I. Bactrim DS Fact File
Bactrim DS was manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals.
The founder of Roche, Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, was a pioneering entrepreneur who was convinced that the future belonged to branded pharmaceutical products. He was among the first to recognise that the industrial manufacture of standardized medicines would be a major advance in the fight against disease.
This led him to found F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co. on October 1st 1896. From the very beginning, Fritz Hoffmann attached great importance to product information as the link between the pharmaceutical manufacturer and doctors, pharmacists and patients. Shortly after the foundation of the company, affiliates were opened in Germany, Italy, France, the US, Great Britain and Russia.
Since then, Roche has grown into one of the world's leading healthcare companies and one of the most important in Europe.
II. Bactrim DS Medication
Sulfamethoxazole; trimethoprim or smx-tmp (Septra, Bactrim DS, Co-Trimoxazole and others) is a combination of two antibiotics. It is used to treat infections of the urinary tract, middle ear, and respiratory tract (bronchitis). This drug is also used for traveler's diarrhea, and Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS or cancer patients. Bactrim DS is a "sulfa drug" (sulfonamide) type of antibiotic.
Antibiotics/ Antibacterial: Information
The ideal antibacterial or antimicrobial compound displays a selective toxicity. This means that it is harmful to the microbe (the bacteria, fungi or virus) without being harmful to the host (you). In reality, many antimicrobials have a relative toxicity. Antimicrobial is a broader category that includes antifungal, antiviral, antiprotozoal or antibacterial compounds. Antibacterials specifically act against bacterial cells.
The actual mechanism of antibacterial compounds is not always known. In general terms, most of these drugs act by altering or inhibiting one of the following cellular structures/processes:
- cell wall synthesis
- permeability of the cell membrane
- protein synthesis
- nucleic acid synthesis
Classes of Antibacterials
Penicillins: The penicillin class of antibiotics is a diverse, yet highly essential class of antibiotics. The penicillin class includes penicillin G, penicillin V, amoxicillin, ampicillin, nafcillin, ticarcillin (combined with clavulanic acid = Timentin), Augmentin (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid), Zosyn, and many, many others. Penicillins work by damaging the cell wall of the bacteria.
Penicillin and all of its derivatives come from a mold, Penicillium notatum, which is toxic bluish-green mold often found on old bread. The mold must be carefully processed to produce the penicillin. This compound was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1929 and was made famous during World War II. These antibiotics are used to treat a variety of infections including strep throat, upper respiratory infections, salmonella (food poisoning), gonorrhea, chlamydia, and many other infections.
A few of the medications in this class include:
- cephalexin (Keflex)
- cefazolin (Ancef or Kefzol)
- cefaclor (Ceclor)
- loracarbef (Lorabid)
- ceftriaxone (Rocephin)
- cefotaxime (Claforan)
Microbes: Information
Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth. Some types have existed for billions of years. These single-cell organisms are invisible to the eye, but they can be seen with microscopes. Microbes live in the water you drink, the food you eat, and the air you breathe. Most microbes are helpful and some even essential, like the billions of microbes swimming in your intestines to help digest food and create the essential vitamins our bodies need. Billions more live naturally in our skin, mouth, nose, teeth, throat, and urethra. In fact, 95% of all microbes are not harmful.
Humans, microbes, and other living creatures all share the environment and interact in ways that allows them to coexist. Microbes' mission in life is to reproduce and do whatever it takes to survive. They have the ability to evolve rapidly and can adapt to changing conditions, but where any particular microbe can live depends on its biological requirements. Some, like the hantavirus microbe, are limited to the habitat of the animals that carry them for part of their life cycle. Some have evolved to exist in more than one habitat: different flu viruses can survive in humans, birds, and other animals, and can even withstand drying out on an exposed surface. Others are far more specialized and can survive in only one type of environment. Deadly and widespread as it is, HIV cannot exist for long outside the human body, for example.
Some disease-causing microbes enter the human body and stay there for part or all of their life cycle. When pathogenic microbes spend part of their lives in insects or other animals before they move to the human body, they are called vector-borne agents. Some microbes that live in water are harmful if swallowed, or if they penetrate the skin. Soil microbes can enter the human body through a break in the skin or can be inhaled as dust.
Side effects of Antibacterials (Antibiotics)
The most common side effects with antibiotic drugs are diarrhea, feeling sick and being sick. Fungal infections of the mouth, digestive tract and vagina can also occur with antibiotics because they destroy the protective 'good' bacteria in the body (which help prevent overgrowth of any one organism), as well as the 'bad' ones, responsible for the infection being treated.
Rare, but more serious side effects, include the formation of kidney stones with the sulphonamides, abnormal blood clotting with some of the cephalosporins, increased sensitivity to the sun with the tetracyclines, blood disorders with trimethoprim, and deafness with erythromycin and the aminoglycosides.
Sometimes, particularly in older people, antibiotic treatment can cause a type of colitis (inflamed bowel) leading to severe diarrhoea. Penicillins, cephalosporins and erythromycin can all cause this problem but it is most common with clindamycin, an antibiotic usually reserved for serious infections. If you develop diarrhea while taking an antibiotic, immediately contact your doctor.
Some people are allergic to antibiotics, particularly penicillins, and can develop side effects such as a rash, swelling of the face and tongue, and difficulty breathing when they take them. Always tell your doctor or pharmacist if you have had an allergic reaction to an antibiotic; sometimes the reaction can be serious or even fatal. This is called an anaphylactic reaction.
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III. Useful links
Government http://www.cdc.gov/
http://www.fda.gov/
http://www.fda.gov/cder/ogd/
http://www.nih.gov/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/
National Library of Medicine
World Health Organization
Health Sites
http://www.mayoclinic.com/index.cfm
MedicineNet.com
Drugdigest.org
Healthsquare.com
Pharmacy sites
http://www.roche.com/home/company/com_hist.htm
http://www.healthdigest.org/Bactrim-DS(Oral)_2006_PRO.php
http://www.hsforum.com/stories/storyReader$1509
http://www.hsforum.com/stories/storyReader$1504
http://www.people.vcu.edu/~urdesai/atc.htm#Process%20of%20clotting
http://medicine.ucsf.edu/
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
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