Chinese herbs help clear antibiotic resistant Heliobacter pylori infection after failure of triplet therapy with vonaprazan

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Heliobacter pylori is a bacteria that is found in many patients with stomach ulcers and gastritis. Almost 50% of the world’s population are believed to have H.pylori in their stomach , but  many do not have any of the unpleasant symptoms that are associated with gastritis and do not develop ulcers. However for the people suffering from these health problems the eradication of H.Pylori is a critical part of the treatment.

Like many other strains of bacteria. Some strains of H.Pylori are becoming extremely resistant to antibiotics. This limits conventional treatment options for some patients.

Chinese herbs are powerful antibacterial weapons and viable alternatives to current antibiotic protocols . Chinese Herbs also can be used in conjunction with antibiotics to help overcome the drug resistance.

A recent journal article published in Journal of Digestive diseases, reported that a traditional formulation of Wu Zhu Yu Tang has helped eradicate a drug resistant H.Pylori infection when used on combination with antibiotic drugs.

We desperately need more research in using Chinese botanicals for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Drug resistant bacteria infections are on the increase and like climate change it is a global problem that requires us to think outside the box and beyond our own biases . We must work together for solutions for our future and not be solely be influenced  by politics and profit.

ABSTRACT

Vonoprazan, a potassium-competitive acid blocker, is used as a substitute drug for conventional proton pump inhibitors. Recently, vonoprazan has been applied for eradication of H. pylori (HP) infection, and the efficacies of vonoprazan-based triple therapy against HP infection have already been reported. However, treatment sometimes fails in the primary and/or secondary triplet eradication therapy, including with the use of vonoprazan for HP infection. We experienced three cases of refractory HP infection. They were treated with eradication therapy for HP infection with chronic gastritis. After primary triplet therapy with amoxicillin, clarithromycin, and rabeprazole (Case 1) or vonoprazan (Case 2, 3), their urea breath test were positive. Subsequently, patients received secondary eradication therapy with amoxicillin, metronidazole, and vonoprazan (Case 1, 2) or rabeprazole (Case 3), but their urea breath test was still positive. Thereafter, they consulted Kampo treatment. Kampo eradication therapy was given consisting of goshuyuto 2.5 g three-times daily plus rabeprazole 10 mg twice daily for 28 days. Finally, their urea breath test became negative. We successfully treated these cases with goshuyuto and rabeprazole. Goshuyuto treatment is worth trying as another therapeutic option.

Source

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1751-2980.12537/abstract?campaign=wolacceptedarticle

 

References

Nagata, Y., Nagasaka, K., Koyama, S., Murase, M., Saito, M., Yazaki, T., Komatsu, N., Murase, T., Uehara, T. and Taniuchi, N. (), Successful eradication of Helicobacter pylori with a herbal medicine, goshuyuto (Wu Zhu Yu Tang), plus rabeprazole after failure of triplet therapy with vonoprazan: a report of three cases. Journal of Digestive Diseases. Accepted Author Manuscript. doi:10.1111/1751-2980.12537

 

 

Could probiotics each day keep antibiotic prescriptions at bay?

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28 FEB 2017 |

Let’s say you have a cold—and it’s a bad one. Your head constantly aches, your nose runs, and you cough until you almost choke. You can’t get warm, no matter how many blankets you wrap around yourself. Five days into this misery you’re exhausted and just want to resume your normal life.

A massive temptation exists at this stage: to visit your doctor and ask for a prescription for antibiotics. In fact, the common cold—officially diagnosed as an upper respiratory tract infection (URTI)—is one of the top reasons for doctors’ visits in the US.

But here’s the problem: antibiotics are ineffective against the common cold. Despite the fact that patients with a URTI frequently ask doctors for antibiotics, and the fact that doctors frequently prescribe them, the common cold is caused by a virus and cannot be cured with drugs that target bacteria. (If the antibiotics appear to work in the end, it might be due to the placebo effect.)

Antibiotics for the common cold account for some of the estimated 30% of all antibiotic prescriptions in US clinics and hospitals that are given inappropriately. Excessive antibiotic use is considered a major threat to global public health, contributing the problem of antibiotic resistance: microorganisms developing the ability to withstand the effects of drugs that are supposed to kill them. Furthermore, antibiotics may affect individuals’ gut microbiota in a way that poses risks to long-term health.

Can all of this be avoided? Ideally, you wouldn’t get a cold in the first place. But it seems impossible to avoid harmful viral exposure in a world that includes regular encounters with public transit, elevator buttons, ATM keypads, or even regular old doorknobs.

