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Three commonly prescribed antibiotics do not change a person's risk for a first heart attack.
ATLANTA—Past use of erythromycin, tetracycline, and doxycycline does not affect a person's chances either way of having a first heart attack, says an article in the March issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, CDC's peer-reviewed journal, which tracks new and reemerging infections worldwide.
Heart disease is the leading killer of both men and women in the United States and an important cause of death throughout the world. Recently, researchers have found some evidence that bacteria (Chlamydia pneumoniae), a common cause of bronchitis, sinusitis, and pneumonia, may also contribute to heart disease. Two small clinical studies have found that two newer antibiotics—azithromycin and roxithrymycin—that are effective against infection with these bacteria may actually help prevent heart disease.
In this study, the researchers looked at people enrolled in a health maintenance organization in Washington State. They identified people who had had a first heart attack and compared their use of antibiotics during the several years before the attack with antibiotic use of a group of people who did not have heart disease. The antibiotics they looked at—erythromycin, tetracycline, and doxycycline—are often prescribed for common infections such as bronchitis and also are effective against Chlamydia pneumoniae bacteria. Researchers found that people who had had a heart attack were no more or no less likely to have taken any of these antibiotics than the comparison group.
The authors sum up their conclusions this way: "Results of our study suggest that treatment with erythromycin, tetracycline, and doxycycline in doses commonly prescribed by health professionals is not linked to a reduction in the risk of first heart attack."
For more information, contact Dr. Lisa Jackson at 206-287-4677 (fax) or lajack@u.washington.edu. Access the full article at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/vol5no2/jacksn.htm. All material in Emerging Infectious Diseases is in the public domain and may be used without special permission; proper citation, however, is appreciated.
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