Antibiotics Put 142,000 Into Emergency Rooms Each Year U.S. Centers for Disease

[Guest guest]

Poster's Comment: But there however are several very effective substances

that are very effective antibiotics , but if taken correctly do not have the

side-effects of drugs. Plus several are handy for they are also anti-fungals

which is good when the diagnoses is incorrect and the problem is in truth a

fungus - this is so often such a problem in my experiance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, October 13, 2008

Antibiotics Put 142,000 Into Emergency Rooms Each Year

U.S. Centers for Disease Control Waits 60 Years to Study the Problem

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n14.shtml_

(http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v04n14.shtml)

(OMNS, October 13, 2008) The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has just

released " the first report ever done on adverse reactions to antibiotics in

the United States " on 13 Aug, 2008. (1) This is " the first report ever " ? How is

that possible? Antibiotics have been widely used since the 1940s. It is

astounding that it has taken CDC so long to seriously study the side effects of

these drugs. It is now apparent that there have been decades of an undeserved

presumption of safety.

Antibiotics can put you in the emergency room. Common antibiotics, the ones

most frequently prescribed and regarded as safest, cause for nearly half of

emergencies due to antibiotics. And, incredibly enough, people in the prime of

life - not babies - are especially at risk. The study authors reported that

" Persons aged 15-44 years accounted for an estimated 41.2 percent of

emergency department visits. Infants accounted for only an estimated 6.3

percent of

ED visits. " They also found that nearly 80% of antibiotic-caused " adverse

events " were allergic reactions. Overdoses and mistakes, by patients and by

physicians, make up the rest.

Allergic reactions to antibiotics may be very serious, including

life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Searching the US National Library of

Medicine's

" Medline " database (2) for " antibiotic allergic reaction " will bring up over

9,700 mentions in scientific papers. A search for " antibiotic anaphylactic

shock " brings up over 1,100. Many papers on this severe danger were actually

published before 1960. (3) Given this amount of accumulated information, one

might

wonder why CDC took so long to seriously study the problem.

Overuse of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance. At its website, CDC

currently states that antibiotic resistance " can cause significant danger and

suffering for people who have common infections that once were easily

treatable with antibiotics. . . Some resistant infections can cause death. " (4)

In the USA alone, " over 3 million pounds of antibiotics are used every year

on humans . . . enough to give every man, woman and child 10 teaspoons of

pure antibiotics per year, " write Null, Dean, Feldman, and Rasio. (5) " Almost

half of patients with upper respiratory tract infections in the U.S. still

receive antibiotics from their doctor " even though " the CDC warns that 90% of

upper respiratory infections, including children's ear infections, are viral,

and antibiotics don't treat viral infection. More than 40% of about 50 million

prescriptions for antibiotics each year in physicians' offices were

inappropriate. "

Additionally, every year, a staggering 25 million pounds of antibiotics are

administered to farm animals, most given in an attempt to prevent illness.

Seepage from feedlots results in low concentrations of antibiotics in our

waterways and food. This increases human antibiotic resistance. (6)

Antibiotic resistance and antibiotic allergic reactions continue to be major

public health problems. Both dangers are directly related to the huge amount

of antibiotics we consume. One immediate way to decrease the incidence of

side effects from antibiotics is to use antibiotics less often. Reducing use

" by even a small percentage could significantly reduce the immediate and direct

risks of drug-related adverse events, " the CDC study authors said.

Alternative, non-drug treatments can also be an answer. Robert F. Cathcart,

M.D., observed that high doses of vitamin C substantially reduce the dosage

of antibiotics needed to treat patients. Vitamin C also specifically counters

allergic reactions. Dr. Cathcart, a practicing allergist with decades of

experience, said: " Patients seemed not to develop their first allergic reaction

to penicillin when they had taken bowel tolerance vitamin C for several doses.

Among the several thousand patients given penicillin, two cases of brief

rash were seen in patients who had taken their first dose of penicillin along

with their first dose of vitamin C . . . Many patients find the effect of

ascorbate more satisfactory than immunizations or antihistamines and

decongestants. " (7)

Back in the 1950s, physicians such as William J. McCormick, M.D., (8) and

Frederick Robert Klenner, M.D., (9) found that very high doses of vitamin C can

be safely and effectively used, by itself, as an antibiotic as well as an

antiviral and antihistamine. Dr. McCormick wrote that vitamin C is known to

" contribute to the development of antibodies and the neutralization of toxins

in

the building of natural immunity to infectious diseases. There is a very

potent chemotherapeutic action of ascorbic acid when given in massive repeated

doses, 500 to 1,000 mg (hourly), preferably intravenously or intramuscularly.