A group of scientists and experts are starting to investigate a tool that might solve this tricky problem: probiotics as a preventative measure against the common cold.

A 2015 scientific analysis showed growing evidence for probiotics as a way to improve outcomes related to the common cold. The analysis, which compared groups of adults that used probiotics to those not using probiotics, found 11 fewer people out of 100 developed a cold when probiotics were in the picture. The length of the illness was shorter for those who consumed probiotics, by an average of 2 days. And most importantly: those who took probiotics preventatively had fewer antibiotic prescriptions.

The real-life benefits of using probiotics to prevent the common cold were illustrated by some number-crunching on the populations of France and Canada. Analyses published in 2015 and 2016 showed that widespread consumption of probiotics might save thousands of antibiotic prescriptions per year in each country—between 291,000 and 473,000 in France and between 52,000 and 84,000 in Canada. As a bonus, it could also lead to significant savings on healthcare costs.

Experts from the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) say they are planning to follow up on this work by systematically investigating the question of whether antibiotic use is reduced when people are given probiotics to prevent or treat infections like the common cold.

Reducing misuse and overuse of antibiotics is an urgent mandate in healthcare, according to the World Health Organization. With more and more evidence, healthcare professionals will understand the most effective way to leverage probiotics for addressing this problem. Because it would be mighty nice to find a way of stopping the shivering, sniffling misery of the person standing next to you in the elevator before it even begins.

http://www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/en/probiotics-day-keep-antibiotic-prescriptions-bay/?utm_source=Newsletter+Gut+Microbiota+for+Health+-+News+Watch+-+English&utm_campaign=5279ce8a58-NW+NL+%2323&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_36413f3333-5279ce8a58-128301553

 

A study proves PPIs for GERD (e.g. esomeprazole) causes the symptoms it is prescribed to treat.

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Proton-Pump Inhibitor Therapy Induces Acid-Related Symptoms in Healthy Volunteers After Withdrawal of Therapy

It may seem obvious to say that when someone stops taking PPIs they will experience symptoms soon after they discontinued the medication. But what are the implications of this happening to healthy people who took PPIs and did not have heart burn or GERD?

In this study 120 healthy people were put into two groups. One group was given PPIs (esomeprazole) for 8 weeks and the other group given a placebo. After withdrawal the acid related symptoms (reflux, heart burn) were much more prevalent in the group who had taken esomeprazole and these symptoms were recorded in some people up to 12 weeks later.

The implications of this study is that acid reflux after discontinuing PPIs may not be related to your health, it is probably  the medication. When symptoms return after withdrawal this is referred to as “Rebound acid hypersecretion” and it may be the reason many people won’t stop taking their PPIs. PPI’s are not for the long term yet millions of people take them everyday without giving it a second thought. PPIs are also over prescribed and self-prescribed. It is likely many people are on a too high dose and have been taking them for way too long.

Good news is you can withdraw from this medication and there are smarter ways to treat your acid reflux and heart burn with no withdrawal side effects or other long terms health risks . Consult your GP  or natural health practitioner about whether it’s time to try something else.

Copy of study abstract below

Proton-Pump Inhibitor Therapy Induces Acid-Related Symptoms in Healthy Volunteers After Withdrawal of Therapy

Reimer, Christina et al.
Gastroenterology , Volume 137 , Issue 1 , 80 – 87.e1

Background & Aims

Rebound acid hypersecretion (RAHS) has been demonstrated after 8 weeks of treatment with a proton-pump inhibitor (PPI). If RAHS induces acid-related symptoms, this might lead to PPI dependency and thus have important implications.

Methods

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 120 healthy volunteers was conducted. Participants were randomized to 12 weeks of placebo or 8 weeks of esomeprazole 40 mg/d followed by 4 weeks with placebo. The Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) was filled out weekly. A score of >2 on 1 of the questions regarding heartburn, acid regurgitation, or dyspepsia was defined as a clinically relevant acid-related symptom.

Results

There were no significant differences between groups in GSRS scores at baseline. GSRS scores for acid-related symptoms were significantly higher in the PPI group at week 10 (1.4 ± 1.4 vs 1.2 ± 0.9; P = .023), week 11 (1.4 ± 1.4 vs 1.2 ± 0.9; P = .009), and week 12 (1.3 ± 1.2 vs 1.0 ± 0.3; P = .001). Forty-four percent (26/59) of those randomized to PPI reported ≥1 relevant, acid-related symptom in weeks 9–12 compared with 15% (9/59;P < .001) in the placebo group. The proportion reporting dyspepsia, heartburn, or acid regurgitation in the PPI group was 13 of 59 (22%) at week 10, 13 of 59 (22%) at week 11, and 12 of 58 (21%) at week 12. Corresponding figures in the placebo group were 7% at week 10 (P = .034), 5% at week 11 (P = .013), and 2% at week 12 (P = .001).

