The Side Effects And Prolonged Use Of Antibiotics

Side effects

• Allergies may develop with the use of antibiotics, frequently with penicillin.
• Side effects from antibiotics can include diarrhea, lightheadness, headaches, cramp, vomiting and stomach discomfort. Consult your physician if these side effects persist or become serious.
• Taking the antibiotic erythromycin (primarily used to treat bacteria infections e.g. bronchitis, Legionnaires’ disease, pneumonia, rheumatic fever and venereal disease) with Liptor, a statin drug shown to lower cholesterol can cause muscle damage. Check with your physician before combining these 2 drugs.
• Antibiotics can destroy the beneficial flora (needed for digestion and protection against infection) in the gut.
• Antibiotic therapy can weaken the immune system, simply because it suppresses the body’s natural defense system against illness.
• In a study of more than 10,000 women in Washington state, researchers found that the use of all forms of antibiotics for more than 500 days or those had more than 25 prescriptions in the course of a 17-year period more than doubled their chance of developing breast cancer compared with women who had not taken any antibiotics. The fewer the days on antibiotics resulted in a smaller risk. But researchers caution that the findings do not mean antibiotics cause breast cancer. Rather, the results indicate there is an association between the two. More research is needed. Antibiotics could increase the risk for breast cancer by, e.g. affecting bacteria in the digestive system in ways that interfere with the way the body uses foods that protect against cancer. Another possibility is that antibiotics increase the risk by affecting the immune system.
  Source : Christine Velicer et al “Antibiotic Use in Relation to the Risk of Breast Cancer” Journal of the American Medical Association (2004) 291:827-835

Prolonged use

• A deficiency in vitamin K can occur.
• A reduction of the manufacture of biotin in the intestines.
• Cause people to be light-sensitive. Examples of such antibiotics : doxycycline, ciproflaxacin and ofloxacin.

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