The Harm that Over-Prescribing Antibiotics Can Do

We have reached a time in our health care system where many health authorities are now beginning to admit that the over prescribing of antibiotics is creating a problem that is much worse than the original illnesses.

Antibiotics first began use in the 1940s and everyone agrees that antibiotics were a great advancement in medicine. But the over prescribing of these drugs has resulted in the development of bacteria that are now resistant to most known antibiotics that might have worked well in the past.

Not only is there the problem with bacteria that are resistant – there is also another problem when it comes to the antibiotics themselves. The human intestine has an extremely delicate ecology where certain bacteria help to digest food, others produce certain vitamins, and generally all maintain a certain harmony of organisms that stop harmful bacteria or yeast from reproducing.

The wide-spectrum antibiotics that are often prescribed disturb this normal balance and can lead to parasitic infections, loss of minerals, vitamin deficiencies, diarrhea, and malabsorption, inflammation of the gut and allergies to food – and all of this due to the imbalance to the normal flora in the intestines.

Most cold or flu like symptoms that individuals normally get are mostly caused by viruses and antibiotics cannot kill viruses – viruses just have to run their course. But for decades physician were prescribing antibiotics for illnesses that were probably caused by viruses.

Antibiotics may also cause other health problems. They often interact with food chemicals and other medications, such as aspartame to cause allergic reactions. These reactions to antibiotics are quite common and most antibiotics contain sugar or sugar-free chemicals, chemical colors, and other extracts that can cause a very severe health reaction.

Under normal conditions, Candida albicans, which is common yeast, lives very peacefully and in equilibrium with other flora in the intestines and elsewhere in the body which keeps the yeast in check. Taking an antibiotic change everything in the intestines, by suppressing the normal flora, this stimulates a yeast infection growth.

When this happens, the yeast can move in and take over and more problems often result. At first it causes diarrhea, Irritable bowel syndrome symptoms to appear, and a yeast infection typically develops. One of the major risk factors for chronic Candida is the repeated use of antibiotics.

Antibiotic resistance is a problem that is widespread, and a problem that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC call the world’s most persistent problem to public health. Bacteria that were at one time highly reactive to antibiotics have become more and more resistant to some of our strong antibiotics.

Ones that are becoming harder to treat are infections from the pneumococcal bacterium which can cause pneumonia, ear infections, infections of the sinuses and meningitis, skin infections, and even tuberculosis. Problems that have been easy to take care of are now in many places killing patients all because of antibiotic resistance.

A much more balanced method to avoid the use of antibiotics is to enhance and keep the immune system strong. When an infection occurs, stimulate the body’s natural immune system with natural alternative measures immediately. Frequently, the natural means work very well and you have reserved the antibiotics for when they are really needed, which is usually as a last resort.

Here are some natural remedies:
• Colloidal silver
• Carob powder
• Honey
• Extract from Grapefruit seeds
• Molkosan which is derived from concentrated whey
• Tea tree oil
• St. John’s Wort (hypericum)
• Olive leaf extract (calcium elenolate)

Summary: This article deals with the over prescription of antibiotics and the problems created as a result. Natural remedies and alternatives are discussed.



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By: Clifford H Woods

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