It seems that whenever a study is published showing how a certain drug can cause you harm, you’ll immediately hear from doctors rushing to exonerate the med in question.
“Hmm, something else must be going on here,” is their typical response. “And, of course,” they’ll say, “Those people were sick to begin with, or they wouldn’t have been taking (fill in the blank) anyway.”
Talk about a knee-jerk reaction!
Now, we’re hearing from researchers out of Tulane University in New Orleans about how antibiotics, the drugs that can protect you from killer pathogens, can also damage your heart and raise your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
Mainstream critics wasted no time in countering with comments that anyone who needs to be on these drugs for prolonged periods must be “inherently sicker” and “more fragile,” and how such results are “not surprising” when taking that into consideration.
But then, some docs will bend over backward to justify giving out their favorite meds like they’re candy!
Of course, when you really need an antibiotic, you usually have no choice.
However, the conclusions of this study should give you good reason to pause and ask your doctor two very important questions before unthinkingly filling that Rx.
The law of unintended consequences
Taking drugs is almost always a risky proposition — some more so than others.
And often, certain meds will keep boomeranging back to us with newfound side effects. Antibiotics, for example, are already known to commonly cause diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, rashes, and a whole host of other adverse reactions.
Now you can add heart disease to that list.
In this latest study — a big one that looked at over 37,000 healthy women in the U.S. and followed them for eight years — Tulane researchers concluded that women over age 59 who reported “long-term” use of antibiotics were almost 60 percent more likely to die from heart disease. That’s particularly alarming because what these scientists considered to be “long-term” was just two months! And there are plenty of reasons why someone would be on an antibiotic for that long – Lyme disease, asthma, or recurring UTIs to name a few.
What’s more, that risk could present itself years later… and not just in the form of heart disease.
Researchers also found that women who used antibiotics over a prolonged period 10 years prior also upped their risk of death “from all causes.”
But how could antibiotics turn out to be killers when they’re also lifesavers?
As we’ve known for a while, antibiotics can devastate the beneficial bacteria in your gut. And when this essential part of your immune system gets thrown off balance, you can be vulnerable to practically any kind of ailment or disease — whether you’ve been taking them for two weeks or two months.
As Dr. Stanley Hazen from the Cleveland Clinic puts it, “The magnitude of the importance of the gut microbiome is far greater than we ever anticipated.”
Even the Tulane group made sure to comment on how alterations to your gut bacteria are linked to a “variety of life-threatening disorders” that includes heart disease.
The real problem here is that antibiotics are widely overprescribed for conditions that they typically can’t even help – all just to be on “the safe side.” But as we’re hearing again and again, there’s nothing safe about taking these drugs for any amount of time when they’re not needed.
So, when it comes to these life-saving meds, remember to save them for when they’re absolutely necessary – rather than popping them haphazardly for every little thing.
And a good way to be sure you’re doing that is to ask your doctor two questions before rushing out to get that Rx filled.
#1 Do I really need an antibiotic? Illnesses such as colds, bronchitis, sinus infections, and sore throats are conditions that are most often caused by viruses, which antibiotics have no effect on. If you’ve been diagnosed with something other than a bacterial infection and you’re given a prescription for one anyway, ask why. It will give your doctor pause to reconsider.
#2 Does this drug specifically target my infection? If you really do need an antibiotic, ask your doctor for one specific to the kind of infection you’re suffering from (which could require that a culture be taken), instead of simply turning to big guns such as Cipro. (One expert called the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics a habit of “lazy doctors.”)
And if you’re on or have been on a course of antibiotics, make sure that you’re also taking a high-quality probiotic supplement – something that will significantly benefit your health regardless of how recent or long ago that may have been.
Also, eating plenty of foods known as “prebiotics,” will help “feed” the beneficial bacteria in your gut, keeping them happy and able to do their job. Some good prebiotics include apples, oats, bananas, asparagus, and (surprisingly) cocoa!
But before you go and eat the second ear off of the chocolate Easter bunny that was supposed to have been for the kids, remember that it’s dark chocolate (or even plain, unsweetened cocoa powder) that can provide those benefits.
“Study weighs heart danger of antibiotics for older women” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, March 22, 2018, HealthDay, consumer.healthday.com
