(STUDY FINDS) — VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Ever since Sir Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin in 1928, antibiotics have helped millions of people treat and overcome bacterial infections of all kinds. Today, antibiotics are prescribed frequently and generally considered safe by both physicians and patients. However, a new study has discovered that fluoroquinolones, a widely used and prescribed class of antibiotics, are linked to an increased risk of developing two serious heart conditions.
Working in unison with the Provincial Health Services Authority’s (PHSA) Therapeutic Evaluation Unit, a team of researchers from the University of British Columbia have found that fluoroquinolone antibiotics users face a 2.4 times higher risk of developing both aortic and mitral regurgitation in comparison to patients who take amoxicillin, a different class of antibiotic. Both of these conditions can cause blood to leak back into the heart, and both can cause serious issues such as arterial fibrillation and heart failure if left unchecked.
