(Press-News.org) CORVALLIS, Ore. – As a result of concerns about antibiotic resistance, doctors in the United States are increasingly prescribing newer, more costly and more powerful antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections, one of the most common illnesses in women.
New research at Oregon State University suggests that the more powerful medications are used more frequently than necessary, and they recommend that doctors and patients discuss the issues involved with antibiotic therapy – and only use the stronger drugs if really neeeded.
Urinary tract infections are some of the most commonly treated infections in outpatient settings, with cystitis being the most common type. Cystitis is usually caused by E. coli bacteria that reside in the gut without causing problems, but sometimes they can cause infection.
The OSU research reports that between 1998 and 2009, about 2 percent of all doctor's office visits by adult women were for this problem, and antibiotics were prescribed 71 percent of the time.
The problem, experts say, is that overuse of the most powerful drugs, especially quinolone antibiotics, speeds the development of bacterial resistance to these drugs. Antibiotic resistance is a natural evolutionary process by which microbes adapt to the selective pressure of medications. Some survive, and pass on their resistant traits.
These issues have gained global prominence with the dangerous and life-threatening MRSA bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, but experts say resistance is a similar concern in many other bacteria.
"Many people have heard about the issues with MRSA and antibiotic resistance, but they don't realize that some of our much more common and frequent infections raise the same concerns," said Jessina McGregor, an OSU assistant professor of pharmacy and expert in development of drug resistance.
Since older, inexpensive and more targeted drugs can work for treating urinary tract infections, they should be considered before the more powerful ones, she said.
"This problem is getting worse, and it's important that we not use the new and stronger drugs unless they are really needed," McGregor said. "That's in everyone's best interests, both the patient and the community. So people should talk with their doctor about risks and benefits of different treatment options to find the antibiotic best suited for them, even if it is one of the older drugs."
McGregor recently presented data at the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, which showed that prescriptions for quinolones rose 10 percent in recent years, while other drugs that may be equally effective in treating cystitis remained unchanged.
"Because of higher levels of antibiotic resistance to older drugs in some regions, some doctors are now starting with what should be their second choice of antibiotic, not the first," McGregor said. "We need to conserve the effectiveness of all these anti-infective medications as best we can."
Researchers at OSU are developing tools to help physicians select the most appropriate antibiotic for each individual. Additional information such as detailed history of past medication use, knowledge of local community levels of resistance and better doctor-patient communication can help.
"Cystitis is incredibly common, but that's part of the reason this is a concern," McGregor said. "It's one of the most common reasons that many women see a doctor and are prescribed an antibiotic. And any infection can be serious if we don't have medications that can help stop it, which is why we need to preserve the effectiveness of all our antibiotics as long as we can."
### END
Antibiotic resistance a growing concern with urinary tract infection
2012-10-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Earth sunblock only needed if planet warms easily
2012-10-12
RICHLAND, Wash. -- An increasing number of scientists are studying ways to temporarily reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the earth to potentially stave off some of the worst effects of climate change. Because these sunlight reduction methods would only temporarily reduce temperatures, do nothing for the health of the oceans and affect different regions unevenly, researchers do not see it as a permanent fix. Most theoretical studies have examined this strategy by itself, in the absence of looking at simultaneous attempts to reduce emissions.
Now, a new computer analysis ...
Engineered flies spill secret of seizures
2012-10-12
VIDEO:
Fruit flies with a genetic tendency toward fever-induced seizures (top) are the first to stop moving freely and are swept aside by a gentle air current as the temperature rises....
Click here for more information.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In a newly reported set of experiments that show the value of a particularly precise but difficult genetic engineering technique, researchers at Brown University and the University of California–Irvine have created a Drosophila ...
Researchers work across fields to uncover information about hadrosaur teeth
2012-10-12
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — An unusual collaboration between researchers in two disparate fields resulted in a new discovery about the teeth of 65-million-year-old dinosaurs.
