THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF ANTIBIOTICS

Over the last few years, antibiotic use in humans and livestock has become one of the hottest debates in the medical field.   Some advocate for continued strong use of antibiotics, while others feel that antibiotic prescription should be decreased to only the most life threatening instances.  This is a problem for many industries, including the agricultural sector, as most farm animals are injected with antibiotics from the time they are born until the day they ‘buy the farm.’  This problem is one that cannot be easily fixed, so the debate will likely rage on for quite some time.  It’s time to get informed about the practices around antibiotics.

THE GOOD

Antibiotics have basically one job: they inhibit growth or kill any bacteria that they come in contact with.  Some fight certain bacteria while they ignore others, which is why there are over 100 different strains of antibiotics.  Regardless of the bad press that antibiotics have gotten in recent years, they do their job very well, which is why they are prescribed so often.  Antibiotics were first developed in the early 1900’s and, together with vaccinations, nearly eradicated many infectious diseases.  But, because of their perceived ‘miraculous’ powers, they began to be overused.

THE BAD

As the 20th century went on, more and more people were given antibiotics for more and more diseases.  Sinus infections: antibiotics.  Ear infections: antibiotics. Antibiotics even made their way into our food.  Farmers would inject their animals with antibiotics in order to avoid disease and death amongst their investment.  These antibiotics, of course, would stay in the animals all the way up to when we ate them, meaning that the antibiotics would then be transferred into our bloodstreams and bodies.  This may seem as though it would be a great thing: humans receiving this miracle drug through their food would help keep down infectious disease and make us healthier.

THE UGLY

Sadly, this is not the case.  The antibiotics given to livestock make their way into our bodies through more than just their meat. Milk, eggs, and even the waste that runs off into streams that make up water supplies were filled with the drugs.  Slowly but surely, the bacterial infections that were once the enemy of antibiotics began to evolve and become more resistant towards the medicines.  Penicillin based antibiotics, which were once viewed as the ‘Holy Grail’ of treatment for certain diseases, have recently become almost obsolete against certain strains of bacteria.  Some bacterial infections have even become completely immune to antibiotic treatment.  This means that more of a different strain of antibiotics has to be used to combat the disease, making it more immune to those strains, so on and so forth.

It’s easy to see why overuse of antibiotics has become such a hot-button issue.  They may work wonders for fighting against bacterial disease, but overuse of antibiotics will cause more harm in the long run than the good they cause now.  The debate will surely rage on, and it’s unclear where it will end up, but understanding what the debate actually entails can help the normal person make an informed decision about antibiotic use.

Here at Pierre Physician Group, we want to curb medicinal use as much as we can, and we do so with preventive care.  We want to catch certain conditions that may arise before they’re even thought of, and we want to help you get the healthy lifestyle you deserve.  Click the button below to make an appointment with us.  With one click, you could be on your way to a better life.

Sources:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/03/25/4165123.htm

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-32034195

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/24/pesticides-antibiotic-resistance-study

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/03/the-next-big-antibiotic-resistance-threat/388430/