Antibiotics are powerful drugs intended to fight against bacterial infections and inhibit the growth of bacteria or keep bacteria from reproducing. Antibiotics belong to a large group of "antimicrobial medications", including anti-parasitic, anti-viral, and anti-fungal drugs. In proper treatment, antibiotics can save human lives.
Antibiotics are used in treatment of infectious diseases caused by microorganisms, including fungus.
The term "antibiotic" means "against life" in Greek language. It was first used by Paul Vuillemin in description of pyocyanin in 1889. Pyocyanin was the first drug capable to inhibit the growth of bacteria. It was not approved to be used in disease therapy, but in several decades of thorough working over, in 1942, a famous professor Selman Waksman, together with his students and associates, isolated a number of new antibiotics, chemical products that inhibited the growth of other microorganisms. The discovery of antibiotics was a revolution in medicine.
Antibiotics are grouped into natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic medications. Antibiotics are divided into two wide groups depending on their affecting microorganisms: one is bactericidal agents, and the other is bacteriostatic agents. Antibiotics may be grouped based on route of administration.
Antibiotics are the most frequently indicated drugs. In general, more than one hundred different antibiotics are known at the drug market. They are intended to treat life-threatening infections.
Antibiotics Side Effects
Antibiotics may cause serious adverse reactions. Side effects may be experienced as headache, diarrhea, caused by the antibiotic-induced disrupting of the intestinal flora balance, in rare cases formation of kidney stones, abnormal blood clotting. Antibiotics are considered to be safe medications, but sometimes they may lead to adverse effects. The interaction of antibiotics with other prescription drugs may also cause serious reactions. Over-the-counter medications might clash with antibiotics.
Misuse of Antibiotics
The most common form of antibiotic misuse is their use for viral infections like flu. Another one is when a patient fails to undergo the entire indicated course of the antibiotic treatment because he feels better, but the infection is not completely cured yet. Pretty often the patients forget to take into account the body weight. Sometimes the patient does not inform his doctor about prior antibiotic use, but it is very important, because it really affects the antibiotic efficacy. Failure to follow the prescribed dose schedule for antibiotic taking is the other common mistake. Some antibiotics are not recommended to be consumed with certain drinks, other are recommended to be taken on an empty stomach.
Alcohol is strictly prohibited during antibiotics treatment. It may seriously affect the antibiotics activity or even lead to serious side effects, such as nausea, vomit, and shallow breathing.