Conclusions

PPI therapy for 8 weeks induces acid-related symptoms in healthy volunteers after withdrawal. This study indicates unrecognized aspects of PPI withdrawal and supports the hypothesis that RAHS has clinical implications.

Herbal Antibiotics – A safe, effective and important support to eliminate resistant bacteria when antibiotics fail.

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Herbal Antibiotics – A safe, effective and important support to eliminate resistant bacteria when antibiotics fail.
Are you finding your GP more reluctant to prescribe your antibiotics? Here, the Australian government is working hard to reduce prescriptions of antibiotics because it is  very concerned about the antibiotic resistant bacteria. Now a single course of antibiotics can fail to treat a common infection like golden staph and multiple courses may be required.
In hospitals it is estimated that 30% of infection are now resistant and a single course of antibiotics no longer work.  All over there world there are cases of people dying from resistant bacteria infections  and since 2014 a million people around the world have died of antibiotic resistant bacteria infections.
Plants provide an alternative 
Plants have  natural defences to protect themselves against attacks from unfriendly bacteria , viruses  and fungi.  Without a means to kill these harmful invaders  the plant would be overrun and perish.
Traditional medicine has used the antibacterial , anti-fungal and anti-viral  properties of plants for more than 3000 years.
The advantage plants have over antibiotics is they eliminate the resistant bacteria and do not destroy your good bacteria in the process.
This makes plant herbal antibiotic formulas ideal for children and a useful adjunct for reoccurring infections that have been treated by several courses of antibiotics.
I use practitioner only broad spectrum herbal antibiotic from Panaxea,  an Australia natural medicine company. This formula is  manufactured to TGA standards so it is of high quality and potency as well as being free of chemical toxins and dangerous levels of metals. Contact me for more information.

Australia has a health crisis.

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This country has a  crisis of chronic preventable disease and chronic unresolved stress. Here one in two people are overweight or obese. There are almost a million people with Type II diabetes and two million  estimated to be pre-diabetic  There are eight million Australians are predicted to be diagnosed with bowel cancer, a preventable condition. There are more than 353,800 Australians living with dementia. This number is expected to increase to 400,000 in less than five years. Without a medical breakthrough, the number of people with dementia is expected to be almost 900,000 by 2050. One million Australia have depression and another two million have a diagnosis of anxiety. Antibiotics are failing, some common bacteria has mutated and can now resist current medications. The top most prescribed 10 medications  in 2014 were for high cholesterol, hypertension,  pain and GERD (stomach acid reflux, heart burn , bloating).

The cost of medicine is increasing. “Expenditure on high cost drugs on the PBS is rising and, to date, it shows no sign of slowing. The growing incidence of diseases such as cancers and Alzheimer’s disease is likely to contribute to increased expenditure as new treatments become available.”  (http://www.aph.gov.au)

Most people in Australia work more than 40 hours a week often skipping a decent meal and  missing essential nutrients.  One and half million Australians don’t get a decent nights  sleep suffering from insomnia and other sleep disorders.  We are subjected to repeated stressors at work and at home and we have little time to truly relax and switch off. We soothe ourselves with junk food, alcohol and recreational drugs.

Despite all the diets people still gain the weight they lost. We are nutritional deficient,  we consume on average 30 tea spoons of sugar a day hidden in diet foods and health snacks, and take-away food. It is estimated as little as  2% of Australians Eat Enough Fruit And Veggies, and even if we did the vegetables and fruit found in our supermarkets   lack the nutrients we need because the over-farmed soil lacks the required minerals. Many people don’t get sufficient exercise. We sit down on average 12 hours or more a day. Sitting down for this long  is now said to be more deadly than smoking.

So what about you? 

Are you getting sufficient sleep?

Do you feel fatigued and stressed?

Are you in pain?

Do you exercise enough?

Do you and your family know how to get the nutrients you need to stay healthy and prevent disease?

Do you know the side effects of your medications?

What are you long term health goals?

How long do you want to live?

Heart Burn Drugs Tied to Dementia

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NYT 17 FEBRUARY 2016

​By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

The popular heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors have been linked to a range of ills: bone fractures, kidney problems, infections and more. Now a large new study has found that they are associated with an increased risk for dementia as well.

