My friend got bronchitis, but her doctor didn't give her antibiotics. Why not?

People are often confused when their doctor doesn't prescribe an antibiotic for an illness like bronchitis, because antibiotics are wonder drugs, aren't they?

In fact, there's a good reason the doctor didn't prescribe an antibiotic for your friend.

It's because antibiotics kill bacteria.

But acute bronchitis is almost always caused by a virus.

So taking an antibiotic won't help.

So, what's wrong with taking antibiotics for an illness like bronchitis?

There are a couple of things wrong with it.

For one, not all bacteria are bad.

There are also good bacteria that live in your digestive system and keep it in balance.

But antibiotics can't tell the difference. They go after all bacteria.

An antibiotic will wipe out a lot of the good bacteria in your gut, and that could cause side effects like stomach cramps, nausea, and diarrhea.

So you might actually feel a lot worse than you did before.

The other problem is that if we take antibiotics when we don't need them, the medicines may not work when we do need them.

Think of it like a war.

Antibiotics are our weapon against disease-causing bacteria.

When we take an antibiotic, it rushes into the body and attacks the bacteria, killing as many as it can.

But a few of the bacteria may survive--maybe they have a tougher shell-- and they start multiplying.

Now there are more of those tougher bacteria, and our weapon can't kill them.

That's called antibiotic resistance, and it's a big problem that leads to longer and more serious infections.

So we're all be better off if we only use antibiotics when we really need them.

So are antibiotics ever prescribed for bronchitis?

They may be prescribed to people with bronchitis who have a chronic disease like asthma, COPD, or heart failure.

In those people, antibiotics can help keep bronchitis from turning into pneumonia.

But most healthy people are at low risk of pneumonia, so they don't need antibiotics.

So what should I do if I get bronchitis?

Drink plenty of fluids, use cough drops, get extra rest, and take an over-the-counter pain reliever for aches and fever.

But mainly, just give yourself time to get better.

Most cases of acute bronchitis will go away in 2 to 3 weeks.