With the help of University of Florida mechanical engineering professor W. Gregory Sawyer and UF postdoctoral researcher Brandon Krick, Florida State University paleobiologist Gregory Erickson determined the teeth of hadrosaurs — an herbivore from the late Cretaceous period — had six tissues in their teeth instead of two. The results were published in the journal Science Oct. 5.
"When something has been ...
Notre Dame researcher helps make Sudoku puzzles less puzzling
2012-10-12
For anyone who has ever struggled while attempting to solve a Sudoku puzzle, University of Notre Dame researcher Zoltan Toroczkai and Notre Dame postdoctoral researcher Maria Ercsey-Ravaz are riding to the rescue. They can not only explain why some Sudoku puzzles are harder than others, they have also developed a mathematical algorithm that solves Sudoku puzzles very quickly, without any guessing or backtracking.
Toroczkai and Ravaz of Romania's Babes-Boylai University began studying Sudoku as part of their research into the theory of optimization and computational complexity. ...
Mug handles could help hot plasma give lower-cost, controllable fusion energy
2012-10-12
Researchers around the world are working on an efficient, reliable way to contain the plasma used in fusion reactors, potentially bringing down the cost of this promising but technically elusive energy source. A new finding from the University of Washington could help contain and stabilize the plasma using as little as 1 percent of the energy required by current methods.
"All of a sudden the current energy goes from being almost too much to almost negligible," said lead author Thomas Jarboe, a UW professor of aeronautics and astronautics. He presents the findings this ...
More than just 'zoning out' -- Exploring the cognitive processes behind mind wandering
2012-10-12
It happens innocently enough: One minute you're sitting at your desk, working on a report, and the next minute you're thinking about how you probably need to do laundry and that you want to try the new restaurant down the street. Mind wandering is a frequent and common occurrence. And while mind wandering in certain situations – in class, for example – can be counterproductive, some research suggests that mind wandering isn't necessarily a bad thing.
New research published in the journals of the Association for Psychological Science explores mind wandering in various ...
Duke Medicine news -- Anti-cancer drug fights immune reaction in some infants with Pompe disease
2012-10-12
DURHAM, N.C. – Adding a third anti-cancer agent to a current drug cocktail appears to have contributed to dramatic improvement in three infants with the most severe form of Pompe disease -- a rare, often-fatal genetic disorder characterized by low or no production of an enzyme crucial to survival.
Duke researchers previously pioneered the development of the first effective treatment for Pompe disease via enzyme replacement therapy (ERT). ERT relies on a manufactured enzyme/protein to act as a substitute for the enzyme known to be lacking in patients with a particular disease. ...
New studies reveal connections between animals' microbial communities and behavior
2012-10-12
Athens, Ga. – New research is revealing surprising connections between animal microbiomes—the communities of microbes that live inside animals' bodies—and animal behavior, according to a paper by University of Georgia ecologist Vanessa O. Ezenwa and her colleagues. The article, just published in the Perspectives section of the journal Science, reviews recent developments in this emerging research area and offers questions for future investigation.
The paper grew out of a National Science Foundation-sponsored workshop on new ways to approach the study of animal behavior. ...
Enzyme triggers cell death in heart attack
2012-10-12
University of Iowa researchers have previously shown that an enzyme called CaM kinase II plays a pivotal role in the death of heart cells following a heart attack or other conditions that damage or stress heart muscle. Loss of beating heart cells is generally permanent and leads to heart failure, a serious, debilitating condition that affects 5.8 million people in the United States.
Now the UI team, led by Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and head of internal medicine at the UI Carver College of Medicine, has honed in on how CaM kinase II triggers heart cell death ...
New treatments for epilepsy, behavioral disorders could result from Wayne State studies
2012-10-12
Three studies conducted as part of Wayne State University's Systems Biology of Epilepsy Project (SBEP) could result in new types of treatment for the disease and, as a bonus, for behavioral disorders as well.
The SBEP started out with funds from the President's Research Enhancement Fund and spanned neurology, neuroscience, genetics and computational biology. It since has been supported by multiple National Institutes of Health-funded grants aimed at identifying the underlying causes of epilepsy, and it is uniquely integrated within the Comprehensive Epilepsy Program at ...