Proton pump inhibitors, or P.P.I.s, are widely available both by prescription and over the counter under various brand names, including Prevacid, Prilosec and Nexium.

German researchers, using a database of drug prescriptions, studied P.P.I. use in 73,679 men and women older than 75 who were free of dementia at the start of the study. Over an average follow-up period of more than five years, about 29,000 developed Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias. The study is in JAMA Neurology.

After controlling for age, sex, depression, diabetes, stroke, heart disease and the use of other medicines, they found that regular use of P.P.I.s increased the risk for dementia in men by 52 percent and in women by 42 percent, compared with nonusers.

“Our study does not prove that P.P.I.s cause dementia,” said the senior author, Britta Haenisch of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases. “It can only provide a statistical association. This is just a small part of the puzzle.
“Clinicians, pharmacists and patients have to weigh the benefits against the potential side effects,” she continued, “and future studies will help to better inform these decisions.”

An elderly man with severe dementia improves in healths after stopping antipsychotics

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I recently heard of a elderly man who had been prescribed antipsychotic drugs to relieve his severe dementia. But after taking these drugs his condition worsened, he couldn’t sleep and he was aggressive. His memory had not improved and his family were terribly distressed from his worsening condition.

Eventually it was decided that their father  would stop taking the antipsychotic drugs and try complementary medicine. Since stopping the antipsychotics  and taking substances derived from plants his condition has improved significantly. He still has dementia and all of the symptoms associated this destructive condition.  But overall he is calmer, he sleeps better and he is more coherent than he was on the antipsychotics, but his memory has not improved. All this happened in a manner of weeks, which means  it is possible that overtime his condition could improve a little more. No-one knows for sure and what will happen in the future, but right now the family can see a difference and feel they have found something practical they can do that is visibility helping their father even if it is just a little. As for the father he knows these substances are good for him and he takes them everyday.

Antipsychotic drugs were never designed to treat vascular dementia symptoms (or Alzheimer’s) and anyone who uses these types of drugs will experience some side effects. The FDA has previously warned that treatment with antipsychotic drugs increases the risk of death among elderly patients with dementia and now a new study confirms that some drugs are riskier than others. Here in Australia , where it is often behind FDA when it comes to revisiting drug prescription guidelines, there is a concern that Antipsychotic drugs are being over prescribed for dementia and the evidence  of the drugs efficacy is according to http://www.nps.org.au “modest” whilst there are serious side effects.

With regard to complementary medicine are several substances with reasonable scientific evidence behind them and they do not have serious side effects and are affordable. I will cover the best researched substances in my next post.

The problem with Antibiotics – They are Anti-life

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The Problem with Antibiotics: They are Anti-Life

On September 17, 2003 the CDC relaunched a program, started in 1995, called “Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work.”55 This is a $1.6 million campaign to educate patients about the overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics. Most people involved with alternative medicine have known about the dangers of overuse of antibiotics for decades. Finally the government is focusing on the problem, yet they are only putting a miniscule amount of money into an iatrogenic epidemic that is costing billions of dollars and thousands of lives.

The CDC warns that 90 percent of upper respiratory infections, including children’s ear infections, are viral, and antibiotics don’t treat viral infection. More than 40 percent of about 50 million prescriptions for antibiotics each year in physicians’ offices were inappropriate.2 And using antibiotics, when not needed, can lead to the development of deadly strains of bacteria that are resistant to drugs and cause more than 88,000 deaths due to hospital-acquired infections.9

However, the CDC seems to be blaming patients for misusing antibiotics even though they are only available on prescription from a doctor who should know how to prescribe properly. Dr. Richard Besser, head of “Get Smart,” says “Programs that have just targeted physicians have not worked. Direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs is to blame in some cases.” Dr. Besser says the program:

“Teaches patients and the general public that antibiotics are precious resources that must be used correctly if we want to have them around when we need them. Hopefully, as a result of this campaign, patients will feel more comfortable asking their doctors for the best care for their illnesses, rather than asking for antibiotics.”56

And what does the “best care” constitute? The CDC does not elaborate and patently avoids the latest research on the dozens of nutraceuticals scientifically proven to treat viral infections and boost the immune system. Will their doctors recommend vitamin C, echinacea, elderberry, vitamin A, zinc, or homeopathic oscillococcinum? No, they won’t. The archaic solutions offered by the CDC include a radio ad, “Just Say No–Snort, sniffle, sneeze–No antibiotics please.” Their commonsense recommendations, that most people do anyway, include resting, drinking plenty of fluids, and using a humidifier.

