Antibiotics: "Like TNT for the body's microbiome" and linked with kidney stones, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects

Since 70 to 80% of the immune system is in the gut, damage to gut health is damage to immune health. Review curated research + alternatives and considerations.

Contents

1. Context: Pharmaceutical Drug Harms

2. Introduction

3. Evidence of Harm

4. Antimicrobial Resistance, Globally

5. Evidence-Based Therapies for Consideration

6. For Wellness Providers & Educators: Boost Your Impact — Premium Resources Just a Click Away from $19

7. See Also

Context: Pharmaceutical Drug Harms

1. Pharmaceuticals generally + overprescription — In a controlled trial with disabled elderly adults, doing nothing except terminating some of their prescriptions dropped the death rate by 53% compared to the control. “More than half of the patients were candidates for deprescribing. The most common criterion was inappropriately long use, followed by safety concerns, and lack of indication.”

2. Acid blockers, PPIs, drugs for acid reflux, heartburn, GERD, gastric ulcer — PPIs increased cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis and bone fractures, chronic kidney disease, neurodegeneration including Alzheimer’s and dementia, all-cause mortality (death), B-12 deficiency, pneumonia, and infections. PPIs altered children’s gut microbiome, the foundation of immunity and health, and increased infections in children. Stomach acid is crucial for health.

3. ADHD drugs, stimulants —Caused “long-lasting changes” in brain function “similar to those that occur with cocaine.” “There is no such thing as a Ritalin deficiency.” Harms from ADHD drugs are many, and effects from higher doses are severe. Get verifiable research and alternatives for resolving the underlying issues.

4. Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s drugs — Alzheimer’s & dementia drugs are less effective than B vitamins. And they cause fluid build-up & bleeding in the brain and increased death. Parkinson’s drugs deplete nutrients needed for brain health. Parkinson’s symptoms can be reversed. Successful therapies promote brain autophagy, “the removal of old and damaged brain cells and the creation of new and healthy brain cells.”

5. Antibiotics (you’re here) — “Like TNT for the body’s microbiome” and linked with kidney stones, infertility, miscarriage, birth defects. Since 70 to 80% of the immune system is in the gut, damage to gut health is damage to immune health. Review curated research + alternatives and considerations.

6. Asthma, allergy & hay fever drugs, antihistamines — Antihistamines cause heart problems, cognitive impairment, seizures in kids. Asthma “med” caused depression, anxiety, aggression, suicides. “Common medications like diphenhydramine [called benadryl, other brand names] cross the blood-brain barrier, disrupting normal brain activity and lowering seizure thresholds in vulnerable children.”

7. Blood pressure drugs — Allergies, Diabetes, Weight Gain, Sexual Dysfunction, Depression, Acute Kidney Injury, Lung Cancer, Abnormal Heart Rate, and More. Blood pressure-lowering drugs have not been shown to be effective; do not address the root cause(s) of hypertension; have been contaminated with cancer-causing agents; and cause harm (“side effects”).

8. Chemotherapy, other cancer drugs, radiation — “Chemotherapy makes cancer worse.” “Chemotherapy doubled the number of cancer cells in the bloodstream and lungs.” “Omitting radiation from treatment did not have an effect on survival rates.” “Radiation therapy increases the risk of solid tumors.” Chemotherapy drugs harm the healthcare professionals who administer them.

9. Diabetes drugs, metformin — Caused death, low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, reduced blood flow to brain & organs. 90% + of diabetes is reversible with diet but professionals push drugs that harm. Professionals avoid telling the simple truth about the effectiveness of low carb diets and push profitable drugs that cause harm. In 2023, the FDA approved more drugs to treat diabetes in children.

10. Osteoporosis drugs, bisphosphonates — Caused “substantially reduced bone strength” and caused more microcracks in bone than the controls. Osteoporosis drugs caused blood calcium levels to drop, digestion problems, internal bleeding, irregular heartbeat, bone fractures, and bone death.

11. Over the counter drugs (OTCs) — Tylenol: ADHD, autism, ulcers, GI issues, kidney disease, heart failure. Laxative given to children: rage, tics, insomnia, seizures. Ibuprofen: DNA damage, hypertension. Sunscreens? Nightmare. Prescription drugs cause great harm, but so do over-the-counter meds and personal care products. Get an organized curation of research and reports.

12. Pain relievers, NSAIDs, opioids — Even at “safe doses,” opioids cause confusion, dependence, depression, increased pain sensitivity, diminished energy, and low sex drive. Consistent use of NSAIDs caused heart attacks. Doctors are not trained in pain management or addiction, but they prescribe dangerous, highly addictive drugs. Get an organized curation of research and reports, plus alternatives and considerations.

13. Psychiatric drugs: antidepressants, SSRIs, anti-anxiety, benzos, other psychotropics — Anti-depressants cause suicidal thinking, violence, and homicide. Anti-anxiety drugs cause insomnia and anxiety. Anti-psychotic drugs cause agitation, psychosis and violence. This organized curation of research and reports makes it clear that the evidence of harm from psychotropic drugs is overwhelming. We also provide alternatives and considerations.

14. Scans, radiology, & ultrasounds (e.g. mammograms, CT scans, X-rays) — Medical scans (CT scans, mammograms, etc) use ionizing radiation which damages DNA and causes cancer. Research and resource curation, including research showing that 1) mammograms do not reduce risk of death, and 2) a higher incidence of breast cancer was caused from mammography radiation.

15. Seizure drugs, anticonvulsants, anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) — Devastating effects, negatively impacting virtually every system of the body, including damage to blood vessels and reduction in all three types of blood cells. Seizure drugs caused liver failure and death in young people and in healthy adults. A long list of non-harming alternatives listed below, with links to research on their effectiveness.

16. Sleeping pills, sedatives — Sleeping pills make you unconscious, not asleep. They impair the sleep cycle. They increase dementia, falls, and death. And they’re highly addictive. Sleeping pills deprive people of true sleep and they impede essential brain functions (which are causes of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases)

17. Statins — Statin drugs damage health at foundational levels — mitochondria, muscles and nerves — which can lead to more than 300 health problems. Research curation on statin harms, plus research showing that 1) lowering cholesterol does not improve heart health, and 2) statins do not lower all-cause death rates.

18. Steroids — Cause osteoporosis and double the risk of bone fractures. They increase heart failure, diabetes, psychiatric issues, glaucoma, and serious infections. Steroid users report rapid weight gain, intense hunger, irritability, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, acne, stomach pain, nausea, joint pain, and withdrawal reactions, among other adverse events.

19. Vaccines — Reports by vaccine type.

20. Weight loss drugs — Ozempic & Similar Weight Loss Drugs Cause Kidney Failure, Pancreatitis, Thyroid Cancer, Gallbladder Issues, Depression, Severe Stomach Problems, Bone & Muscle Loss, Blindness, and Death. “Ozempic, similar weight loss drugs linked to 162 deaths in U.S.” Get an organized curation of research and reports, with quick links to verify sources.

Introduction

Antibiotics include Aminoglycosides, Amoxicillin, Amoxil, Augmentin, Avelox, Azithromycin, Bactrim, Carbapenems, Cephalexin, Cephalosporins, Cipro, Ciprofloxacin, Cleocin, Clavulanate, Clindamycin, Doxycycline, Flagyl, Fluoroquinolone, Glycopeptides, Keflex, Levaquin, Levofloxacin, Lincomycins, Macrolides, Metronidazole, Penicillins, Quinolones, Sulfamethoxazole, Sulfonamides, Tetracyclines, Trimethoprim, and Zithromax. [source and source]

Poor medical practice has led to dire outcomes. Here we’ve curated reports on the effects from decades of irrational over-prescription of antibiotics.

As you review impacts on the gut microbiome, keep in mind that since 70 to 80% of the immune system is in the gut, damage to gut health is damage to immune health.[source]

Over the past forty years there has been an increasing usage of antibiotics including the inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics for viral infections. Viruses are not susceptible to the killing actions of antibiotics and the use of preventative courses of antibiotics in case of secondary bacterial infections is generally not good medical practice. The widespread prescription of antibiotics is regarded by microbiologists as potentially very dangerous. The development of resistant strains of bacteria to antibiotics is… likely [due to] greater exposure to these chemicals. However, even more sinister in the short-term are the effects that antibiotics have on the health of the individual. Antibiotics are synthetic or xenobiotic chemicals that require detoxification and place a load on the detoxifying mechanisms of the body. Because of their foreign nature, these antibiotics may also stimulate an allergic immune response to them. In doing so, these allergic reactions often spread to include other similar chemicals that appear in the food chain. Antibiotics are also known to induce liver enzymes and thus unnecessarily distress this organ. Probably the most damaging effects of antibiotics — especially the broad spectrum type — are the destruction of the healthy microorganisms in the gastrointestinal tract…

– Dr. Ian Brighthope, 1990 link

Evidence of Harm

Dr. Makary says that antibiotics are like TNT for the body’s microbiome, the delicate ecosystem of bacteria in the gut that is vital for digestion, immune function, and even mental health. In particular, overprescription in children has been linked to serious long-term health issues. Makery points to a study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings that found children who received antibiotics before the age of two were significantly more likely to develop combinations of asthma, obesity, and either atopic dermatitis or ADHD.

- Sheramy Tsai and Dr. Marty Makary link

1. Antibiotics Damage Healthy Gut Microbes and “May Directly Damage Gut Barrier, Increase IBD Risk” — “Often used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, antibiotics may be causing the very condition that they are prescribed to heal.” See also: The Alarming Rise of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among US Youth; Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is another name for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, which are serious autoimmune diseases. “Antibiotic overuse significantly increases IBD risk, with individuals receiving five or more antibiotic prescriptions experiencing a 236% higher likelihood of developing the condition… Strategic approaches to gut health include eliminating mitochondrial toxins, supporting beneficial bacteria through targeted supplementation and maintaining optimal vitamin D levels.” See also: Protecting Your Gut Health While Taking Antibiotics “Probiotics can be instrumental in preventing antibiotic-associated diarrhea and offsetting damage caused by the death of healthy microbes due to antibiotic use, sometimes called dysbiosis. These changes in our gut flora—both in the species present and in the population sizes of various species—could also lead to a variety of diseases.” See also: They Lied to Us; “Does your gut microbiome ever recover from antibiotics? If you understood what antibiotics really do to gut health, you might think twice about taking them.”

2. “Life-Threatening Skin Reactions Linked to Commonly Prescribed Antibiotics” — “According to a large, two-decade-long study of older adults, commonly prescribed oral antibiotics are linked to skin reactions known as cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs), which can be life-threatening…. Authors… said the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)… ‘underscores the importance of judicious prescribing, with preferential use of antibiotics associated with a lower risk…'”

3. “Antibiotics Fuel Kidney Stones by Skewing Microbiome Balance” — “Antibiotics disrupt your kidney’s microbiota, reducing beneficial Lactobacillus species and promoting the growth of harmful Enterobacteriaceae, which are linked to kidney stone formation.”

4. A Number of Antibiotics Were Found in a Study by UPenn to be Among the “17 Drugs Most Potentially Toxic to the Liver” — “A new method enabled researchers to more accurately determine the potential hepatotoxicity of various drugs.”

5. Preconception Antibiotic Exposure Linked with Infertility, Miscarriage, and Birth Defects