Antibiotic
Useless for Acute Bronchitis
The
Lancet May 11, 2002;359:1648-1654
Patients
suffering from bronchitis who were given a widely prescribed
antibiotic did no better than patients who took a low dose
of vitamin C, which is known to be ineffective in treating
bronchitis.
Antibiotics
don't work for acute bronchitis. Now we have strong evidence
saying that it shouldn't be used for this purpose.
The
researchers hoped to test the effectiveness of antibiotics
for patients with acute bronchitis. Physicians commonly prescribe
antibiotics to treat this condition, but prior studies of whether
antibiotics help patients with bronchitis have had mixed results.
At
random, the researchers gave 220 patients with acute bronchitis
either the antibiotic Zithromax or a dummy pill of low-dose
vitamin C, which has been shown to have no effect on bronchitis.
The patients were also given standard therapy for bronchitis,
including cough syrup and an albuterol inhaler to ease their
cough.
The
investigators measured whether the patients given the antibiotic
showed improvements in their quality of life, such as being
able to return to normal activities after a week.
Researchers
found that after 7 days, the patients given the antibiotic
and those given vitamin C did not differ significantly in their
physical improvement and the timing of their return to regular
activity.
The
patients receiving the antibiotic showed only a slight improvement
in coughing and daily activities by the third day of treatment,
but those differences disappeared by the seventh day. The authors
conclude that antibiotics appear to provide only "transient
benefit of little clinical significance," while increasing
the risk of side effects and microbial resistance to the medication.
The
findings shift the burden of proof to proponents of antibiotics
to demonstrate why these drugs should be used in acute bronchitis,
the researchers note. In the meantime doctors should not routinely
prescribe antibiotics for bronchitis.
If
the condition changes and there's suspicion of pneumonia, the
patient should be reassessed. Sometimes pneumonia is misdiagnosed
as acute bronchitis.
The
Lancet May 11, 2002;359:1648-1654
Anyone
reading this will know that antibiotics are frequently abused
and overused and result in many avoidable complications. Fortunately
more people are recognizing that they are not always the miracle
drug unless they are needed. Normally, very high fevers over
102 and coughing up green, not yellow-green, sputum or mucus,
is a good clue that you would benefit from them. If one does
need an antibiotic, the Zithromax used in the study is my absolute
favorite as it is kills so many pathogens and normally is only
required for five days. The once a day dosing really improves
compliance. I have been regularly impressed though with the
ability of hydrogen peroxide to provide amazingly consistent
results in these types of circumstances. It is dirt cheap and
non-toxic which are two great things going for it. It is certainly
something worth trying in addition to the life-style measures
of water as your only fluid, avoidance of all sugar, plenty
of rest, and refined abilities to tolerate stress.
DR.
MERCOLA
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