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Health Hack: Bring an Antibiotic When Traveling Abroad

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Health Hack: Bring an Antibiotic When Traveling Abroad

May 03, 2019

What would you do if you develop a urinary tract infection while traveling abroad? On today鈥檚 Health Hack, emergency physician Dr. Troy Madsen explains why bringing an antibiotic with you when traveling may save your vacation.

Episode Transcript

Announcer: "Health Hacks" with Dr. Troy Madsen, on The Scope.

Dr. Madsen: Today's health hack is having an antibiotic in your bag when you travel. The antibiotic I really have in mind here is Ciprofloxacin. And the reason for it is urinary tract infections. So if you're female and you're traveling, you may have experienced this before. I mean anyone could experience it, but urinary tract infections are more likely in females. And if you're traveling and you experience a urinary tract infection, you know how miserable this can be.

If you're in a foreign country or just even another city, just trying to get in to find health care, interrupt your plans, getting the help you need to get a prescription for exactly what you know you need can be an incredible headache. So I think it's not at all unreasonable if you're going on a big trip or, you know, if you meet with your doctor just to ask them, "Can I get a prescription for an antibiotic to have on hand for this kind of situation?"

I think it's a reasonable thing to have. Typically you know when you have a urinary tract infection, and studies that have been done have shown that if a person feels like they're having a urinary tract infection, they're probably right.

So the health hack here is have an antibiotic on hand. Ciprofloxacin is one that I recommend that works very well for urinary tract infections. Take it with you when you travel. If you have symptoms of urinary tract infection, you can take this, avoid a trip to an ER or to some health care facility in a foreign country.

Announcer: For more health hacks, check out thescoperadio.com. Produced by 麻豆学生精品版.