Worthless Drugs Given to 50% of Seniors

By Natalie Moore Posted May 13, 2017

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

For years, the mainstream has known there’s no cure for the common cold.

But that doesn’t stop your doc from shelling out tons of drugs with the promise that they might help.

As it turns out, though, one of these go-to remedies could put you on the fast track to a deadly infection.

I’m talking about antibiotics.

For a viral infection, which is the cause of most common colds, they’re absolutely worthless.

And according to some new research out of Canada, many seniors are unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics anyway.

For the study, researchers looked at the medical records over 185,000 participants aged 65 or older with an illness that didn’t require antibiotic treatment. These included common cold, bronchitis and sinus infections.

After sifting through the data, they found something alarming…

Nearly half of the participants were prescribed antibiotics, even though they served no medical purpose.

And that’s not the worst of it…

Of these prescriptions, 70 percent were for broad-spectrum antibiotics. These drugs are incredibly dangerous because they can increase your risk of heart problems, diarrhea and even deadly infections like C. difficile.

Additionally, unnecessary antibiotic use raises your chances of contracting hard-to-treat drug-resistant infections.

But there are ways to protect yourself.

Any time you’re prescribed an antibiotic, talk to your doctor about whether it’s really necessary… and what he’s trying to treat

And be sure to ask your doctor about adding a probiotic to your treatment plan. Probiotics can help strengthen gut bacteria, which can reduce the risks of complications that come with antibiotic use.

Live well,

Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily

Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: feedback@livingwelldaily.com – and click here to like us on Facebook.

Sources

^[1] Half of all seniors who went to doctor for common cold prescribed unnecessary antibiotics

Written By Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.

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