Health
Antibiotic resistance is on the rise, doctor warns: ‘This is an enormous problem’
A growing number of Americans are building immunity to antibiotics, which can make them more vulnerable to illnesses and infections.
There are about 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which cause at least 35,000 annual deaths.
And those numbers are likely an understatement, according to Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News medical contributor.
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“We don’t always know that it caused the death, and we don’t always diagnose it,” he told Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino during an appearance on “America’s Newsroom.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes antibiotic resistance as “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today,” according to its website.
“I’m famous for saying the WHO usually over-exaggerates things, but in this case, they’re right,” said Siegel.
“This is an enormous problem.”
One of the biggest drivers of antibiotic resistance is the lack of any new medications in recent decades, the doctor said.
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“We haven’t developed a new class of antibiotics since the late 1980s,” he said.
“The drug companies don’t have an incentive to do this, because people only use antibiotics when they get sick, so there’s not much of a profit margin.”
Meanwhile, it costs $1.5 billion to create a new antibiotic, Siegel estimates, so the pharmaceutical companies are opting not to develop them.
Another potential cause of the dangerous resistance is that farms are overfeeding antibiotics to livestock, said Siegel.
The WHO recommends only giving antibiotics under the supervision of a veterinarian, and discourages using them to promote growth or to prevent diseases in healthy animals.
Another contributing factor is that doctors tend to overprescribe antibiotics, said Siegel.
“Every time we see someone with a sniffle, we’re giving them a Z-Pac. That causes more and more resistance.”
The CDC estimates that 30% of the time, antibiotics are overprescribed — but Siegel believes it’s actually double that amount.
“Every time we see someone with a sniffle, we’re giving them a Z-Pac,” he said. “That causes more and more resistance.”
There is pressure on doctors to write the prescription for antibiotics, even when it won’t help, Siegel said.
“Because they leave with a smile and a lollipop, versus me saying, ‘You have a virus and you’re going to get better on your own,’ and they go home more miserable,” the doctor said.
The pandemic also played a part in the worsening of the problem, he said.
“We missed a lot of this because we were so hyper-focused on COVID, and there was a lot of bacteria around then,” Siegel said.
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On the bright side, doctors will soon have better tools at their disposal, he predicts.
“We’re starting to get rapid tests for bacteria, so we can do a little swab and find out in five seconds … and then we’ll have more evidence on our side,” Siegel said.
The Pasteur Act (Pioneering Antimicrobial Subscriptions to End Upsurging Resistance) has been in front of Congress since 2019, Siegel pointed out, but the legislation “keeps getting tabled.”
While the doctor said he’s generally “not for big government,” he believes there needs to be some federal involvement in creating new antibiotics.
“I remember all the antibiotics from my training days — they haven’t changed, and that’s troubling,” Siegel said.
“Almost every other thing I do is new, so I have to relearn. But with antibiotics, it’s the same old stuff.”
He added, “Bacteria is mutating, and we’re not mutating our treatments.”
Health
Drinking alcohol is linked to six types of cancer, experts say: ‘It’s toxic’
It’s long been known that no amount of alcohol is good for the body — and now new research spotlights the potential harm it can cause.
More than 5% of all cancer cases are caused by drinking alcohol, according to the Cancer Progress Report 2024 from the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
Among the modifiable risk factors for cancer, alcohol is the third biggest, behind obesity (7.6% of cases) and cigarette smoking (19.3%).
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“Excessive levels of alcohol consumption increase the risk for six different types of cancer, including certain types of head and neck cancer, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, and breast, colorectal, liver and stomach cancers,” said Rajarshi Sengupta, PhD, lead author of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2024, in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“Further, research shows that alcohol intake at an early age can increase the risk of cancer later in life.”
Based on these findings, limiting or eliminating alcohol can reduce the risk of developing alcohol-related cancers by 8% and the risk of all cancers by 4%, the report noted.
Addiction expert warns of risks
There has been a “roller coaster of information” about whether alcohol is harmful, according to addiction psychiatrist Dr. Adam Scioli of Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania.
“There have even been reports for years that it could be beneficial for one’s health — but we know now that alcohol ingestion is one of the modifiable risk factors for cancer,” Scioli, who is not affiliated with AACR, told Fox News Digital.
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Around 75,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with a cancer that is linked in some way to alcohol use, according to Scioli.
The more someone drinks — both in volume and frequency — the higher the risk, he warned.
“Alcohol is a toxin,” Scioli said.
“We’ve long known that it impacts any number of organs, essentially starting with the brain and working its way down to the colorectal system.”
Is there a ‘safe’ amount?
Moderate alcohol use is defined as one drink or less in one day for women.
For men, it is two drinks or fewer per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“We’ve long known that alcohol impacts any number of organs, starting with the brain and working its way down to the colorectal system.”
“Drinking alcohol in moderation may increase your overall risks of death and chronic disease,” the agency stated on its website.
“Even low levels of alcohol use (less than one drink per day) can raise the risk of certain cancers.”
Scioli agreed, emphasizing that “we can definitely say there’s no added health benefit to ingestion of alcohol.”
“The line between safety and danger is debatable, and is different for each person.”
While risk factors like tobacco use are widely known, public awareness about the link between alcohol and cancer is still low, according to Sengupta.
Most Americans (51%) are not aware that alcohol increases cancer risk, per AACR data.
“It’s been flying under the radar for far too long — especially given the number of Americans who have met the criteria for alcohol use disorder, which is around 29 million Americans in 2023,” said Scioli.
What needs to change?
The good news, according to Scioli, is that with modifiable risk factors like alcohol, reducing the intake decreases the risk.
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As the report stated, those who are successful in decreasing their drinking or abstaining below those moderate risk levels will see a risk reduction in overall cancers, he noted.
“We need to do a much better job of making the public aware of the risks inherent in drinking — particularly moderate to heavy drinking,” Scioli said.
“And we need to make the public aware that there are mechanisms by which they can access help if they are unable to moderate their drinking or quit on their own.”
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To help raise awareness, Sengupta of the AACR called for public messaging campaigns, “such as cancer-specific warning labels displayed on alcoholic beverages.”
Along with that, she told Fox News Digital, “effective clinical strategies that reduce or eliminate alcohol consumption must be considered to reduce the burden of alcohol-related cancers.”
Health
Intermittent Fasting + Walking: The Science-Backed Combo That Helped This Grandma Lose 3X the Weight
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Health
New schizophrenia drug gets FDA approval, taking novel approach to treating brain disorder
A new drug has been approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved COBENFY (xanomeline and trospium chloride), an oral medication that is manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb in New Jersey.
This marks the first new class of medications for the brain disorder in several decades, according to a press release.
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COBENFY is expected to be available in the U.S. in late October, the company noted.
“Today’s landmark approval of our first-in-class treatment for schizophrenia marks an important milestone for the community, where after more than 30 years, there is now an entirely new pharmacological approach for schizophrenia — one that has the potential to change the treatment paradigm,” said Chris Boerner, PhD, board chair and chief executive officer at Bristol Myers Squibb, in the press release.
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Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness that affects a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors.
It often causes hallucinations, delusions, disordered speech and loss of touch with reality, Mayo Clinic states on its website.
The disorder can also lead to lack of emotional expression, lack of motivation, cognitive dysfunction and social withdrawal.
Approximately 2.8 million people in the U.S. and 24 million people globally are living with schizophrenia.
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The disorder has traditionally been treated with antipsychotic medications, but around 40% of patients do not respond to treatments and 60% experience “inadequate improvement” in symptoms or “intolerable side effects,” studies have shown.
COBENFY works differently than the currently available schizophrenia medications.
“Due to its heterogeneous nature, schizophrenia is not a one-size-fits-all condition, and people often find themselves in a cycle of discontinuing and switching therapies,” said Rishi Kakar, MD, chief scientific officer and medical director at Segal Trials and investigator in the drug’s clinical trials, in the release.
“Schizophrenia is not a one-size-fits-all condition, and people often find themselves in a cycle of discontinuing and switching therapies.”
“The approval of COBENFY is a transformative moment in the treatment of schizophrenia because, historically, medicines approved to treat schizophrenia have relied on the same primary pathways in the brain.”
“By leveraging a novel pathway, COBENFY offers a new option to manage this challenging condition.”
Sam Clark, founder and CEO at Terran Biosciences — a biotech company that develops treatments and technologies for neurological and psychiatric diseases in New York City — commented on the new approval in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
“I am excited that the FDA has just approved [COBENFY] as a treatment for patients with schizophrenia, marking a big leap forward in the psychiatry space,” he said.
“These patients live with a difficult disease, and this drug with a novel mechanism of action will surely make a significant impact,” Clark continued.
“We look forward to seeing the renaissance continue as this approval paves the way for future breakthroughs and novel patient-focused therapeutics.”
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The approval follows three phases of clinical trials in which COBENFY was shown to result in a “statistically significant improvement in illness.”
In terms of safety, the medication’s most common side effects during clinical trials were nausea, indigestion, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, hypertension, abdominal pain, accelerated heart rate, dizziness and gastroesophageal reflux disease, the release stated.
Patients with certain existing medical conditions may experience other, more serious risks.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health
People should discuss potential complications with a doctor before starting the medication.
Fox News Digital reached out to Bristol Myers Squibb and the Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance requesting comment.
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