antibiotics Archives

Text: Beat Antibiotic Associated Diarrhea with Probiotics

Treat Diarrhea With Probiotics

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Beat Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea With Probiotics

The impact antibiotics have on human health and our gut is one of the most important things modern medicine has learned over the past 20 years.

Antibiotics remain effective tools that treat many problems, but relying on them too often creates additional health complications.

Even when they’re used properly, antibiotics are disruptive to the healthy balance of bacteria in the human gut, spurring antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a very common problem that affects roughly 1 out of every 5 patients.

Fortunately, modern medicine has embraced the important role probiotics play in protecting the healthy balance of bacteria in the human gut, the center of our immune system.

What’s more, probiotics are a safe, effective treatment for antibiotic-associated diarrhea, according to a study recently published in the health journal Nutrients.

**The Bifidobacterium Way**

Scientists from the University of Maryland and Georgetown University examined the benefits of a proprietary blend of Bifidobacterium lactis on 42 patients who were given amoxicillin-clavulanate, a common antibiotic.

Scientists from the University of Maryland and Georgetown University assigned 38 healthy patients to eat a daily serving of yogurt containing Bifidobacterium lactis for two weeks, along with a standard, week-long regimen of the common antibiotic, amoxicillin-clavulanate.

(Bifidobacterium lactis is one of 10 strains of beneficial bacteria contained in EndoMune Advanced Probiotic and EndoMune Junior Advanced Chewable Probiotic.)

An additional 18 patients were assigned to a control group who ate the daily yogurt minus the probiotic bacteria for two weeks while also taking the antibiotic for a week.

No surprise, patients who took a probiotic had a healthier balance of bacteria in their guts than those assigned to a placebo, but how?

For one, patients assigned the placebo had significantly lesser amounts of the short-chain fatty acid acetate, a metabolite produced by gut bacteria, than those taking a probiotic. In fact, acetate levels among patients in the probiotic group more rapidly returned to normal by day 30.

Additionally, researchers cited the benefits of taking a probiotic the very same day they started their seven-day course of antibiotics.

“Starting the probiotic as early as possible, before the antibiotic symptoms have progressed, may result in a greater opportunity for the probiotic mechanisms to be expressed and may ultimately lead to more beneficial clinical outcomes,” says study co-author Dr. Daniel Merenstein of the Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Follow Your Antibiotic Protocol!

The results of this study were so impressive and positive, the National Institutes of Health plan to fund a follow-up study to determine the best time to take a probiotic.

Luckily, if you follow our blog regularly, you may already have an antibiotic protocol in place, so you already know what to do!

The important thing to remember: Give yourself a two-hour break between a probiotic — ideally one with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune — and an antibiotic to give those beneficial bacteria some extra time to do their work.

Resources

Nutrients

University of Maryland School of Medicine

Oregon State University

Mayo Clinic

Drugs.com

Treat Diarrhea With Probiotics Read More »

Illustration of a digestive system and a curled arm showing bicep muscle. Text: Your gut and muscle growth

How Gut Affects Muscle Growth

Diet, Digestive Health, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Your Gut and Growing Muscles

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body, whether it’s strength training, swimming, tai chi or walking.

What’s more, the benefits of exercise — from losing weight and reducing your risks of serious disease to strengthening your bones and muscles — are many and well-proven.

We already know exercise changes our gut for the better based on the production of butyrate, short-chain fatty acids that protect your gut from more harmful bacteria.

Did you know the health of your gut microbiome may affect the growth of your muscles too?

The Antibiotic Angle

Researchers at the University of Kentucky put this question to the test by taking an interesting approach using 42 female mice.

During the nine-week trial, some mice were fed water laced with a variety of low-dose antibiotics, no friend to the gut, while others were fed plain water. During this period all test animals had access to running wheels to encourage exercise.

No surprise, the muscles of mice that were fed antibiotics didn’t grow nearly as much as the group protected from antibiotics, although both sets of test animals exercised for about the same amount of time.

Of course, these results provoke new questions regarding the kinds of antibiotics used and whether the gender of the test animals really made as difference.

The fact remains that there is a connection between the presence of specific gut bacteria and muscle growth, according to Dr. John McCarthy, and associate professor at the University of Kentucky.

McCarthy cited a recent study in Nature Medicine that linked endurance for elite marathon runners and mice to the abundance of a specific species of gut bacteria (Veillonella).

The goal here isn’t limited only to improving athletic performance. This growing body of knowledge will help to identify substances made by gut bacteria to promote muscle growth among people dealing with cancer or aging, says study co-author Taylor Valentino.

The Lesson Learned

For now, no matter what researchers learn about muscle growth, our take-home message remains pretty simple…

Even after taking in all of this research, we’re still learning about the wide-ranging benefits the gut has to offer as well as the many problems associated with antibiotics.

If you have concerns about what to do when you’re prescribed an antibiotic by your family physician, be sure to take a look at our recently updated antibiotic protocol for guidance.

Antibiotics have a depleting effect on the bacteria in your gut that keep your immune system strong and healthy. One of the easiest and most effective ways to protect and support is to take a probiotic like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, formulated with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families, about two hours before that scheduled antibiotic.

That extra time gives those beneficial bacteria to make it to your gut and protect your gut, the center of your immune system.

Resources

The Journal of Physiology

The Physiological Society

Harvard Medical School

MedlinePlus

Clinical OMICs

Nature Medicine

How Gut Affects Muscle Growth Read More »

TEXT: Antibiotics 101 How to protect your gut health

Antibiotics 101: Protect Your Gut

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Antibiotics 101: How to Protect Your Gut Health

Every so often, we like to remind you about basic health and lifestyle steps you can take that may help or harm your gut health, like the do’s and don’ts of taking an antibiotic safely.

Antibiotics were once considered “miracle” drugs that treated serious health issues and controlled the spread of disease. For example, some childhood conditions like strep throat and bacterial meningitis were fatal diseases before antibiotics.

Over time, however, antibiotic drugs transitioned from their “miracle” status to being prescribed for many more health problems, such as viral infections like colds, the flu and most coughs and many sinus infections, that do more harm than good.

An estimated 43 percent of the antibiotic prescriptions in America were issued for health problems that were completely unnecessary, based on numbers compiled in a 2019 Oregon State University report.

How did this happen?

The simple explanation: The overuse of antibiotics, plus our exposure to antibacterial chemicals in soaps, paints and even gym equipment, has over-sterilized our lives to such a degree that these drugs may promote resistance and, in some cases, do not work as they should or at all.

This could lead to infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics become much more costly (more expensive treatments, trips to the doctor) and much harder to treat.

Are you concerned about that next antibiotic prescription from your physician? We’ve got you covered.

Your antibiotic protocol

Antibiotics are valuable medications when they’re prescribed by your doctor for good reasons, not because you’ve had a persistent cold or flu and want to feel better right now.

If you’re concerned about over-exposure to antibiotics, it’s important to talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Do not be afraid to ask them questions!

And, if you do need to take an antibiotic, take them as prescribed by your physician until your course is completed. That’s critical because lots of people only take antibiotics until they start feeling better, then drop them.

Here are some extra steps you can take on your own to lessen the need for antibiotics:

Keep your hands clean with plain soap and warm water, and ditch the antibacterial soap.
Cook your foods thoroughly, and have a working food thermometer in your kitchen always at the ready.
Monitor your use of prescription pain relievers, as some may worsen the problem.
Stay up-to-date on your doctor-recommended vaccinations. Some vaccines will protect you and your family from bacterial infections stemming from whooping cough and diphtheria.

When you absolutely need to take an antibiotic for a health problem, please remember that it’s vital to protect your gut, the center of your body’s immune system too.

Antibiotics create problems for the gut by depleting the balance of bacteria that normally keep you healthy. If you have to take an antibiotic and want to protect the health of your gut, consider taking a probiotic, ideally with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

EndoMune’s powerful formula of 10 beneficial strains of bacteria from the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus families and a prebiotic (that feeds the good bugs in your gut) not only protects but supports your immune health.

Taking a probiotic like EndoMune about two hours before that necessary antibiotic gives those beneficial bacteria extra time to reach your gut and protect it and your immune health when you really need it the most.

Resources

Antibiotics 101: Protect Your Gut Read More »

How Antibiotics May Harm Your Baby’s Health

Children’s Health / By @drHoberman

When the topic of antibiotics comes up here, the concerns usually focus on adults who lean on them too often to treat common health problems. This over-reliance on antibiotics, in addition to daily exposures from antimicrobial soaps and cleaners plus drug residues hiding in the flesh foods we eat, is creating a world full of superbugs in which these powerful drugs are slowly losing their ability to work as they should.

Now, we’re learning how the health of children exposed to antibiotics is affected for the long term, and the results aren’t good.

Harmful early exposure to antibiotics

You probably wouldn’t expect infants to be exposed to enough antibiotics to create any health risks.

Yet, researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Rutgers University found evidence that even one dose of antibiotics given to children under age 2 was connected to greater risks of serious health problems as they grew up, according to a study appearing in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Among the laundry list of health problems associated with one dose of antibiotics faced by babies living in the Midwest:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Asthma
Eczema
Celiac disease
Obesity
Food allergies

Roughly, 70 percent of babies in Minnesota and Wisconsin had been prescribed at least one course of antibiotics but most had received multiple rounds, based on data collected by the Rochester Epidemiology Project.

What’s more, the long-term harm varied among a number of factors, including gender, the variety of antibiotics taken and how many times these drugs were prescribed. For example, penicillin was linked to higher incidences of celiac disease and ADHD in girls, obesity among boys and asthma in both sexes.

Reducing health risks with probiotics

When antibiotics were developed then prescribed for children, the emphasis was merely on controlling pathogens, not the greater effect these drugs could have on the microbiome, especially for a baby’s developing gut health, according to the study.

Now, we recognize the problems with antibiotics — an estimated 47 million are prescribed needlessly every year according to the CDC — the need to minimize their use and the collateral harm they can cause for a child’s developing microbiome.

If you’re looking to limit your child’s exposure, a recent report we shared with you showed how taking a probiotic may lessen the need for antibiotics.

What’s more, the probiotics these children were taking contained some of the same beneficial strains of bacteria in EndoMune Jr. Advanced Powder and EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

Do you need guidance on how maximize the probiotic benefits for your son or daughter when they’re taking a round of antibiotics? Check out our updated to-do list of probiotic basics you need to know.

References

How Antibiotics May Harm Your Baby’s Health Read More »

Could a Probiotic Help You?

Digestive Health, Drug interactions, Mental Health, Probiotics, Women’s Health / By @drHoberman

Probiotics seem to be everywhere right now; in the cereal aisle at the grocery store, lining the supplement shelves, we’re even seeing them in the beauty and skincare section! Hearing about all the benefits of probiotics may have you wondering, “Do I need to take one?”

Defined by the World Health Organization, probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.” They are not chemicals like antibiotics, but cultures of live bacteria or yeasts that help to maintain the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut microbiome. When your gut becomes unbalanced it can cause many health issues, such as gas, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and obesity. Probiotics have been shown to help “restore the healthy composition and function of the gut microbiome” and thus, help combat many of these troublesome issues.

Think taking a probiotic supplement could benefit you? Below we’ll discuss a handful of reasons why people may be adding a probiotic supplement to their daily routine.

When you need immune system support

Do you feel like you get sick every flu or cold season? If yes, then you may need to strengthen your immune system. 70-80% of your immune system resides in your gut and the health of your microbiome directly impacts the overall health of your immune system. Probiotics are a great way to help support your immune system and protect your body against harmful viruses.

When you’re taking antibiotics

Antibiotics are used to kill disease-causing bacteria in the body. This is good, but sometimes taking an antibiotic can trigger diarrhea. That’s because these strong antibiotics can kill our good bacteria while targeting the bad bacteria resulting in an unbalanced microbiome. Taking a probiotic while on antibiotics is a great way to help your body stay in balance and prevent a case of antibiotic-associated diarrhea.

It’s important to remember to take your probiotic supplements at least two hours after taking your antibiotics to ensure the antibiotics do not kill the good bacteria in your probiotics!

When you’re having digestive problems (and when you’re not!)

If you constantly suffer from stomach problems such as gas, constipation, bloating, and diarrhea, your microbiome may be unbalanced. Taking a probiotic has been shown to help restore the balance of your gut microbiome and improve the functioning of your GI tract.

When you have allergies

Up to 30% of the general population suffers from one or more atopic diseases including allergies, asthma, and eczema. These are usually caused by heightened immune responses to common allergens, especially inhaled or food allergens. Probiotics have been shown to help alleviate allergic inflammation and food allergy symptoms. Another published study demonstrated that the probiotic strain Lactobacillus casei decreased the number of days preschool children with allergic rhinitis were sick over 12 months. If you tend to lock yourself inside during allergy season, then a probiotic may be what you need!

