwanted side effects.

The real problem with taking these kinds of drugs is that they don’t get to the root cause of the problem: Rebuilding the healthy balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

Taking a multi-species probiotic can do a great deal of good, not only in restoring that gut healthy balance, but treating IBS symptoms associated with constipation too, according to a recent Italian study appearing in BioMed Research International.

For their randomized, double-blind study, scientists divided 150 IBS patients (all adults between age 18-65) with constipation issues into three groups, including one who received a placebo, for 60 days.

Interestingly, three of the five strains of beneficial bacteria in the multi-species probiotic given to patients — blends of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus acidophilus — are contained in EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

Compared to the placebo group, the major symptoms of IBS patients taking a multi-species probiotic improved from 74-82 percent compared to just 40 percent for the placebo group.

Even better, patients in both probiotic groups enjoyed relief from symptoms 30 days after the end of supplementation. In fact, signs of some beneficial bacteria were present in stool samples taken from patients too.

This study provides more evidence that taking a probiotic can be a much safer, healthier solution for treating constipation, especially the variety connected with IBS and a lot of other gut-related problems.

Again, the real trick is taking a probiotic made with multiple strains of bacteria from three key “families” (plus a prebiotic) like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic that supports the diversity of bacteria that inhabit your gut.

Multi-species probiotics conquer constipation Read More »

Antibiotics and the C. Diff Superbug

Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

American doctors wrote some 266 MILLION prescriptions for antibiotics in 2014, according to the most recent numbers reported by the CDC. Simply put, for every 1,000 Americans, 835 prescriptions for antibiotics were written.

Those are amazing and frightening numbers…

Hovering near the top of the list of most prescribed antibiotics is Ciprofloxacin (better known as Cipro), part of the fluoroquinolone class of synthetic broad-spectrum drugs.

If Cipro sounds familiar, your doctor may have prescribed it (or Levaquin) at some point to treat a urinary tract infection, bronchitis or sinus infection.

(You may have also missed a recent FDA advisory urging doctors to dial back prescribing fluoroquinolones due to reports of disabling and permanent side effects to the central nervous system as well as joints, tendons and muscles.)

Superbugs = super-damage to human health

This deluge of antibiotics has done unintentional but very serious damage to the collective health of Americans, contributing to the epidemic of superbugs like Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections in hospitals.

Fighting C. diff has been a real headache for health care facilities that have already scrambled to update their cleaning protocols to eliminate the use of chemicals containing antibacterial compounds like triclosan to prevent healthcare associated infections (HAIs) from doing harm to patients who just want to get well and go home.

For a long time, hospitals and medical professionals assumed dirt and germs were at the root of the superbug epidemic.

So, how much of an impact do antibiotics really have in a hospital setting? Based on a recent study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, it’s much more than you’d expect given all of the attention to superbugs.

diff rates dropped by a dramatic 80 percent only when the use of fluoroquinolone antibiotics like Cipro was restricted and used in targeted ways, according to the study of hospitals in the UK.

“These findings are of international importance because other regions such as North America, where fluoroquinolone prescribing remains unrestricted, still suffer from epidemic numbers of C. difficile infections,” said Dr. Derrick Crook, co-study author and professor of microbiology at the University of Oxford in a press release.

“Similar C. diff bugs that affected the UK have spread around the world, and so it is plausible that targeted antibiotic control could help achieve large reductions in C. diff infections in other countries,” says co-author Dr. Mark Wilcox.

Protect your health from antibiotic-associated infections

Apart from dispensing too many antibiotics, physicians and hospitals have another tool upon which they can rely to reduce the rate of antibiotic-associated infections like C. diff., according to a 2016 survey of studies published in the International Journal of General Medicine.

Giving adults and children probiotics reduced the risks of developing a C. diff infection by some 60 percent, particularly among patients recovering in a hospital.

Among the beneficial bacteria cited as beneficial in halting the spread of C. diff: Lactobacillus, among the active strains contained in EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior.

