Fight Infection without Antibiotics

Fight Infection without Antibiotics
New research finds that blood tests and good communication can help cut our reliance on antibiotic medicines.
Talk about your antibiotic worries with a doctor before taking them for a condition the medicine won’t help
By Emily Main
RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA
06-01-09

http://www.rodale.com/print/1031
http://www.rodale.com/antibiotics-and-infection?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_06_01-_-Top5-_-NA

Antibiotic-resistant diseases are one of the most pressing public health problems in this country, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some scientists suspect that our love affair with antimicrobial products, such as antibiotic-laced bedsheets and hairbrushes, are contributing to the rise of bacteria that can shrug off medicine used against them. But the CDC still points the finger at the widespread use of antibiotic medications, often prescribed even when they’re not effective at treating a patient’s illness. A new study published in the British Medical Journal suggests another way, finding that doctors trained in certain types of blood tests and communication skills were very successful in treating certain conditions without relying on antibiotics.

To read the full article: http://www.rodale.com/antibiotics-and-infection?cm_mmc=DailyNewsNL-_-2009_06_01-_-Top5-_-NA