When you experience frequent yeast infections

If you suffer from frequent yeast infections, it could be a sign that there is a disturbance of the beneficial bacteria in your body. Studies have shown that supplementing with probiotics can improve symptoms of yeast infections and may also be able to prevent potential infections. Vaginal yeast infections are surprisingly common, as 75% of all women are likely to have a yeast infection at least once in their lives. While there are many treatment options, beginning to take a probiotic supplement is one of the easiest, all-natural ways to correct the loss of good bacteria and bring your body back into balance.

Convinced yet?

It can be difficult to maintain the balance of bacteria in your microbiome when things like diet, travel, and stress can throw it off. In some circumstances, eating plenty of probiotic-rich foods may not be enough, and a probiotic supplement may be able to help keep everything in line. If you find yourself experiencing any of these health concerns consider taking a probiotic supplement to help achieve a healthy microbiome, strong immune system, and an overall healthy body.

Could a Probiotic Help You? Read More »

Prescription medicine + donuts = higher IBD risks

Antibiotics + High-Fat Diet = Higher IBD Risks

Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Whenever we talk about antibiotics, the subject always comes around to the same health challenge…Do you rely on antibiotics to “cure” common health problems that would probably get resolved on their own? And, do you pressure your family physician into prescribing you an antibiotic you may not need?

When you rely on antibiotics too often, they may eventually stop working, especially when you need them to.

So, would you make a different decision about taking an antibiotic if doing so made you much more vulnerable to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)?

Multiple risk factors

An international team of researchers conducted a two-part study, first analyzing fecal samples of 92 patients, including 49 suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), to measure fecal calprotectin, a biomarker for intestinal inflammation. Elevated levels of this biomarker, considered a pre-IBD biomarker, were discovered in 19 IBS patients. But that’s not the key takeaway…

Patients who had a recent history of taking antibiotics plus eating a high-fat diet regularly elevated their risks of pre-IBD problems by a factor of 9, compared to those who ate a healthier diet, and had no recent history of antibiotic use.

Considering these risks separately, a patient’s pre-IBD probabilities fell, but not as much as you’d expect, especially with the presence of antibiotics elevating pre-IBD by nearly 4 times compared to high-fat diets alone (nearly 3 times).

Scientists also discovered why antibiotics and high-fat diets create so many problems by analyzing a group of mouse models: Their presence disrupts the work of the mitochondria in the cells that line the intestines to consume oxygen. Those disruptions may evolve into more serious problems in which healthy gut bacteria gets replaced by more harmful bacteria, leading to inflammation and possible pre-IBD symptoms.

So what can you do to stay healthy and possibly stay out of the way of IBD?

It’s all about moderation

This study really drives home a very important point: The foods you eat and the medications you take — especially antibiotics — can work for or against you. Moderation is the critical take-home message here. Eating some fat is good and important, and indulging on occasion is fine, but not all the time!

The same applies to antibiotics. If your family doctor recommends an antibiotic, be sure to ask lots of questions about how and when to take them. (Don’t skip doses or stop taking them early if you feel better.)

For all of the good antibiotics can do, they also deplete the beneficial bacteria in your gut that keeps your immune system strong. When you need to take an antibiotic and protect your gut health, be sure to take a probiotic two hours before to give those beneficial bacteria a head start.

Read our latest advisory on how to get the best out of taking a probiotic here!

When you’re looking for a probiotic, you should strongly consider one formulated with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria that provide proven results like those from the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium families.

And, when you’re reading product labels, be sure to look for a prebiotic, the guys that do the dirty work behind the scenes by feeding the good bacteria living in your gut. Some probiotics don’t have them!

Fortunately, our multi-strain probiotic, EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, is uniquely fortified with 10 strains of beneficial bacteria, plus a proven prebiotic (FOS) to protect your gut.

References

Antibiotics + High-Fat Diet = Higher IBD Risks Read More »

Could Diet Affect Your Gut’s Response to Antibiotics?

Drug interactions / By @drHoberman

We remind you from time-to-time how harmful antibiotics can be to your overall health — not to mention your gut — if you rely on them a lot.

Taking an antibiotic — even when it’s necessary — alters the critical balance of bacteria in your gut that fuels and protects your immune system.

Did you know your diet triggers changes in your gut bacteria when you’re taking an antibiotic too?

What you eat when taking an antibiotic matters

Researchers at Brown University studied the effect of common antibiotics (amoxicillin, ciprofloxacin and doxycycline) on three sets of mice, focusing on changes in gut bacteria balance and how bacteria adapted after those treatments with food.