Antibiotics and the C. Diff Superbug Read More »

You’re probably overdoing heartburn drugs

Digestive Health, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

It’s not a big stretch to say over-the-counter heartburn drugs — proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and omeprazole (Prilosec) — are some of the over-prescribed, overused medications on the consumer market in America.

An estimated 16 percent of patients ages 55-64 took a prescription drug for heartburn over the previous 30 days between 2009-12. This percentage is nearly double the rate from the previous decade (9 percent), according to data collected by the CDC in 2014.

Overall, PPIs ranked third on the CDC list, topped only by cholesterol and cardiovascular drugs.

The bad news: PPIs come with some serious side effects, especially if you take them in high doses over a year or more, including osteoporosis-related fractures and heart attack.

We warned you recently about another serious side effect of overusing heartburn drugs: A disruption of your gut bacteria, leaving it less diverse and more vulnerable to Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections.

More infections

A pair of studies published nearly at the same time late last year in the health journal Gut confirmed how PPIs harm your gut health.

One study that tracked the health of more than 1,800 British twins discovered how the risk for infections may grow when taking PPIs regularly.

Among the patients being tracked, some 10 percent were already taking a PPI, including 20 percent who had been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel syndrome and 8 percent who were healthy.

Based on an analysis of stool samples, the guts of patients who took heartburn drugs had different strains of bacteria, including those typically found on the skin and mouth, like Streptococcus.

Scientists confirmed these changes when testing the gut bacteria of identical twins and only one was taking a PPI.

In the second study, roughly the same number of patients living in the Netherlands were tested for similar gut health irregularities with PPIs, with their stool samples studied with microbial DNA sequencing.

Not surprisingly, researchers discovered very similar results. Some species of gut bacteria were greatly reduced while others grew exponentially. Also like the previous study, there was more mouth bacteria found in the guts of PPI users.

Overall, researchers estimated 20 percent of their gut bacteria was affected by the use of PPIs.

How to avoid heartburn drugs

Despite these alarming results, some people must take heartburn drugs, but not everyone needs them. In fact, one 2011 study estimated more than half of patients receiving prescriptions for PPIs and some 60 percent who bought them on their own didn’t need PPIs or took them much longer than necessary.

If you’re not prescribed a PPI for heartburn by your doctor, here’s some simple ways to avoid taking one.

Do you need to lose weight? Consider dropping a few pounds.
Avoid acidic foods along with those that interrupt sleep.
Stop smoking.
Delay your bedtime by two hours after eating an evening meal.
Before bedtime, elevate your pillows slightly to prevent an overnight occurrence of heartburn symptoms.

Should you need to take a heartburn drug, however, some experts believe taking a probiotic at the same time may prevent serious bacterial shifts in your gut health.

If you’re considering a probiotic, think about the diversity of your gut bacteria and look for a multi-species product like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic that treats a wide range of health problems naturally and safely.

You’re probably overdoing heartburn drugs Read More »

Protect your health from E. coli

Disease, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

You can’t help but hear about recent problems with foodborne illnesses and wonder when — not if — one bad meal will make you or your family sick… or worse.

Even more distressing are daily news reports that more big box retailers, restaurants and food companies are reporting problems with making, handling and distributing our foods safely.

Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, has been one of the more recent and popular bacterial invaders hiding in tainted rotisserie chicken salad at Costco Warehouse Club or unknown, sickening ingredients in foods prepared at Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants.

Yet, E. coli is one of the most common types of bacteria around, living harmlessly in guts of humans and animals. Moreover, a recent University of Michigan study discovered how a protein in E. coli may be responsible for inhibiting the spread of Parkinson’s disease.

So, you may be wondering how E. coli bacteria can be benign, yet so dangerous.

The Dangers of E. coli

When some forms of E. coli spread into our environment from improper food handling, processing or cooking, contact with contaminated water or working with animals, given our national and international food supply chain and less funding at the federal level for food safety, people get sick.

