According to the website Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Research (and many others) a class of antibiotics known as the Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can cause damage to our DNA.
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics include some of the most commonly prescribed antibiotics, such as: Cipro, Ciprofloxacin, Levaquin, Levofloxacin, Avelox, Moxifloxacin and several others that are less well known.
As stated on the FQTR website, "Why is DNA damage such a big deal? Because, despite what you might think, your genetics are not ‘set’ in stone, they are more like ‘possibilities’ that can change depending upon what instructions are given to them from the environment. Fluoroquinolone antibiotics can act as the ‘trigger’ to induce a set of instructions to the DNA that can Trigger Disease Processes such as:
Autoimmune Disease
Vision Problems, Including Blindness
Peripheral Neuropathies
Aortic Aneurysm– a potentially deadly problem
and many other serious lifelong health issues"
The Fluoroquinolone class of drugs are chemotherapeutic agents that happen to work at killing bacteria. They kill indiscriminately. Thus both undesired and healthy cells are killed. Mitochondrial disorders are also caused during this process.
The FQTR site notes that "One of the major repair mechanisms in the body is cellular division. Think of when you cut yourself and your skin heals. This process involves the current skin cells dividing to make more cells in a process known as cellular mitosis. Cellular mitosis occurs millions of times every day in virtually every part of the body."
"What happens in the case of the Fluoroquinolone antibiotics is that they damage the DNA of healthy cells. These cells then activate mechanisms to fix the damage in the body, but these mechanisms fail due to inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, or existing DNA damage. These damaged cells then end up reproducing, passing on the damaged DNA to the new cells in a vicious cycle. The fact that the Fluoroquinolone Drugs Deplete Iron, and that iron is essential in the reproduction of DNA, doesn’t help this process."
"Magnesium deficiency is a known risk factor that increases the likelihood of damage and toxic reactions from Fluoroquinolone antibiotics. This is because virtually every chemical reaction involved in mitosis requires magnesium. Ironically, not only do the Fluoroquinolones damage the cells and the cellular DNA, but they also remove magnesium from the cells, preventing the cells from repairing the damage caused to the DNA, and allowing the damaged DNA to pass from one cell to the next."
At DOCS, we continue to see patients affected by these antibiotics. You are your best health advocate. Research and do your best to understand what your health provider is asking you to do.
For more in depth information about Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, check out these sites: