PT Health Life – My mother has a history of acute glomerulonephritis and has been treated. Recently, she had a sore throat, and she wanted to buy antibiotics to take to get better quickly. So doctor, can my mother take antibiotics?
When using any medication, there is a potential risk of unwanted effects. For people with kidney disease, this risk is much higher.
Antibiotics have the ability to specifically kill bacteria or inhibit bacterial growth, so they should be used in cases of infection. But many groups of antibiotics can be toxic to the kidneys including: cephalosporin group, sulfamide drugs, aminozide group (tobramycin, streptomycin, neomycin…), fluoroquinolone group drugs (ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, levofloxacin, sparfloxacin…) , betalactam antibiotics…
Be careful when using antibiotics in people with kidney disease
When using the above antibiotics, healthy people may also be at risk of kidney toxicity; People with reduced kidney function due to old age or young children, kidney disease or some accompanying chronic diseases have a higher risk of antibiotics causing kidney damage, which is more likely to occur and be severe. Therefore, before using these antibiotics, kidney function must be considered, especially in high-risk cases (hypertension, liver disease…).
To safely use medicine, you need to take your mother to the doctor and take medicine as prescribed by the doctor. Absolutely do not let your mother buy or use antibiotics on her own because it may not completely treat the infection and can also cause kidney damage. It should be noted that when taking your mother to the doctor, you must inform the doctor about the medication your mother is taking to avoid drug interactions that can harm the kidneys when used concurrently with antibiotics.
