Antibiotics For Women’s Health

What Are Some Cautions About Antibiotics

Cautions for antibiotics include the following:

• Don’t take antibiotics if you don’t need them. If you take them when they’re not needed, any bacteria that don’t die can change and become harder for the antibiotics to kill in the future. This is called antibiotic resistance.
• Take your antibiotics as directed. This will help make sure your infection is cured. Do not stop taking them just because you feel better.

The Bigger Picture On Brain Health

Kaiser stressed the critical need for good primary care and managing blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.

Some of these seem obvious, some others not so much. Loneliness and social isolation can contribute to cognitive decline. Having healthy, meaningful relationships is a core aspect of overall health and well-being, said Kaiser.

Kaiser said that broader public health issues also play a role.

Culture change is needed to prioritize good, healthy sleep and healthy ways to cope with stress and anxiety, Kaiser said.

This study doesnt demonstrate that antibiotics cause dementia. But its an interesting study that can advance efforts in the field in a deeper way. Its an opportunity to think about how gut health affects brain health and to be thoughtful about antibiotics, said Kaiser.

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If you’re only dealing with whiteheads and blackheads, antibiotics for acne probably aren’t right for you. Whiteheads and blackheads are both non-inflammatory forms of acne, Zeichner says, and they’re better treated with over-the-counter products that contain ingredients like benzoyl peroxide, which kill acne-causing bacteria, and salicylic acid, which remove excess oil and exfoliate dead cells from the skin.

So how do you know if you should consider using antibiotics to treat your acne? According to Mona Gohara, M.D., a dermatologist based in Connecticut, it’s time to seek a dermatologist when your skin troubles have progressed beyond whiteheads or blackheads. Those deeper, more inflammatory cysts and papules are your body’s way of saying, Get help! she says. Another way of knowing your issues wont be cured with over-the-counter meds is when large areas of the skin are affected, such as the face, chest, and back, says Zeichner.

Learn everything you could ever want to know about adult acne:

Antibiotic treatments are also not for everyone. No one who is pregnant or nursing should take these antibiotics, says Gohara . And as with all prescription drugs, antibiotics do have some side effects. Doxycycline can make you sensitive to the sun and can cause esophageal reflux. It is important to take the medication with a full glass of water at least 30 minutes before bed, Zeichner says. Minocycline may lead to dizziness and rare allergic-type reactions.

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Whats The Story About Antibiotics For You

How many times have you taken antibiotics in your life? Many people may well have lost count. You may have been given them for upper respiratory infections, head colds, sore throats, bronchitis and garden-variety ear infections.

If youre like most people, youve had to take antibiotics too often. Some people are told to take them indefinitely even years. But make no mistake: there certainly are times you need antibiotics for serious infections or for public health reasons.

Once youve finished your prescription, its time to deal with the aftereffects. The major problem is the way these drugs upset the delicate balance of your intestinal flora. In some cases, that means that the bad guys can take over. This is exactly what can happen with a terrible diarrheal infection caused by clostridium difficile, of C. diff bacteria, and also with a version of the STD, gonorrhea .

But your body is a trooper. It begins to rebuild healthy bacterial populations right away. Still, it could take the better part of a year to restore healthy bacterial balance. Even then, the new good bacteria arent likely to be as diverse or as effective at producing proteins, digesting certain foods or making necessary chemicals.

It seems that every week we learn more about how disrupted gut bacteria can affect long term health. But its already clear that you should take steps to encourage the good guys to come back. And its not a hard thing to do.

Diagnosis Of Infections Of The Uterus After Delivery

• A doctor’s evaluation

An infection of the uterus may be diagnosed based mainly on results of a physical examination. Sometimes an infection is diagnosed when women have had a fever for 24 hours after delivery and no other cause is identified.

Usually, doctors take a sample of urine analyze it and send it to be cultured and checked for bacteria. Urine tests can help identify urinary tract infections.

Other tests are rarely needed but may include culturing a sample of tissue taken from the lining of the uterus and imaging tests, usually computed tomography, of the abdomen.

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Use Of Antibiotics By Women In Midlife Linked To Later Cognitive Decline

A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Rush Medical College and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School has found a link between the use of antibiotics by middle-aged women and cognitive decline later in life. The group has published a paper describing their work on the open-access site PLOS ONE.

Prior research has suggested that there is a connection between gut microbiome health and mental healthcommunication between the gut and the central nervous system has been labeled the gut-brain axis. And some studies have shown an apparent link between problems in the gut and mental diseases, such as depression and schizophrenia. Prior research has also shown that antibiotics use can lead to serious disruptions in the microbiome. This is not surprising, since the microbiome is made up partly of bacteria. In this new effort, the researchers found a link between antibiotics use by women during middle age and a larger than normal degree of cognitive decline.

The researchers found that the nurses who had taken antibiotics for at least two months scored lower on the cognitive tests than the nurses who had taken antibiotics for a shorter period of time, or not at all. The researchers suggest the decline was approximately equivalent to three to four years of aging.

