David PerlmutterPresident,, Perlmutter Health Center · Board-Certified Neurologist | Functional Medicine Pioneer | #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author | International Speaker | Host of The Empowering Neurologist Podcast

The Dangers of Fluoroquinolones

16 Aug 2015 · 2 min

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1:43

In this brief presentation, Dr. David Perlmutter explains what fluoroquinolones are—a class of potent, broad‑spectrum antibiotics such as Levaquin and Cipro that are often prescribed for common infections like colds, urinary tract infections, and prostatitis. He highlights emerging safety concerns, citing a Neurology journal study that found a two‑fold increase in neuropathy risk among exposed individuals. Perlmutter notes a growing number of personal accounts online describing "fluoroquinolone toxicity," and he describes how these drugs disrupt gut microbiota, contributing to Clostridioides difficile infection and bacterial overgrowth that affect hundreds of thousands of Americans and cause tens of thousands of deaths annually. He concludes by urging clinicians and patients to use fluoroquinolones judiciously despite their therapeutic benefits.

Chapters

What is a fluoroquinolone? Scientists have developed a very potent group of antibiotics called the fluoroquinolones, and they're drugs, for example, like Levaquin and Cipro, and they're used really quite liberally despite the fact that they are extremely potent, wide-spectrum antibiotics. They're used for— oftentimes given out for people who may have a cold and urinary tract infection or prostatitis. But we're now seeing significant worrisome neurological consequences from that group of antibiotics. A recent publication in the journal Neurology demonstrated in fact that the risk of neuropathy, meaning damage to the nerves, is doubled in individuals who've been exposed to these medications. There's actually a large number of people who have come forward on the internet talking about their negative experiences with fluoroquinolones. So we do see something called fluoroquinolone toxicity that is becoming actually more common than it should be. And what fluoroquinolones do is they alter the gut bacteria. They change the makeup of the gut bacteria, and this might be well why they are associated with things like C. diff or this bacterial overgrowth in the gut that now affects half a million Americans and is fatal in close to 30,000 Americans each year. So it's great that we have these broad-spectrum antibiotics, but the message today is we've got to be very judicious about their use.