Drug resistance of bacteria is becoming an epidemic in this country and I am sure around many places in the world as antibiotics have been overly prescribed fo decades now.
But, I dont think it is only the bacteria that are becoming resistant, it is the people they are using them on. People are becoming resistant because they have had countless prescriptions given to them over the course of their lives and now-guess what-they don't work anymore!
Western medicine is at a point, sooner than I imagined, that they are starteing to see the changes in approach that need to be made. More and more reearch is being done on the use of probiotics and the impact the internal gut microbes are having on our immune systems.
Hopefully, this trend will continue and less focus will be placed upon drug companies enriching themselves on precription sales and more money will be focused on delivering good, responsible healthcare.
I have personally seen so many people's lives be negatively impacted by having been victimized by antibiotic overuse not knowing or understanding how devastating it would be. I myself, when young was one of those people and It definitely cahnged the course of my life. However, everyday is a new day. It is never too late to change the way you approach your health. It is not only the Western doctors and researchers that need to change their perspecitve, but, also the people they are treating/impacting. We need to change our expectations and as that demand changes, this will contribute to the shifting of tides in a braoder way.
Holistic medicines of many kinds encomapss the ability to tret the patient as well as "the bug". This is why we are not finding resistance as an issue. We treat the whole...isticly:) http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/sep/16/cdc-drug-resistance-antib...
Dr.M
Comments
I agree with everything you
I agree with everything you have mentioned but wanted to include that eating meat and chicken and dairy products from animals that have been raised with antibiotics can also contribute to this antibiotic resistant issue. If you can eat organically grown products, it is in your best interests.
Sue
HOW TIMELYSue and Dr.
HOW TIMELYSue and Dr. Brizman! I was thinking of ICAMA's work this morning when I heard a broadcast on KQED's Forum program (Anyone can listen around the world to this great radio show)
Below is a link to the podcast: "Antibiotic Use in Livestock Tied to Drug Resistant infections". I wrote in to the show to mention alternative treatment of infections. But the researchers and doctors were talking about limiting antibiotic use and rotating antibiotics which was not what I was hoping for. However, at least they were alarmed at how hard it is to treat "common" infections and they mentioned drug-resistant e-coli infections in the case of UTIs! The analogy was that we are all living in a big swimming pool, and the animals, their feces and antibiotics they eat everyday are just at one end of the pool that we are all swiming in!
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201309180900
If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.
Thanks for sharing Dr. M and
Thanks for sharing Dr. M and Mimi! Brings to mind the documentary, Food, Inc. I just cringe watching other consumers continue to eat non-organic food and driving to work hearing the McDonald's commercials talking about how fresh and local the products are. Not all false, could be local, but Midwest is known for its large cattle corn feed lots (where I am sure are given hormones and antibiotics for their high yield), Monsanto farms, and the professor from our local university touted for developing the technology to make processed piggy meat concoctions. Gross!! Hopefully as Western Dr's change their practice and more consumers learn about the side effects caused by over use of antibiotics and consuming non-organic food this epidemic of drug resistant strains of bacteria will not be such an issue. There is definitely a long way to go, but hope for the future!
My husband and I were talking
My husband and I were talking about htis recently. We are definitely the "weird" ones around my neighborhood as far as our health and eating practices. i always try to remember that everyone is differnet and my way in general isn't necessarily the "right"' one. The only issue is that my choices (organic local farm meat, no antibiotics, no hand sanitizer etc) don't negatively affect my neighbors, both figuratively and literally. Their choices, on t he other hand, could really negatively affect me and my family and the health of all of us- If at some point one of us truly needed an antibiotic and it no longer worked
Thanks