An antibacterial drug that is used in the treatment of urinary tract infection. Nitrofurantoin should be taken with food to reduce the risk of stomach irritation, abdominal pain, and nausea. More rarely, breathing difficulty, numbness, and jaundice occur.
A synthetic nitrofuran derivative which has a wide range of antibacterial activity and is e?ective against many gram-positive and gram-negative (see GRAM’S STAIN) micro-organisms. It is used mainly in the treatment of infections of the lower URINARY TRACT.
n. a drug used to treat bacterial infections of the urinary system. It may cause nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea, and skin rashes.
A type of haemolytic ANAEMIA, attacks of which occur within an hour or two of eating broad beans (Vicia fava). It is a hereditary disease due to lack of an essential ENZYME called glucose-6phosphate dehydrogenase, which is necessary for the continued integrity of the red cell. This defect is inherited as a sex-linked dominant trait, and the red cells of patients with this abnormality have a normal life-span until challenged by certain drugs or fava beans when the older cells are rapidly destroyed, resulting in haemolytic anaemia. Fourteen per cent of African-Americans are affected and 60 per cent of Yemenite Jews in Israel. The perpetuation of the gene is due to the greater resistance against MALARIA that it carries. Severe and even fatal HAEMOLYSIS has followed the administration of the antimalarial compounds pamaquine and primaquine in sensitive individuals. These red cells are sensitive not only to fava beans and primaquine but also to sulphonamides, acetanilide, phenacetin, para-aminosalicyclic acid, nitrofurantoin, probenecid and vitamin K analogues.... favism
Health Encyclopedia