Some 48 million Americans are sickened by a foodborne illness, and more than 125,000 are hospitalized every year, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s latest Outbreak Alert that analyzed data collected for a decade.

For most who come in contact with E. coli, the uncomfortable symptoms — severe abdominal cramping, watery diarrhea and gas — will pass within 10 days, if not sooner. If these symptoms sound very familiar to you, they’re also associated with traveler’s diarrhea.

However, one serious and infectious complication with E. coli — hemolytic uremic syndrome — destroys red blood cells and may lead to kidney failure and dialysis treatments.

Follow These Steps to Avoid E. coli

Fortunately, the steps you can take to avoid being sickened by E. coli are very easy to follow.

Wash your hands before preparing foods and after contact with barnyard animals (sheep, goats and cows) with plain soap (no antibacterial substances) and clean water.
Also, wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before cooking or eating them.
Cook meats at the proper minimum internal temperature.
The same “keep it clean” mantra also applies to cutting boards, plates, countertops, cooking surfaces and utensils.

Taking a daily probiotic, ideally containing with multiple species of beneficial bacteria — like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior — strengthens the immune system that protects your health from nasty foodborne problems like E. coli.

Protect your health from E. coli Read More »

Your gut health balance affects chemo treatments

Digestive Health, Disease, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

Your ability to maintain a diverse, thriving gut microbiome by eating the right foods, using antibiotics only when you must and taking a multi-species probiotic ensures it is capable of protecting your overall health even when the worst case scenarios happen.

Like cancer.

A growing number of studies are showing how gut health is an important part in helping chemotherapy and anti-tumor drugs do their job to eradicate cancer.

No gut bacteria, no luck

A pair of studies cited in a 2014 American Cancer Society report compared the effect of specific kinds of cancer therapies — drugs, immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy — based on its effect on germ-free mice lacking gut bacteria or animals treated with antibiotics.

No surprise, in both studies, these cancer-fighting weapons were much more effective with mice that had good gut health.

The results were most apparent in a study conducted by the French Institute of Health and Medical Research in testing the cancer drug cyclophosphamide.

In this study, researchers discovered cyclophosphamide worked best in healthier bodies because the drug affected the composition of their microbiomes that generates more immune cells and eliminates tumors.

The importance of gut health diversity before chemo

A more recent study, a collaboration by researchers at M.D. Anderson’s Infectious Diseases department and the Alkek Center for Metagenomics and Microbiome Research at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, shows how gut diversity can be so vital to the health of cancer patients even before they begin induction chemotherapy.

Scientists examined stool and oral samples taken from 34 patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) at three-day intervals during a 26-day course of chemotherapy.

Also, all patients were given antibiotics, no friend to good gut health, at least five times over more than six days. The concern: Physicians treat neutropenic fever, a common problem among AML patients on chemotherapy when body temperatures rise above 100˚, with antibiotics.

Interestingly, a third of the patients who maintained the diversity of their gut health or improved it experienced no infections over a 90-day span. However, 23 of the 34 patients experienced a drop in diversity over the same time and nine suffered from infections.

In fact, lead researcher Dr. Jessica Galloway-Pena of M.D. Anderson says she wants to use the human gut microbiome “as a tool” to spot which patients need extra treatments, or be prescribed a special diet, fecal transplant or probiotics, according to Medscape Medical News.

“I really think it’s not just one (species). I think it’s the community (of species) that strikes a balance. That’s why I’m not that big a proponent of probiotics with one species. I really think it’s going to be a cocktail of species that’s going to improve your outcome,” says Dr. Galloway-Pena in a recent YouTube video about her study.

This provides more evidence that taking a probiotic containing just one species of beneficial bacteria can do some good, but not nearly as much as one that contains multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior.

Your gut health balance affects chemo treatments Read More »

Ready for your flu shot?

Disease, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

As the fall colors come and the temperatures get cooler, you realize it’s time to start thinking about getting that annual flu shot.