When thus administered the effect in acute infectious processes is favorably

comparable to that of the sulfonamides or the mycelial antibiotics, but with

the great advantage of complete freedom from toxic or allergic reactions. "

(10)

Using more vitamin C means needing fewer antibiotics. Using vitamin C along

with antibiotics reduces their side effects. Orthomolecular (nutritional)

physicians have been reporting this for years. (11)

The CDC has a long and lamentable history of ignoring dangerous antibiotic

side effects. And still today, CDC demonstrates a striking disinterest in

nutritional alternatives to drugs. At their website, there is not a single word

about the value of vitamin C in reducing the need for antibiotics, or for

reducing antibiotic side effects.

A cynic might speculate that drug companies have heavy influence at the US

Centers for Disease Control.

Whatever the reason, patients are the losers.

References:

(1) Shehab N, Patel PR, Srinivasan A, Budnitz DS. Emergency department

visits for antibiotic-associated adverse events. Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Sep

15;47(6):735-43.

 

(2) _http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.nc\

bi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez)

 

 

(3) Some examples include:

Arrigo G, D'Angelo A. Achromycin and anaphylactic shock. Riv Patol Clin.

1959 Oct;14:719-22.

Harvey HP, Solomon HJ. Acute anaphylactic shock due to para-aminosalicylic

acid. Am Rev Tuberc. 1958 Mar;77(3):492-5.

Lythcott GI. Anaphylaxis to viomycin. Am Rev Tuberc. 1957 Jan;75(1):135-8.

Farber JE, Ross J, Stephens G. Antibiotic anaphylaxis. Calif Med. 1954

Jul;81(1):9-11.

Farber JE, Ross J. Antibiotic anaphylaxis; a note on the treatment and

prevention of severe reactions to penicillin, streptomycin and

dihydrostreptomycin. Med Times. 1952 Jan;80(1):28-30.

Patterson DB. Anaphylactic shock from chloromycetin. Northwest Med. 1950

May;49(5):352-3.

 

(4) _http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/community/_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.cd\

c.gov/drugresistance/comm

unity/) Accessed September 22, 2008.

 

(5) Null G, Dean C, Feldman M, Rasio D. Death by medicine. Journal of

Orthomolecular Medicine, 2005. Vol 20, No 1, p 21-34.

_http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/2005/pdf/2005-v20n01-p021.pdf_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://orthom\

olecular.org/library/jom/2005/pdf/20

05-v20n01-p021.pdf) Also at _http://www.doctoryourself.com/deathmed.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do

ctoryourself.com/deathmed.html) See also: Rabin R. Caution about overuse of

antibiotics. Newsday. Sept. 18, 2003.

 

(6) Egger WA. Antibiotic resistance: unnatural selection in the office and

on the farm. Wisconson Medical Journal. Aug. 2002.

 

(7) Cathcart RF. Vitamin C, titration to bowel tolerance, anascorbemia, and

acute induced scurvy. Medical Hypothesis, 1981. 7:1359-1376.

_http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.or\

thomed.com/titrate.htm) or

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctoryourself.com/titration.html)

 

(8) Saul AW. The pioneering work of William J. McCormick, M.D. J

Orthomolecular Med, 2003. Vol 18, No 2, p 93-96.

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/mccormick.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctoryourself.com/mccormick.html)

 

(9) Klenner FR. The use of vitamin C as an antibiotic. Journal of Applied

Nutrition, 1953. 6:274-278.

_http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/195x/klenner-fr-j_appl_nutr-1953-v6-p274\

..htm_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.se\

anet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/195x/klenner-fr-

j_appl_nutr-1953-v6-p274.htm) and _http://whale.to/v/c/klenner1.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://whale.\

to/v

/c/klenner1.html)

 

(10) McCormick WJ. Ascorbic acid as a chemotherapeutic agent. Archives of

Pediatrics NY, 1952. Vol. 69, No. 4, April, p 151-155.

_http://www.doctoryourself.com/mccormick1951.html_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.do\

ctoryourself.com/mccormick1951.html)

 

(11) Read full text, peer-reviewed nutritional research papers, free of

charge: _http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://orthom\

olecular.org/library/jom)

For more information:

 

Dr. F. R. Klenner's work, summarized as " The Clinical Guide to the Use of

Vitamin C, " is posted in its entirety at

_http://www.seanet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.se\

anet.com/~alexs/ascorbate/198x/smith

-lh-clinical_guide_1988.htm)

 

The complete text of Irwin Stone's book on high-dose vitamin C therapy, " The

Healing Factor, " is posted for free reading at

_http://vitamincfoundation.org/stone/_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://vitami\

ncfoundation.org/stone/) ()

Nutritional Medicine is Orthomolecular Medicine

Orthomolecular medicine uses safe, effective nutritional therapy to fight

illness. For more information: _http://www.orthomolecular.org_

(http://www.orthomolecular.org/12all/lt/t_go.php?i=95 & e=MjY2MDA= & l=http://www.or\

thomolecular.org

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