Medical Xpress - medical research advances and health news (original) (raw)
Health
Eating fiber-rich foods could help prevent harmful gut bacteria growth
The group of bacteria called Enterobacteriaceae, including Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella, E. coli and others, is present at low levels as part of a healthy human gut microbiome. But at high levels—caused, for example, ...
Jan 10, 2025
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Medical research
Deadly bacteria behave differently in Saudi Arabia compared with rest of world, epidemiology study finds
A new multi-institutional study led by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) provides the largest epidemiological analysis in Saudi Arabia of the multidrug-resistant ...
Jan 8, 2025
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Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Immune-targeted approach helps control tuberculosis in mice
Mice infected with the bacteria that cause tuberculosis (TB) fared better when treated with an experimental compound that modulates immune responses than untreated mice did, according to a study led by Christina Stallings, ...
Jan 7, 2025
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Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Good news for seniors: Study finds antibiotics not linked to dementia
For healthy older adults, using antibiotics is not associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment or dementia, according to a study published in the December 18, 2024, online issue of Neurology.
Dec 18, 2024
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Medications
Researchers call for action to tackle global antibiotic shortages
Antibiotic shortages disrupt patient care, increase treatment costs, reduce effectiveness, and contribute to the rise of antibiotic resistance globally.
Dec 16, 2024
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Oncology & Cancer
Call for targeted strategies to combat gastric cancer cause
Addressing poor management of a preventable cause of gastric cancer will lead to better outcomes and improve equity and justice in health care, a group of health professionals argues.
Dec 16, 2024
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Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
From Yemen to France, research reveals spread of highly drug-resistant cholera strain
Scientists from the National Reference Center for Vibrios and Cholera at the Institut Pasteur, in collaboration with the Center hospitalier de Mayotte, have revealed the spread of a highly drug-resistant cholera strain. The ...
Dec 13, 2024
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Medications
Promising combo-drug treatment targets melioidosis while leaving gut microbiome bacteria unscathed
Melioidosis—a bacterial infection that causes fever, pneumonia, and sepsis—presents two enormous challenges for infectious disease experts: It kills roughly half the people who contract it and it is extremely tough to ...
Dec 3, 2024
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Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Patient samples reveal pandrug-resistant bacteria from the war in Ukraine are extremely pathogenic
It has been a year ago since bacteria from war-wounded at hospitals in Ukraine were analyzed. The study, which attracted a lot of attention, showed that some of the bacteria types had total resistance to antibiotics. Now, ...
Nov 25, 2024
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Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Detroit health professionals urge the community to act and address the dangers of antimicrobial resistance
Wayne State University's Center for Emerging and Infectious Diseases (CEID) is launching its participation in World AMR Awareness Week with an urgent message: the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance requires immediate ...
Nov 25, 2024
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Antibiotic
In common usage, an antibiotic (from the Ancient Greek: ἀντί – anti, "against", and βίος – bios, "life") is a substance or compound that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotics belong to the broader group of antimicrobial compounds, used to treat infections caused by microorganisms, including fungi and protozoa.
The term "antibiotic" was coined by Selman Waksman in 1942 to describe any substance produced by a microorganism that is antagonistic to the growth of other microorganisms in high dilution. This original definition excluded naturally occurring substances that kill bacteria but are not produced by microorganisms (such as gastric juice and hydrogen peroxide) and also excluded synthetic antibacterial compounds such as the sulfonamides. Many antibiotics are relatively small molecules with a molecular weight less than 2000 Da.[_citations needed_]
With advances in medicinal chemistry, most antibiotics are now semisynthetic—modified chemically from original compounds found in nature, as is the case with beta-lactams (which include the penicillins, produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium, the cephalosporins, and the carbapenems). Some antibiotics are still produced and isolated from living organisms, such as the aminoglycosides, and others have been created through purely synthetic means: the sulfonamides, the quinolones, and the oxazolidinones. In addition to this origin-based classification into natural, semisynthetic, and synthetic, antibiotics may be divided into two broad groups according to their effect on microorganisms: those that kill bacteria are bactericidal agents, while those that only impair bacterial growth are known as bacteriostatic agents.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA