Antibiotics And Alcohol

Antibiotics And Alcohol 

Surely you have had this doubt many times, dew Antibiotics And Alcohol mix?, like me, but never found an answer with valid scientific basis, nor had the chance of asking a doctor, so I decided to investigate a little and share it with you:

Actually, the name used in medical terms is antimicrobial or chemotherapeutic as antibiotic literally means “anti-life” and therefore, in addition to killing bacteria would kill us as well. (some times it does)

In general, antibiotics are compounds produced by living organisms (fungi, bacteria, plants, etc.) Or derivatives thereof, or artificially synthesized whose function is to kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms sensitive to it, usually bacteria.

Alcohol (ethanol) with alcoholic drinks (be it beer, wine, whiskey, Cuban mojito, Ferne with coca, etc, etc.) is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the industrialized world. In moderate doses it is an anxiolytic socially acceptable, after eating small amounts it is recorded relaxation and disinhibition of the individual with a greater ability to relate to. However, if you keep your alcohol intake, there is a gradual loss of control, with progressive decrease in consciousness and ultimately can cause death to respiratory depression. All these effects are only the sign of the growing and deep depression of the central nervous system (CNS) that causes the consumption of alcohol. This is primarily metabolized in the liver, a little in the stomach and the rest (at least) is removed as it is in the urine, sweat, saliva, etc.

Ethyl alcohol can significantly modify the effect of drugs, antibiotics included.

Good question, the answer lies in how both antibiotics and alcohol are metabolized. 

So it would be something like this 

The effect, or interaction between them will depend on if alcohol use is chronic (you drink every day) or acute (you’ve hit a Saturday and you remembered nothing plus you wake up and there is a ugly lady in bed with you and later that day all your friends make fun of you, hangover is terrible).

Well now to the serious stuff. 

What chronic alcohol use basically does is produce an enzyme induction on the liver (the main organ metabolizing alcohol and almost all antibiotics) what does that mean? that will increase the speed or rate of elimination of the drug in question, therefore it will create a smaller effect of it, reducing its antimicrobial action. For this reason, chronic alcoholics, will need a higher dose of the drug for the same purpose.

Other than this, are people who, due to chronic alcohol consumption have developed liver cirrhosis, the liver is no more but a mass of fiber (fibrosis), therefore its function to metabolize is diminished or canceled, this translates into a greater antimicrobial effect and therefore a greater chance of adverse effects (nephrotoxicity, carditoxicidad, hepatotoxicity.

In contrast, acute alcohol consumption, the opposite occurs, ie, inhibition of hepatic enzymes which (as seen in cirrhosis) decreases the elimination of drugs, increasing the time spent in the body.

In other situations it has been observed that when taken together alcohol and certain medications, this inhibits the metabolism and causes the concentration of ethyl alcohol in blood  to increase disproportionately causing a series of clinical manifestations such as, nausea, vomiting, sweating and facial flushing, within minutes of ingesting alcohol, this phenomenon is known as antabuse effect.

Summary for the lazy ones that did not get threw the hole article.. 

• If you drink every day and you are prescribed antibiotics, they’re going to do less or no effect, so do not expect to get cured.

• If you got off an Old Smuggler daily for the past 10 years and you got a tremendous cirrhosis, you’ll poison with antibiotics!

• If you went to a cl*b and got syphilis, and you are taking antibiotics and just this Saturday you got a roast with the boys, leave the drinks to your fellows because the adverse effects of the drug are highly increased.

• If you want to avoid a brutal grab fart with a single glass of beer, do not take it! Wait in till your treatment is completed and then you can give it all!.

This explanation is more or less broadly and always will depend on the antibiotic and/or drug in question, since not all act the same way, and there are some that are not affected by alcohol, but when in doubt, taking into account that most treatments do not last beyond 10 days, abstain from taking antibiotics and alcohol.

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