A recent study done by Ray and colleagues created an uproar
among patients because they have been on Azithromycin, aka “Z-pack.” I would like to reassure
everyone about a few points.
The study looked at patients in Tennesse on Medicaid from 1992
to 2006. This isn’t representative of
the national population.
Next, they found that almost 350,000 scripts were written
for Azithromycin. Out of 350,000 scripts
written for a 5 day course, 45 patients had died. 22 of the patients had sudden death from
cardiac arrest.
Compared to auto accidents which numbered 6,420,000 in 2005,
in which 42,636 people died, or 1 death every 13 minutes, an antibiotic is
pretty safe. That means it is safer to
take an antibiotic than it is to get in your car every day.
Another point is the controls. I love it when they compare the controls with
antibiotic treatment. Nobody died who
weren’t taking antibiotics. Well, when
you are healthy, you probably don’t need antibiotics. And when you are on antibiotics, you are
probably sick. And if you smoke, have
high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, and possibly have pneumonia,
there is a pretty good chance you could have a heart attack, too.
So rest assured, and do not let the media scare you away
from your local doctor.
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