Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, it's one of those things you kind
Speaker 1: of know you're not supposed to do, but might be
Speaker 1: tempted to do in a pinch. After all, those prescription
Speaker 1: labels are probably just suggestions, right, Yeah, No, taking someone
Speaker 1: else's medications is pretty much always a terrible idea, But
Speaker 1: some research indicates that parents may be perpetuating the problem
Speaker 1: more than experts realized. Presented at the American Academy of
Speaker 1: Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition in November, the research suggests
Speaker 1: a quote alarming percentage of parents have reported sharing or
Speaker 1: borrowing antibiotics that were originally prescribed for their children. The practice,
Speaker 1: called antibiotic diversion, can lead to serious issues, since taking
Speaker 1: unnecessary or improper doses of antibiotics contributes to the rising
Speaker 1: rates of anti biotic resistant infections. For the article this
Speaker 1: episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke via email
Speaker 1: with lead author to mar Kahan, whose name I hope
Speaker 1: I just said correctly, who was then a research assistant
Speaker 1: in Developmental and Behavioral pediatrics at Northwell Health. She said,
Speaker 1: our study was prompted by several patient visits observed in
Speaker 1: our office where parents mentioned that their children had experienced
Speaker 1: illnesses or infections in recent months that they had resolved
Speaker 1: by taking leftover antibiotics they had on hand in their
Speaker 1: homes or receiving leftover antibiotics from individuals outside the family.
Speaker 1: These parents did not consult a medical professional before taking
Speaker 1: the leftover antibiotics. We wanted to conduct a more systematic
Speaker 1: analysis to determine the prevalence of this practice antibiotic diversion
Speaker 1: among parents and children in the United States. Antibiotics are
Speaker 1: intended to fight infections caused by disease causing bacteria, which
Speaker 1: are a broad category of single celled organisms found inside
Speaker 1: and outside our bodies. The drugs work by either killing
Speaker 1: the bacteria or making it harder for them to multiply.
Speaker 1: The problem is bacteria are unfortunately adaptive. When antibiotics are
Speaker 1: used incorrectly, that is, when they're not needed or when
Speaker 1: you stop using them too soon, some bacteria in a
Speaker 1: population survive and pass along the genes that made them
Speaker 1: stronger to the next generations. In this way, bacteria may
Speaker 1: become resistant to antibiotics, meaning the drugs no longer effectively
Speaker 1: fight them or keep them from multiplying. For the study,
Speaker 1: researchers distributed an anonymous online questionnaire to a national sample
Speaker 1: of four ninety six parents. Con said, we found that
Speaker 1: antibiotic diversion was highly prevalent. Forty eight point two percent
Speaker 1: of parents who had left over antibiotics after the antibiotics
Speaker 1: were taken by their children report saving them instead of
Speaker 1: disposing of them. Seventy two point six of those who
Speaker 1: had left over antibiotics later shared them with other members
Speaker 1: of the family or unrelated adults. According to Kahan questionnaire,
Speaker 1: respondents indicated that they had not been told by their
Speaker 1: pediatricians to dispose of the antibiotics, even if there were
Speaker 1: leftovers at the end of the course. There were some
Speaker 1: other key findings from the study. To Liquids and drops
Speaker 1: were found to be the most commonly diverted form of antibiotics.
Speaker 1: Creams came in third, and tablets fourth. The diverted antibiotics
Speaker 1: were typically administered in the prescribed dosage, which might sound
Speaker 1: like a good thing but actually means the dosage usually
Speaker 1: wasn't properly adjusted for the recipient. Otherwise, parents were also
Speaker 1: prone to estimating dosage based on the age of the child.
Speaker 1: Also not a great strategy. Considering the amount of guesswork
Speaker 1: involved and overall sent of parents surveyed so that they
Speaker 1: had given their child adult medications. The researchers behind the
Speaker 1: study see a silver lining to these unsettling fine things.
Speaker 1: Kahan said. Over use of antibiotics has consequences not only
Speaker 1: to the individual, but to the population as a whole,
Speaker 1: as it contributes to the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
Speaker 1: It is hoped that health care professionals will emphasize to
Speaker 1: patients the risks of taking antibiotics when they are not
Speaker 1: prescribed and the importance of disposing of leftover medication. So
Speaker 1: bottom line, sharing maybe caring, but definitely not when it
Speaker 1: comes to prescription drugs. Today's episode is based on the
Speaker 1: article sharing leftover antibiotics is a really bad practice on
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com, written by Michelle Konstantinovski. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how
Speaker 1: stuff works dot Com, and it is produced by Tyler Klang.
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