The pharmaceutical industry claims they are all for limiting the use of antibiotics. In order to make sure that happens, the drug company Bayer is sponsoring a program called, “Operation Clean Hands,” through an organization called LIBRA.57 The CDC is also involved with trying to minimize antibiotic resistance, but nowhere in their publications is there any reference to the role of nutraceuticals in boosting the immune system nor to the thousands of journal articles that support this approach.

This recalcitrant tunnel vision and refusal to use available non-drug alternatives is absolutely inappropriate when the CDC is desperately trying to curb the nightmare of overuse of antibiotics. The CDC should also be called to task because it is only focusing on the overuse of antibiotics. There are similar nightmares for every class of drug being prescribed today.

From the Article : MODERN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH
By Gary Null PhD, Carolyn Dean MD ND, Martin Feldman MD, DeboraRasio MD, Dorothy Smith PhD. 

What is a superbug?

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Bacteria are everywhere and mostly they are harmless. In fact, quite often they are helpful, but sometimes they cause illness.

They are responsible for minor skin or ear infections and for more serious and potentially deadly illnesses such as meningitis or pneumonia.

Bacterial infections are most often treated with a course of antibiotics.

Multi-resistant superbugs are a strain of bacteria that has mutated (changed) after coming into contact with an antibiotic.

The bacteria then becomes resistant to the antibiotic which means the antibiotic cannot kill the bacteria or stop them from multiplying. The result is that the bacteria continues to multiply, making the patient sicker as treatment options fade.

How does it happen?

Antibiotic overuse is a major cause of antibiotic resistance, as is incorrectly taking antibiotics you have been prescribed. And according to the Minister for Health, Sussan Ley, Australia has one of the highest rates of antibiotic use in the world.

In 2013, more than 29 million prescriptions were supplied to 45 per cent of Australians. But it’s not just humans who are being dosed. Agricultural antibiotic use is also a contributing factor, with the human consumption of antibiotic-treated chicken and livestock further increasing resistance.

The World Health Organisation has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats to human health today.

Superbugs: 5 ways to protect yourself
There are measures we can take to prevent infection.

Around the world, there are millions of infections caused by superbugs every year.

Without antibiotics, people of all ages will die from sepsis (bloodstream infections), diarrhoea, urinary tract infections and pneumonia while our health system struggles to deal with their care.

In Australia, 170 people per week die from bacterial sepsis said Professor Matt Cooper, director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Superbug Solutions.

Full Story here http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-17/explainer-superbugs-and-the-solution/6552420

Australian government to crack down on antibiotic overuse in humans and animals

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The Australian government will seek to curb Australia’s overprescription and overuse of antibiotics in both humans and animals as part of a national plan aimed at preventing potentially deadly diseases becoming resistant to treatment.

Launching Australia’s first strategy for tackling antibiotic resistance on Tuesday, the health minister, Sussan Ley, said more than 29m prescriptions for antibiotics were subsidised by the government in 2013, with the drugs reaching 45% of the population.

It made Australia’s consumption of antibiotics among the highest in the world, she said. Despite this, Australia has never had a national strategy for tackling antimicrobial resistance until now.

“The over- and misuse of antibiotics has been identified as a significant contributor to the emergence of resistant bacteria,” Ley said.

“Antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines are a precious resource and this strategy is not about removing access, but about providing guidance to use them in the safest and most effective way.”

Ley said 65% of Australians believed antibiotics would help them recover from a cold or flu virus, despite the drugs only being useful to treat bacterial infections.

Results from an Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care study, released in November, found more than 30% of antibiotic prescriptions in 2013 were inappropriate.

The national strategy also said there was increasing evidence that antibiotic use in agriculture was contributing to resistance rates. However, the strategy acknowledged there was also a lack of monitoring and data in this area.

Ensuring nationally consistent prescription guidelines were developed and followed in human and animal healthcare would be essential, the strategy said.

But Professor Allen Cheng, the director of the infection prevention project at Alfred Health, described the strategy as “long overdue”.

Despite a government joint committee releasing a report on tackling antibiotic resistance in 1999, successive governments had failed to release a comprehensive strategy, he said.

“This is a long overdue statement of policy that recognises the threat that antimicrobial resistance poses to health in Australia,” Cheng said.

Source The Guardian, 2nd June 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/02/australian-government-to-crack-down-on-antibiotic-overuse-in-humans-and-animals