antibiotic warning:erythromycin & clarithromycin linked to sudden deaths-study

[Guest guest]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

MYCOPLASMA REGISTRY REPORTS

for gulf war syndrome & chronic fatigue syndrome

© Sean Dudley & Leslee Dudley 2005. All rights reserved.

MycoplasmaRegistry/ MycoReg

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Seven drugs interfere with electrical activity controlling the

heartbeat and may increased risk of sudden cardiac death. (see

article and abstract below: 'Antibiotics linked to sudden deaths'

and 'Non-cardiac QTc-prolonging drugs and the risk of sudden cardiac

death')

 

Two of the drugs are used to treat mycoplasmal infections:

Etrythromycin is prescribed to treat M. pneumoniae and M. penetrans.

Clarithromycin is prescribed to treat M. pneumoniae, M. penetrans and

M. purim.

 

RISK LIST:

1. Erythromycin (Brand names: E-Base; E-Mycin; E.E.S.;

Ery-Tab; ERYC; EryPed; Erythrocin; Ilosone)

2. Clarithromycin. (Brand name: Biaxin)

3. Cisapride (Brand names: Propulsid, Prepulsid)

4. Domperidone (Brand names: Motilium®)

5. Chlorpromazine (Brand name: Largactil, Thorazine)

6. Haloperidol (Brand names: Haldol, Haldol Decanoate,

Apo-Haloperidol, Haldol, Haldol LA, Novo-Peridol,

Peridol, PMS Haloperidol)

7. Pimozide (Brand name: Orap)

 

 

Sean Dudley & Leslee Dudley © 2005 .

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Antibiotics linked to sudden deaths

Daily Mail - UK, UK - May 11, 2005

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?

in_article_id=348255 & in_page_id=1774

 

A range of commonly prescribed drugs including antibiotics may be

responsible for around 15,000 sudden deaths each year in Europe and

the United States, researchers claim.

 

The drugs interfere with electrical activity controlling the

heartbeat. A study in the Netherlands found they were associated with

a three-fold increased risk of sudden death due to cardiac arrest.

 

Two of the drugs are the antibiotics erythromycin and

clarithromycin. Others on the risk list are cisapride domperidone

used to treat gastro-intestinal conditions, and the anti-psychotic

medications chlorpromazine, haloperidol and pimozide.

 

All prolong the heart's QTc interval - a measurement of the

electrical activity linked to the contraction of heart muscle cells.

Drugs that increase the QTc interval can cause life-threatening

disruptions of heart rhythms.

 

Widespread research

The findings emerged from a study of 775 cases of sudden heart death.

 

Researchers found that the seven drugs were probably responsible for

320 of these deaths.

 

This equated to about 15,000 deaths per year across Europe and the

United States.

 

But the study's senior author, Dr Bruno Stricker, from the Erasmus

Medical Centre in Rotterdam, said that although the findings were

significant, it was important to keep them in proportion.

 

It was normal to expect one or two sudden cardiac deaths per thousand

of the population each year in Western countries.

 

The risk for people taking the drugs rose to around three per

thousand.

 

Vital treatments

" These drugs are vital treatments for serious conditions in many

cases, so it is essential that patients should not stop taking them

on their own initiative, " said Dr Stricker, who is also a senior

medical officer at the Inspectorate for Healthcare in The Hague.

 

" If they are concerned they should talk to their doctor. "

 

The drugs have all previously been implicated in abnormal heart

rhythms (arrhythmia). But the new study is thought to be the first to

investigate links with sudden death.

 

The findings appeared in the European Heart Journal.

2005 Associated Newspapers Ltd · Terms & Conditions ·

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Non-cardiac QTc-prolonging drugs and the risk of sudden cardiac death

http://eurheartj.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/ehi312v1

European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on May 11,

2005. European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehi312

European Heart Journal © The European Society of Cardiology 2005; All

rights reserved. Received February 6, 2005, Revised April 1, 2005,

Accepted April 7, 2005

Sabine M.J.M. Straus 1, Miriam C.J.M. Sturkenboom 2, Gysèle S.

Bleumink 3, Jeanne P. Dieleman 2, Johan van der Lei 4, Pieter A. de

Graeff 5, Jan Herre Kingma 6, and Bruno H.Ch. Stricker 7*

1 Pharmaco-Epidemiology Unit, Departments of Epidemiology and

Biostatistics and Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box

1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Medical

Informatics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The

Netherlands; Medicines Evaluation Board, The Hague, The Netherlands

2 Pharmaco-Epidemiology Unit, Departments of Epidemiology and

Biostatistics and Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box

1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Medical

Informatics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The

Netherlands

3 Pharmaco-Epidemiology Unit, Departments of Epidemiology and

Biostatistics and Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box

1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Inspectorate for Health

Care, The Hague, The Netherlands

4 Department of Medical Informatics, Erasmus Medical Center, 3000 DR

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

5 Medicines Evaluation Board, The Hague, The Netherlands; Department

of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The

Netherlands

6 Inspectorate for Health Care, The Hague, The Netherlands;

Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Groningen,

Groningen, The Netherlands

7 Pharmaco-Epidemiology Unit, Departments of Epidemiology and

Biostatistics and Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, PO Box

1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Inspectorate for Health

Care, The Hague, The Netherlands

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Bruno H.Ch. Stricker, E-mail: b.stricker

 

ABSTRACT

 

Aims: To assess the association between the use of non-cardiac QTc-

prolonging drugs and the risk of sudden cardiac death.

 

Methods and results: A population-based case-control study was

performed in the Integrated Primary Care Information (IPCI) project,

a longitudinal observational database with complete medical records

from more than 500 000 persons. All deaths between 1 January 1995 and

1 September 2003 were reviewed. Sudden cardiac death was classified

based on the time between onset of cardiovascular symptoms and death.

For each case, up to 10 random controls were matched for age, gender,

date of sudden death, and general practice. The exposure of interest

was the use of non-cardiac QTc-prolonging drugs. Exposure at the

index date was categorized into three mutually exclusive groups of

current use, past use, and non-use. The study population comprised

775 cases of sudden cardiac death and 6297 matched controls. Current

use of any non-cardiac QTc-prolonging drug was associated with a

significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death (adjusted OR:

2.7; 95% CI: 1.6-4.7). The risk of death was highest in women and in

recent starters.

 

Conclusion: The use of non-cardiac QTc-prolonging drugs in a

general population is associated with an increased risk of sudden

cardiac death.

 

antibiotic warning:erythromycin & clarithromycin linked to sudden

deaths-study

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

FREE BROCHURE: " How to Get an Accurate Polymerase Chain Reaction (PRC)

Blood Test for Mycoplasmal and Other Infections-with a List of

International Laboratories " © by Sean and Leslee Dudley

is sent automatically and immediately to all new rs. It is

updated with current information and the new version is posted to the

Mycoplasma Registry Reports & News list each month.

MycoplasmaRegistry-

 

FAIR USE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this

material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a

prior interest in receiving the included information for research and

educational purposes. The Mycoplasma Registry has no affiliation with

the originator of this article nor is the Mycoplasma Registry

endorsed or sponsored by the originator. If you wish to use

copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go

beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright

owner.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *