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Antibiotics for a Cold Should be Better Controlled

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A close acquaintance that went to a Doc with clear symptoms of a common cold got treated with antibiotics recently which prompted this missive. They had taken the antibiotics for four days without any relief. SURPRISE! SURPRISE! In one huge recent study, of almost 200,000 patients with colds, about half were given unnecessary antibiotics.

The cost of the appointment and antibiotics were certainly a waste! Antibiotics can control bacteria and yeasts, not viruses. The reasons for not prescribing are much more important than money. The dreaded bacterial resistance to antibiotics results from overprescribing because bacteria in our bodies adapt by becoming resistant and when these outlaw bugs do cause infections they do not respond to the normal medicines. This can allow people with resistant strains to infect others in hospitals and even doctor’s offices with potentially fatal bugs.

Revisiting the When to Take Meds: Obey Your Body’s’ Cadence or Else

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Dr. Oz’s pronouncements that I usually pay attention to for amusement has an article in this month’s Parade Magazine that is right on. The following is what I think about timing meds.

“Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect between what’s taught to doctors and what we know from chronotherapy research [when to take meds],” says circadian biologist Georgios Paschos of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.1 “Except for a few conditions, clinical medicine hasn’t yet caught up with our findings.” Nevertheless, he predicts, this will change in the next decade or two. I propose to catch you up right now concerning the best way to organize your medical treatments.

Stop Putting Unintentional Stuff in Your Body: It can Kill You.

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We have two major gateways into our body: our mouths and our airways. There are two more, your skin if lacerated and your rectum. You may think me punctilious for giving you the following info but it is important for you to take this as gospel!

I regularly see people putting their hands on the tops of drinking utensils which means that a small portion of what is on their hands will enter the person’s body doing the drinking ─ Egad! If you must touch the utensil’s top drink from the opposite side is good advice. If at a restaurant and the server handles the utensils in a careless manner by touching something you will put in your mouth ask that it be replaced. When working out at the gym use sanitizing solution or wipes just after you finish.