A couple of basic things really stood out.

For one, the amount of a specific bacteria strain (acteroides thetaiotaomia specific bacteria strain B) actually tripled in size when exposed to antibiotics, affecting the overall healthy balance of gut bacteria in mice.

This second result is interesting and goes straight to the question of eating a supportive gut-healthy diet with dietary fiber.

No surprise, the gut bacteria of mice fed dietary fiber were far less affected by their exposure to antibiotics by a factor of 10.

Once again, these results show how antibiotics alter the balance of gut health, and how the quality of your diet may protect or hurt it.

The take-home message here really is twofold.

Work on increasing the dietary fiber you eat every day by eating more whole foods and fewer heavily processed foods. It doesn’t take much (1 ounce or 30 grams) to make a healthy difference.
Taking a probiotic with 10 strains and 30 billion CFUs of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic every day supports and protects the balance of bacteria in your gut — the center of your body’s immune system — when you’re taking an antibiotic.

Resources

Cell Metabolism

Brown University

Mayo Clinic

Could Diet Affect Your Gut’s Response to Antibiotics? Read More »

The Newest Superbug Problem: Pain Relievers

Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

Think about the last time you were prescribed an antibiotic or pain reliever by your doctor… Did you really need it?

An estimated 43 percent of the 130 million scripts for antibiotics were inappropriately prescribed or issued for no reason, according to a recent Oregon State University report.

These unnecessary prescriptions are creating a world in which antibiotics are losing their ability to work as they should, and that’s a real health problem for all of us.

Not only does the excessive use of antibiotics harm the healthy balance of bacteria in your gut, but these drugs can also leave you vulnerable to superbug infections like Clostridium difficile (C. diff) that are resistant to them.

Taking pain-relieving nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may worsen that problem, according to a recent study appearing in mBio.

Are you taking this drug?

Taking any type of drugs come with some health concerns — even small ones. The real challenge is looking for ways to modify those risk factors in the presence of diseases like C. diff, says Dr. David Aronoff, a microbiologist, infectious disease expert, and the lead author of this study.

Scientists tracked the health of two groups of mice treated with antibiotics after being infected with C. diff. One group was treated with indomethacin, an NSAID used to treat severe pain caused by osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, while the control group received no drug.

Only 20 percent of the mice exposed to the NSAID survived to the end of the study. What’s more, mice treated with the pain-relieving drug and antibiotics experienced altered gut microbiomes and worse C. diff infections, a sign their tiny immune systems were harmed.

Why you should be concerned: Indomethacin shares roughly the same biological mechanisms as far more common over-the-counter NSAIDs you may be taking more regularly, like aspirin and ibuprofen. (Taking acetaminophen in large doses isn’t safe for your gut either.)

Protect your gut

Previously, we have warned you about the effect a higher-than-you’d-expect number of non-antibiotic drugs that treat a myriad of problems with mental health, cancer, diabetes and blood pressure have on your gut bacteria.

As much as you’d like to avoid these interactions, that may not possible. You may need to take an antibiotic, one of these other drugs — or both — that may disturb the healthy balance and immune-supportive power, either for a short time or a long time.

So, what can you do?

First, be knowledgeable about those possible interactions when consulting with your doctor or your local pharmacist.

Also, taking a probiotic, ideally, one that contains multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic, may be your best weapon to give your body the help it needs to maintain the healthy balance of bacteria in your gut, protect your immune system and prevent C. diff infections altogether.

Resources

mBio

American Society for Microbiology

MedlinePlus

WebMD

American Academy of Rheumatology

The Newest Superbug Problem: Pain Relievers Read More »

image of intestines and pink ribbon for breast cancer awareness

How Gut Health Drives Breast Cancer

Digestive Health, Healthy Aging, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

When women consider the steps they’ll take to lessen their risks of breast cancer, protecting the healthy balance of gut bacteria may not be at the top of their to-do lists.

However, women would probably reconsider in a heartbeat if they understood how restoring that balance affected the severity and aggressiveness of breast cancer.

Disruptions of the gut microbiome balance and inflammation may worsen the spread of at least one form of breast cancer severely, according to a study published in the journal Cancer Research.

Disruptions with antibiotics

Hormone receptor-positive breast cancers (ones triggered by estrogen or progesterone) accounts for at least two-thirds of all diagnoses and these forms usually respond well to hormone therapy.

