Yeast Infection Drug Overdose:
Drug Overuse May Make Yeast Infections Harder to Treat
The indiscriminate use of over-the-counter treatments and the misuse of prescriptions by women afflicted with yeast infections may make the condition more difficult to treat in the future, says a group of University of Toronto researchers.
Laboratory experiments by U of T at Mississauga botany professors Linda Kohn and James Anderson and grad student Leah Cowen show that cells repeatedly exposed to azole drugs - the most commonly used and prescribed anti-fungal treatments for yeast infections - develop resistance to that drug.
"It was assumed that when you finish a course of drug therapy, you have killed off all of the fungus or infection. If there are any drug resistant organisms left, it was thought that they'd be weaker, wouldn't grow as well and just die out," explains Kohn. However, her work with Anderson and Cowen runs counter to that assumption.
"Our research has shown that drug resistant microbes not only compete well, they are able to evolve and adapt to overcome problems or weaknesses relatively easily," adds Anderson. "In some populations, the drug resistant microbes even grew faster and started to overtake the microbes that showed no drug resistance."
And that is worrisome, say the researchers, especially if a person gets sick again. The infection may not be more virulent, but it could be resistant to the original drug, and that means taking the same drug therapy may not help.
About 75 per cent of all women between 18 and 35 will experience at least one yeast infection caused by Candida albicans, one of the most common types of yeast fungus.
###
The research was funded by Pfizer Canada Ltd. and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Click here to learn about treating yeast infection naturally WITHOUT a pointless and expensive doctor visit, prescription drugs, or over the counter treatments.
Click Here to share this page with your friends, website visitors, ezine readers, social followers and other online contacts.Disclaimer: Throughout this website, statements are made pertaining to the properties and/or functions of food and/or nutritional products. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and these materials and products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Health & Beyond Online
P.O. Box 755
Earl, NC 28038-0755Contact Us
License, Terms of Use, and Privacy PolicyClick here for Other Chet Day Websites
H&B Online and Content © 1993-2009 by Chet Day
