Massive diarrhea caused by antibiotics Prevent with medication

Resistance to antibiotics is increasing worldwide. Nevertheless, these drugs are still used too often in Germany. While the resistance jeopardizes the effective therapy of large groups of patients, the adverse effects of antibiotics put a strain on the individual patient. Common side effects include lengthy diarrhea.
Antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) is not uncommon: According to studies, outpatient antibiotics cause diarrhea in 5 to 39 percent of cases (Szajewska H and Mrukowicz J, Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2005 Sep 1; 22 (5) 365-72), In the inpatient area, this risk exists even in up to 60 percent of cases (McFarland LV, Am J Gastroenterol 2006 Apr; 101 (4): 812-22). Antibiotics can not distinguish between pathogenic and healthy germs: they also damage the beneficial bacteria of the intestinal flora. As a result, pathogenic strains in the intestine are maintained at the expense of the other digestive bacteria. The result: a burdening diarrhea.

Medicaments from medicinal yeast (Saccharomyces boulardii) have proven particularly useful in the prophylaxis and treatment of such diarrhea. The so-called motility inhibitors commonly used to treat diarrhea, however, come in the treatment of AAD out of the question, because they lead to a slower elimination of pathogens from the body. Pathogenic bacteria can then multiply more easily and the diarrhea can even be increased.

Such problems do not arise when using Saccharomyces boulardii. The efficacy and tolerability of the drug has been proven by a variety of clinical studies. For example, in a meta-analysis evaluating five clinical trials involving 1,076 patients, treatment with Saccharomyces boulardii showed significant efficacy compared to placebo. The risk of an AAD here fell from 17.2 percent to 6.7 percent, which corresponds to a reduction of 61 percent. (Szajewska H and Mrukowicz J, Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2005 Sep 1; 22 (5): 365-72). (Szajewska H and Mrukowicz J, Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2005 Sep 1; 22 (5): 365-72).

In addition, medicinal yeast has the advantage that unlike the so-called probiotics it is not inhibited when taken with an antibiotic at the same time because it has a natural resistance to antibiotics (Czerucka D et al., Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2007 Sep 15; 26 (6): 767-78). KFN 1/2016 - 14.1.2016