Dr Douglas Husbands

If you MUST take the antibiotic Cipro, be informed of the great need for probiotics taken during and afterwards. Ciprofloxin is in a class of drugs called Fluoroquinolones. Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics that are commonly used to treat a variety of illnesses such as respiratory, gastrointestinal, and urinary tract infections. These medicines include ciprofloxacin (Cipro), gemifloxacin (Factive), levofloxacin (Levaquin), mox...ifloxacin (Avelox), norfloxacin (Noroxin), and ofloxacin (Floxin). Fluoroquinoloes have very powerful antibiotic properties. Fluoroquinolones have unwanted side-effects. This drug class is used as a chemotherapy agent in tuberculosis (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4461445/) . They drastically disrupt the balance of the "good bugs" in your gut, called your microbiota. They effect the balance of your gut microbiota for a long time (up to a year, according to research) even after one course of prescription (https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article). They disrupt and impair nutrient absorption, especially of B-vitamins. A well known, undesireble side effect is they leave you more susceptible to tendon and connective tissue injury, particularly achilles tendon rupture (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4080593/). Lastly these drugs impair your immune system because of the disruption of your gut microbiota, leaving you more susceptible to post-antibiotic induced infections such as Clostridium difficile induced colitis, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The scientific literature confirms these statements: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32484262/

A Research Literature Based Review on Vitamin D’s Effects on Respiratory Tract Infections and Immune Resilience (Be warned: This is a long read, but worth looking at scientific factual information on this important topic. Nothing presented here is intended as providing medical advice but only as educational information.) There has been much misinformation regarding the effects of vitamin D on upper respiratory tract infections, including recommended vitamin D dosing, and im...Continue reading

What's the strict science on Vitamin D, respiratory tract infections, and immune resilience? Read this article to find out.

Are there clues from the gut bacteria that acute appendicitis is likely to occur before it happens? "Yes!"...according to research published May 2020 by a team of researchers from Dr. Mark Pimentel's Cedars-Sanai Medically Associated Science and Technology program. It was found that significantly higher levels of the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni are found in the appendices of those with acute appendicitis compared to those without acute appendicitis. ... Why This Is Important for You and Your Loved Ones: Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of need for abdominal surgery. It is now proven that extremely high levels of Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) are found in those with acute appendicitis than those without. C. jejuni in the appendix was found to correspond to levels of C. jejuni found in the stool. Therefore, you can test for Campylobacter jejuni levels with a stool test way ahead of time and give pharmaceutical or herbal antibiotics to lower C. jejuni levels, preventing likely development of acute appendicitis and the need for surgery. https://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/7/1/e000412 Discussion, questions, and comments are welcome!

Be Aware: The new PubMed search options may not give you all the research...https://www.anhinternational.org//be-careful-what-and-wh/