I am struck by all the articles related to antibiotic abuse and drug interactions. How has the agent of much of the increase in our life span also, increased our morbidity? Prior to penicillin coming into common use around 1940, our biggest killers were infectious diseases such as pneumonia, syphilis and gonorrhea, all controlled with the advent of antibiotics. Now our mortality is at risk from super bugs. How did this happen?
A known problem with antibiotics is that all bacteria are killed, not just the “bad” bacteria. The most numerous cell structure in our body is bacteria. Bacteria in our gut, the “good bacteria” are vital to the development of the immune system, in fighting disease-causing microorganisms, and to digesting food and absorbing nutrients. On one level we are just a very sophisticated host. And now infectious bacteria are getting stronger and resistant, and the drugs just keep getting more and more harsh. It is not uncommon for multiple antibiotics to be taken in treating one course of a disease. Antibiotic overuse/abuse, in research, has been shown to linked to the creation of drug-resistant bacteria, associated with the rise in obesity, linked to an increase in sudden death, correlated with an increase in breast cancer. Diseases that were once easily treatable now often incurable which leads to chronic diseases with increasing morbidity. Not surprisingly, immune deficient disorders are, also, on the rise.
The really frightening and maddening aspect is big agribusiness and their partner, big government, complicit agreement to continue to allow antibiotics in our food supply. An astonishing 80% of all antibiotics is used in feed given to poultry, cows and other animals that people eat! Vegetarians are not safe either as vegetable fields can be contaminated by animal waste spilling into irrigation.
Five easy steps to protect yourself?
1. Do not eat animal products given antibiotics as a growth agent.
2. Do not take antibiotics frivolously. Talk to your doctor prior to taking a prescription.
3. Use plain soap, not anti-bacterial soap. Limit anti-bacterial wipes to objects.
4. Ingest probiotics and fermented foods such as kombucha, miso, sauerkraut or kimchee on a daily basis. Grow your own internal healthy bacteria.
5. Get mad. Let your elected representatives know altering our food supply for profit is not OK. We are killing the Golden Goose. Don’t be mislead.