Major problems arise when these cancers metastasize, spreading beyond the breast into other body tissues. High levels of immune cells in those tissues known as macrophages can fuel early metastasis.

Scientists at the University of Virginia led by Dr. Melanie Rutkowski examined how the gut affects the spread of breast cancer by altering the microbiomes of mice. (They fed mice antibiotic “cocktails” for 14 days or plain water before injecting them with mammary cancer cells.)

Spreading breast cancer

No surprise, the microbiomes of mice treated with antibiotics were disrupted, resulting in inflammation systemically and within mammary tissue.

“In this inflamed environment, tumor cells were much more able to disseminate from the tissue into the blood and to the lungs, which is a major site for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer to metastasize,” says Dr. Rutkowski.

Based on these findings, Dr. Rutkowski and her team believe an unhealthy gut and the problems that occur in the body as a result may be early predictors of metastatic or invasive breast cancer.

It’s important to note that the megadoses of antibiotic used to accelerate the long-term imbalances of animal microbiomes wouldn’t happen with patients taking a typical course of antibiotics during a typical cancer treatment, Dr. Rutkowski says.

But, too many patients still rely on antibiotics way too often, even for treating minor health problems that aren’t designed to respond to these drugs.

Gut health affects your entire health!

Your gut affects so many parts of your health that are intricately tied to your immune system, and a lack of gut bacteria diversity harms those efforts.

Although there’s many steps you can take to protect and improve the health of your gut and immune system, taking a probiotic is among the best and easiest choices you can make.

To get the most good out of the probiotic you’re taking, ensure it’s formulated with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria that mirror and enhance the diversity of your gut too.

Formulated to give your immune system a much-needed daily boost, EndoMune Advanced Probiotic contains 10 strains of beneficial bacteria from the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus families — 30 BILLION bacterial allies — that protect your gut every day.

References

How Gut Health Drives Breast Cancer Read More »

Illustration of orange pill bottle on dark blue background

Should You Really Be Taking an Antibiotic?

Drug interactions, Probiotics / By @drHoberman

The last time you visited your doctor, you may have received a prescription of an antibiotic. Did you take the initiative to ask the physician if you really needed that antibiotic you were prescribed?

Often, antibiotics serve as effective tools that solve a multitude of health problems, but only when they’re really necessary. Patients rely too often on antibiotics even for minor problems, like viruses or bacterial infections that don’t even respond these kinds of drugs.

Maybe, you pressured your doctor to prescribe a round of antibiotics just so you could get well and get back to work…

Consider this scary report about the rampant over-prescribing of antibiotics as your latest wake-up call to really consider whether you really need them or not.

No reason to prescribe antibiotics

A team of Oregon-based scientists examined how often patients received prescriptions for antibiotics out of nearly a billion of outpatient visits nationwide.

They examined samples of data culled from the 2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, looking for indications whether antibiotic prescriptions were necessary, inappropriate or issued for no documented reason.

Antibiotics were prescribed in about 13 percent of those visits (some 130 million times). A majority of them (57 percent) were judged to be medically appropriate and necessary.

But that’s only part of the story…

The remainder of antibiotics were inappropriately prescribed (25 percent) or issued for no documented reason (18 percent). In other words, many of the 56 million prescriptions for antibiotics in those other categories were probably unnecessary.

Many of those wasted prescriptions were for urinary anti-infective agents, drugs used to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs). What’s more, patients who spent more time with their physicians or suffered from chronic health issues were prescribed antibiotics for no reason.

Probiotics to the rescue

All of these unnecessary prescriptions come with a huge price: Creating an antibiotic-resistant world where these valuable drugs lose their ability to work properly.

The end results are superbug infections stemming from Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) that can be impossible to treat.

The most important takeaway is pretty simple: If you need to take an antibiotic for any reason, be aware these drugs can create imbalances in your gut that harm your immune system and slow down your ability to get well.

Your best weapon to protect your health and help your body do the hard work of healing with a little damage as possible is a probiotic, ideally with multiple strains of beneficial bacteria like EndoMune Advanced Probiotic.

EndoMune’s powerful formula of 10 beneficial strains of bacteria from the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillusfamilies and a prebiotic (that feeds the good bugs in your gut) not only protects and enhances your immune health.

(If you’re suffering from a urinary tract infection, probiotics like EndoMune are a safe and proven way to treat them.)

It helps that very necessary antibiotic you need to do its job to help you get well when you really need it.

Resources

Should You Really Be Taking an Antibiotic? Read More »