Posted on 08/19/2009 12:47:49 AM PDT by neverdem
People are less likely to get antibiotics for respiratory infections
Since the mid-1990s, doctors have written fewer antibiotic prescriptions per year for respiratory infections, a new survey shows.
The drop in these prescriptions in the United States per thousand people from 1995 to 2006 is 36 percent in children under age 5 and 18 percent among persons age 5 and up, researchers report in the Aug. 19 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Many respiratory infections do not typically require antibiotics, including influenza, viral pneumonia, bronchitis, laryngitis, common colds and other infections caused by viruses. Infections more deserving of antibiotics include middle ear infections, sinus infections, tonsillitis and nonviral pneumonia...
But the decline in prescriptions also shows that doctors are concerned about bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, Griffin says.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencenews.org ...
Conclusions Overall antibiotic prescription rates for ARTI decreased, associated with fewer OM visits in children younger than 5 years and with fewer prescriptions for ARTI for which antibiotics are rarely indicated. However, prescription rates for broad-spectrum antibiotics increased significantly.
Go figure — VIRAL infections don’t respond to antibiotics. Who knew?!?
this is true
Overuse of antibiotics is a big issue in health care. I know a lot of people who get them at a drop of the hat.
Generally I always wind up on an antibiotic anyway when I get a virus. I try the over the counter treatments first, but it ends up going into a sinus infection, and it simply doesn’t clear up, so the doctors eventually put me on an antibiotic.
The real reason is that the doctors just want to remove people’s tonsil so they will earn a fee.
I avoid doctors so thoroughly as to lack even a close social acquaintance with one, but recently heard something from a friend with a relative in the medical profession: doctors are finding it more difficult to obtain antibiotics, and must keep detailed records that justify what they prescribe and track the quantities they prescribe. Some kind of oversight has gotten much more strict?
Don’t know if it’s true, just putting it out here for examination by the better informed.
Got it in one. After you've had enough colds/flu/sinus infections, you can probably recognize which symptoms mean what for your particular body better than the doc. My wife is like you, she gets sinus infections at the drop of a hat, and the sooner she gets on antibiotics, the better.
I would never have expected that!
I had an infected tooth due to a filling which came lose, without my knowledge - it was incredibly painful - and had to practically beg my dentist for an Amoxocillin script. Why is that? I almost drove myself to the ER.
My dentist does not give out any Vicodin, etc. to ANY patient under ANY circumstances. Isn’t that a bit odd? His answer is to take Tylenol or Advil for any kind of tooth pain.
May have to switch dentists.
That’s BS.
This was a tooth that needed a root canal, and he knew it back in April, yet refused to prescribe anything besides an anti-biotic.
The soonest I could get in for the root canal was a week ago. That’s why I almost drove myself to the ER two weekends ago.
It wasn’t a simple toothache, it was the most godawful pain in a tooth one could ever imagine. Once he killed the nerve, I got instant relief.
Dentists should differentiate between toothaches and teeth which are infected and need root canals. It’s malpractice otherwise, IMO.
Needless suffering persists otherwise, especially since I’m a slave to their scheduling/availability timetable.
Pain is a completely subjective experience. There is no test for it. Drug seekers can be very convincing in their drama. I’ve been taken many many times. I’d be happier if people could just go to the pharmacy and buy what they want, without an RX. If they want it that bad they will get it, one way or another.
By the way it’s not just dentists. My daughters neurologist has a sign in his office stating he will not prescribe narcotics for headaches. He specializes in migraine.
I used to get several sinus infections every year and then I started having allergic reactions to the antibiotics I took to clear them up. This little pot and fixed it for me.
Four times a day if you have a cold or infection and once a day to prevent one.
If your daughter is struggling with bad migraines, there is a med called Esgic which is very good at eliminating migraine pain. It's not very well known, so I thought I'd throw that out there if she's having bad migraines and striking out in terms of finding relief.
See post #16.
My wife uses the more modern version of the “Neti pot” twice a day (kind of like a Waterpik, but for nasal use).
http://www.hydromedonline.com/hp.html?referrer=google_hma2&gclid=CI6qsvfwr5wCFSNQagodQgxiXQ
It helps a lot with most allergy-induced “pre-sinus infection” conditions, but is less helpful for virus-induced inflammation. She adds a teaspoon or so of hydrogen peroxide to the saline solution used for flushing.
Since I had my genetically-malformed sinus surgically “roto-rootered”, I very rarely have sinus infections any more, and virtually always with a “virus inflammation” precursor.
My husband uses a different version, a plastic squirt bottle and I don't think it is as good but he seems to like it.
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