When to Take Antibiotics and When to Avoid Them

Tuesday, 20 August 2013 | by Pat's Picks

There’s a good Wall Street Journal article this morning on antibiotics and when to use them. According to a few recent studies, not only are doctors overprescribing antibiotics, they often give patients the wrong ones. Instead of prescribing medications to knock out a specific ailment, they’ll order one of the “big guns,” which kill both good and bad bacteria in the body. As a general rule, you should take antibiotics when you have strep throat or a bladder infection. Avoid taking them when you have a viral infection, like the flu or a cold or most ear infections.

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal