 NewsUSA) – If you stop taking antibiotics as soon as symptoms end, the drugs potentially won’t have the opportunity to kill every bacterium. Soon, you’ll develop another infection — only this time, you’ll need stronger antibiotics to stop it.
Patient noncompliance — that is, taking medications incorrectly — is the number-one reason that antibiotics fail. Worse, misusing antibiotics helps create bacteria that resist treatment. Even patients with good intentions can become noncompliant. In a 2009 study from Spain’s University Rovira i Virgili, only 55.1 percent of the patients taking antibiotics thrice daily finished at least 80 percent of their medication, mostly because they forgot their afternoon dose. In the study, patients taking antibiotics once a day showed a higher compliance rate at 86.7 percent. To help yourself out, ask your doctor about once-a-day dosages. For example, while most strep treatments call for twice-daily or thrice-daily antibiotics, the FDA has approved a once-daily antibiotic for the treatment of strep throat called Moxatag. Moxatag employs a “pulse” delivery system — the tablet slowly releases amoxicillin, a drug in the penicillin family, as it travels through the digestive system. This technology allows the antibiotic to effectively kill strep throat bacteria with once-daily dosing whereas, other penicillin family regimens require multiple doses per day. You can also avoid antibiotic resistance by making sure that you need antibiotics. Strep throat can only be diagnosed through a test -; if the test comes back negative, you don’t need antibiotics. Also, you shouldn’t ask your doctor for newer or stronger drugs. Penicillin-class antibiotics, like amoxicillin, are the best first line of treatment for strep throat — and there are no known cases of resistance to these antibiotics. Strep has been known, however, to resist stronger classes of antibiotics. For more information, visit www.moxatag.com. Important Safety Information MOXATAG is contraindicated in patients with known serious hypersensitivity to amoxicillin or to other drugs in the same class or patients who have demonstrated anaphylactic reactions to betalactams. Serious and occasionally fatal hypersensitivity (anaphylactic) reactions have been reported in patients on penicillin therapy. If an allergic reaction occurs, MOXATAG should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted. Clostridium Difficile Associated Diarrhea (CDAD) has been reported with nearly all antibacterial agents, including amoxicillin, and may range in severity from mild diarrhea to fatal colitis. If CDAD is suspected or confirmed, MOXATAG should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted. The possibility of superinfections with mycotic or bacterial pathogens should be kept in mind during therapy. If superinfections occur, MOXATAG should be discontinued and appropriate therapy instituted. The most common drug-related adverse reactions associated with MOXATAG observed in clinical studies are vulvovaginal mycotic infection (2.0%), diarrhea (1.7%), nausea (1.3%), vomiting (0.7%) and headache (1.0%). MOXATAG is approved for patients ages 12 and over. MOXATAG is a registered trademark of MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. See www.moxatag.com for additional safety information on the safety of Moxatag. This article is sponsored by MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
Antibiotic Compliance: A Bitter Pill to Swallow
Seeking Personal Enrichment Abroad
 NewsUSA) – No longer content with tanning on a tropical beach with some easy reading, many Americans are seeking enrichment in their travels. After all, you can read a book at home, but scuba diving, taking authentic French cooking classes or visiting ancient temples requires some traveling.
Americans find unique ways to authenticate their experiences abroad. Some travel with charities that offer volunteer opportunities. “Voluntourism” allows vacationers to experience their destination at the ground level, while also helping local communities. Others seek opportunities to enhance their knowledge or gain new skills. For example, a person traveling to Spain might enroll in a full-immersion Spanish class or take cooking lessons, allowing them to return home with foreign language skills and the ability to cook a mean paella. Travelers can find trips to suit any interest, from learning to rate wines in the French Riviera to participating in archeological digs. Some charities offer vacation packages that raise awareness for their causes. For example, Bread and Water for Africa (www.africanrelief.org), a nonprofit that supports grassroots efforts for community self-sufficiency, health and education, offers a Kenyan Safari and Program Tour. In addition to traditional activities like game drives and village tours, the package includes a visit to the Lewa Children’s Home, an orphanage that provides food, clean water, clothing, shelter, health care and counseling to children who have been neglected, abandoned or orphaned. Travelers, in interacting with the home’s staff and children, see exactly how Bread and Water for Africa’s work benefits communities. Another charity, Running Strong for American Indian Youth (www.indianyouth.org), has run a similar tour every September for the past 20 years that takes participants to Indian reservations in South Dakota. Over the course of a week, visitors not only experience Lakota culture first-hand, but also see how Running Strong’s programs improve reservation life. |
Can America Survive A Nationwide Terrorist Attack?
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(NU) – What would happen if loyalists of Saddam Hussein bombed 12 major U.S. cities one week before the presidential election, thrusting the nation and the election into chaos?
Sound familiar? A similar scenario recently took place in Spain and could happen to other European and Asian countries that assisted America in the controversial war in Iraq and who have Americans living in or visiting them. Many people, including political pundits, believe that more large-scale terrorism will come to American soil and the American people. The broadcast threat by Al-Zawahiri, leader of Al-Queda, that bomb after bomb will soon fall on America has the majority of U.S. citizens frantic with worry. Indeed, terrorism has become one of the world’s greatest fears and concerns. “New splinter terrorist groups are organizing everyday who want to kill Americans around the world, making our safety questionable for generations to come,” said Bruce Schwartz, author of “The Twenty-First Century” (Park Avenue Press, ISBN # 0-9729076-0-2). His new novel tells the story of America in the early years of the 21st century but was written in the 1990s, before the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Schwartz’s book warns America about the potential for a nationwide terrorist attack. His story details the destruction of 12 U.S. cities by Iraqi terrorists just days before a presidential election and results in America’s second civil war. But Schwartz’s version of civil war is not between regions; it is between classes and races. “In the 1990s, hundreds of black churches were burned to the ground. Prejudice is rampant, even today, in America,” Schwartz said. The book’s release during this presidential election year will provoke many controversial discussions on where our nation is headed when it comes to foreign policy, race relations, terrorism and politics. Schwartz portrays the near future as if it were the headlines of today’s news. Planned Television Arts, Schwartz’s publicists, believe that right now is the perfect time to release this novel because his story could potentially become reality right before our eyes. This chillingly prophetic novel has received rave reviews because it suggests what America must do to improve our society. “The Twenty-First Century” is available at www.thetwentyfirstcentury.com and all major bookstores. |