All the reminders — signs galore along with being asked many times at your neighborhood grocery store, local pharmacy and even your workplace — are already in place. But you just say, “No, not today,” as politely and quickly as you can, then change the subject (or walk away quickly).

There are good reasons why some people shouldn’t get a flu shot (or a nasal spray vaccine). The most popular ones are linked to severe allergies to vaccine ingredients, age restrictions, problems with Guillain-Barre Syndrome and the current state of your health (review the full list on the CDC website).

Still, we know what you’re probably thinking…

The last time I had a flu shot, it made me sick.
The last time I had a flu shot, I caught it anyway.
I never get sick, so I can’t spread the flu around.
I take a probiotic… Isn’t that enough to keep the flu away?

Before you risk going it alone during the upcoming flu season, let’s address those aforementioned reasons/excuses with some solid health information.

The last time I had a flu shot, it made me sick. If a flu vaccine made you slightly sick, that’s not uncommon. Most people develop temporary soreness or swelling where the flu shot is delivered. Some reactions may include a low-grade fever and aches, and can last up to two days.

The last time I had a flu shot, I caught it anyway. Flu vaccines are made from an inactive or weakened virus that doesn’t make you sick. Also, the flu shot may take up to 14 days to create a protective effect in your body.

I never get sick, so I can’t spread the flu around. You may eat a healthy diet and wash your hands regularly, but you can pass the flu to others without showing any symptoms.

I take a probiotic… Isn’t that enough to keep the flu away? By itself, protecting your gut health helps. However, a recent study showed how good gut health may increase the beneficial effect of vaccines, and exposure to antibiotics diminishes it.

Taking a probiotic filled with multiple species of beneficial bacteria — like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior — along with a flu shot, can provide the extra boost you need to stay healthy during this flu season.

Ready for your flu shot? Read More »

Could one molecule affect your immune health?

Disease, Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

Since the development and wide use of penicillin during World War II, and a long time afterward, antibiotics were considered the Holy Grail of modern medicine.

That was true until our bodies became exposed too often to antibiotics and anti-microbial substances in the foods and soaps we use, cancelling out any benefits, crippling our immune systems and creating more serious diseases and conditions in their wake.

Researchers at the University of Chicago may have discovered a missing link on white blood cells that tie our immune system to higher amounts of good bacteria, according to a study appearing in the journal Immunity.

In tests on mice, scientists learned intestinal immune cells — type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3s) — were crippled in responding to bacterial infections when lacking a single, binding ID2 protein.

Without this protein, ILC3 cells were unable to produce IL-22 molecules that spur other intestinal cells to create antimicrobial peptides, which protect our bodies from infections.

Researchers confirmed these results after transplanting ILC3 cells with or without the ID2 protein into germ-free mice. Animals not receiving the ID2-enriched immune cells were unable to fight off infections when exposed to bad bacteria, while those given protein-enriched cells resisted them.

“Given the rapid rise of harmful bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, it is paramount that scientists find methods of limiting harmful bacterial infections without the use of antibiotics,” says Dr. Yang-Xin Fu, senior author of the study in a press release.

“For future patients who are infected with harmful bacteria, it might be beneficial to promote the development of good gut microbiota to indirectly kill harmful bacteria, instead of using antibiotics.”

Back to penicillin, Dr. Alexander Fleming discovered the wonder drug in 1928 and was one of three scientists awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for its development 17 years later.

During his acceptance speech 70 years ago, Dr. Fleming warned people that overuse of penicillin to fight disease might be linked to the very same bacterial resistance problems we face today.

However, there are very natural and safe ways to maintain the balance of good bacteria in your gut that antibiotics deplete, with the help of probiotics.

A rule of thumb about taking probiotics: Waiting about two hours after taking an antibiotic to take a probiotic will lessen the risk of the drug diminishing the billions of live, beneficial bacteria that protect your health.

Also, you’ll want to take a probiotic that contains multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior.

Could one molecule affect your immune health? Read More »