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How Can You Take Them Safely

Be safe with medicine. Take your antibiotics as directed. Do not stop taking them just because you feel better. You need to take the full course of medicine. This will help make sure your infection is cured. It will also help prevent the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Always take the exact amount that the label says to take. If the label says to take the medicine at a certain time, follow those directions.

You might feel better after you take an antibiotic for a few days. But it is important to keep taking it for as long as prescribed. That will help you get rid of those bacteria that are a bit stronger and that survive the first few days of treatment.

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Antibiotics And Gut Microbiota

Scientists already know that the use of antibiotics is linked to changes in gut microbiota, which is the name given to the microorganisms that reside in our digestive tract.

Previously, Medical News Today have reported that a single course of antibiotics can disrupt the gut microbiome for a year. The authors of that study which was published in the journal mBio concluded that antibiotics should only be used when really, really necessary.

In their paper, they write that even a single antibiotic treatment in a healthy person contributes to antibiotic resistance and long-lasting adverse effects in the gut microbiome.

Gut microbiota alterations have been associated with a variety of life-threatening disorders, such as cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer, says new study co-author Lu Qi, a professor of epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA.

Antibiotic exposure affects balance and composition of the gut microbiome, even after one stops taking antibiotics so, it is important to better understand how taking antibiotics might impact risks for chronic diseases and death.

Prof. Lu Qi

How Do You Get Bv

Researchers are still studying how women get BV. You can get BV without having sex, but BV is more common in women who are sexually active. Having a new sex partner or multiple sex partners, as well as douching, can upset the balance of good and harmful bacteria in your vagina. This raises your risk of getting BV.1

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Study Weighs Heart Danger Of Antibiotics For Older Women

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 22, 2018 — New research finds that, for women over 60, there’s a link between long-term use of antibiotics and heightened odds for heart-linked death.

But the study of more than 37,000 U.S. women couldn’t prove that the bacteria-fighting meds were the cause of the troubling trend, or whether the culprits were the illnesses the antibiotics were intended to fight.

“It isn’t yet clear whether long-term antibiotic use is the specific cause of the association — for example, women who reported antibiotic use might be sicker in other unmeasured ways,” said lead researcher Dr. Lu Qi, a professor of epidemiology at Tulane University in New Orleans.

The study of women age 60 or older found those who took antibiotics for at least two months were 27 percent more likely to die from all causes over a period of eight years, and they had a 58 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease, specifically.

This was true even after the researchers considered other traditional risk factors, such as diet, obesity and the use of other medications.

But did the antibiotics themselves hike the risk?

It’s possible, Qi’s group said, because prior studies have shown that antibiotics can lead to chronic changes in the composition of bacteria living in the human gut, or “microbiota.”

However, two heart specialists were leery of casting the blame on antibiotics.

Bond said that it’s therefore “not surprising” that women who are sicker might also have frailer hearts.

Treatment Of Infections Of The Uterus After Delivery

• Antibiotics given intravenously

If the uterus is infected, women are usually given antibiotics by vein until they have had no fever for at least 48 hours. Afterward, most women do not need to take antibiotics by mouth.

Before a cesarean delivery, doctors may give women antibiotics shortly before surgery. Such treatment can help prevent infections of the uterus and the areas around it.

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Diagnosis Of Common Vaginal Infections

Your doctor or nurse will ask you about your symptoms and medical history. Sometimes this is enough to understand what the problem is. They may also ask to examine your genital area. Youll need to give your consent before a doctor or nurse can examine you. They will also offer you a chaperone .

In an examination, the doctor or nurse will first look at your vulva . Theyll then use an instrument called a speculum to gently open your vagina, allowing them to look and examine inside. They may take a sample of discharge or cells from your vagina using a small, round cotton bud called a swab. These samples are sent to a laboratory for testing.

Your nurse or doctor may also ask to take a urine sample, to check whether youre pregnant, or to rule out a urinary tract infection.

When Are Antibiotics Prescribed

Its not necessary to take antibiotics any time you have an illness. Antibiotics are most effective in treating certain bacterial infections, such as:

• Urinary tract infections: Bacterial infections of the bladder and kidney
• Strep throat: A bacterial infection of the throat by Group A Streptococcus pyogenes
• Whooping cough: An infection by the Bordetella pertussis bacteria that can be prevented by vaccine
• Some sexually transmitted infections : Including gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis
• Some cases of pneumonia: An infection of the lungs that may be bacterial, including by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae
• : A whole-body reaction to a bloodstream infection

Some infections may be caused either by bacteria or by a virus. Your healthcare provider will be able to determine whether you have a viral or bacterial infection and prescribe antibiotics accordingly. They may also prescribe antibiotics if your infection seems to be getting worse or spreading.

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Fetal Effect Of Antibiotics

The fetal risks of antibiotic use are governed by the mechanism of action of the antibiotic the pharmacokinetics of the antibiotic, including the intensity, frequency, and duration of therapy and concurrent high-risk maternal/fetal conditions. Maternal-to-fetal transfer of antibiotics has been poorly studied because of the reluctance of pharmaceutical companies to solicit the Food and Drug Administration for approval for use during pregnancy and the hesitation of institutional review boards for the protection of human subjects to approve phase 1 pharmacokinetics studies in pregnant women. The aggressive climate for litigation and the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcome independent of any medication make the cost prohibitive for pharmaceutical companies, especially when physicians freely use medications for the appropriate indication with an unapproved use . Few drugs of any type are approved by the FDA for use during pregnancy.

Animal studies are limited in their ability to predict fetal risk.27 The concordance rate for known human teratogens is as follows: mouse, 85% rat, 80% rabbit, 60% hamster, 45% monkey, 30% two or more species, 80%. The likelihood that at least one other species is susceptible to the teratogen is 97%. The concordance rate for human nonteratogens is as follows: mouse, 35% rat, 50% rabbit, 70% hamster, 35% monkey, 80% two or more species, 50% and all species, 28%.

When Taking An Antibiotic

It is important to take antibiotics in the correct way. If you do not, this may reduce how well they work. For example, some antibiotics need to be taken with food and others should be taken on an empty stomach. If you do not take your antibiotics in the right way it will affect how much of them get into your body and therefore they may not work as well. So, follow the instructions as given by your doctor and on the leaflet that comes with the antibiotic you are prescribed.

Always take the entire course of antibiotics as directed by your doctor. Even though you may feel better before your medicine is entirely gone, follow through and take the entire course. This is important for your healing. If an antibiotic is stopped in mid-course, germs may be partially treated and not completely killed. Bacteria may then become resistant to that antibiotic.

Overuse of antibiotics has led to some bacteria changing their form or structure and becoming resistant to some antibiotics, which may then not work when really needed. For example, meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium that has become resistant to many different antibiotics and is difficult to treat. Other bacteria produce chemicals called enzymes such as extended-spectrum beta-lactamases which allow them to be resistant to certain antibiotics.

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Q& a: Midlife Antibiotic Use In Women Linked To Cognitive Decline

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Women who reported at least 2 months of antibiotic exposure in midlife experienced small decreases in cognition, which may be due to changes in the gut microbiome, data published in PLoS One showed.

Researchers conducted a population-based cohort study among women nurses who reported lifestyle, medications and health-related factors in the Nurses Health Study II starting in 1989. In 2009, participants reported their antibiotic use over the past 4 years, which was considered their midlife antibiotic use. Then, between 2014 and 2018, participants self-administered the CogState neuropsychological battery. The results were used to assess cognitive decline in 14,542 women.

Compared with women who reported no antibiotic use, those who used antibiotics for at least 2 months had mean CogState scores that were lower for global cognition, for psychomotor speed and attention and for learning and working memory.

Given the profound effect of antibiotic use on the gut microbiome with prior studies showing alterations in functional potential at 2 and 4 years after antibiotic exposure the gut-brain axis could be a possible mechanism for linking antibiotics to cognitive function, the researchers wrote.

Healio: Why did you conduct this study?Were any of your findings surprising?

Healio: What is the take-home message?

Reference:

Other Tips For Prevention

Follow these tips to reduce your risk of developing a yeast infection, regardless of whether youre taking antibiotics:

• Change out of wet bathing suits and underwear as soon as possible. Yeast thrives in moist environments.
• Avoid hot tubs and very hot baths. The only thing yeast loves more than a moist environment is a warm one.
• Wear loose-fitting clothing. While theres no clear link between tight clothing and yeast infections, tight pants can increase heat and moisture around your vulva.
• Wear breathable, cotton underwear. Cotton underwear can help keep things cool and dry down there.
• Never douche.Douching removes healthy bacteria.
• Avoid vaginal deodorant products. This includes sprays, powders, and scented pads and tampons.
• If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar under control.High blood sugar levels encourage yeast growth.

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Antibiotics In The Breastfeeding Mother

Most medications taken by the mother appear in breast milk, but the calculated dose consumed by the breastfeeding infant ranges from 0.001% to 5% of the standard therapeutic doses tolerated by infants without toxicity.chloramphenicol, phenylbutazone, atropine, and the ergot alkaloids.

When the literature does not reveal the concentration of an antibiotic in breast milk, an approximation can be derived.29,30 First, the apparent volume in which the antibiotic is distributed is calculated as Vd = , where Vd is the apparent volume of distribution , dose is the quantity administered to the mother, and Cp0 is the antibiotic concentration in the plasma at time 0. Cp0 is a derived value reflecting the concentration in maternal plasma, if instantaneous distribution of the antibiotic had taken place before metabolism and elimination from the body it is the plasma concentration predicted from extrapolation of the elimination phase to time 0. The Cp0 is available for most drugs given to nonpregnant patients. In the first 2 to 3 weeks postpartum, the literature values for Cp0 may be unreliable because of differences in the physiology of postpartum womengreater blood volume, decreased serum albumin, and increased renal clearance.

Given the complexities of antibiotic transfer to breast milk, neonatal tolerance, and the lack of data regarding specific antibiotics, the following guidelines are helpful:

CBweightvolume of milk