Antibiotics - Too Much Of A Good Thing?-Y's Health

Antibiotics - Too Much Of A Good Thing?: By:Craig Burton; Antibiotics have long been seen as a panacea – but is it possible to have too much of of a good thing? Some commentators certainly think so.

“It is ironic that this humble fungus, hailed as a benefactor of mankind may by its very success prove to be a deciding factor in the decline of the present civilization”, says Dr. John I Pitt, The Genus Penicillin, 1979. (1)

The Soil Association is also worried, saying: “MRSA, the hospital super bug, arose through overuse of penicillin-type drugs in human medicine…it continues to mutate. This is a doomsday scenario and could cause massive loss of life.” (2)

“Our overuse of medical antibiotics has reduced the human gut to a burned-out minefield, destroying the good guys along with the bad guys,” points out Dr. Jordan Rubin in The Maker’s Diet. (3)

Is this another case of certain groups and individuals over-dramatising and scaremongering? Or should we be doing something to mitigate the effects of an excess of antibiotics?

There is no doubt that antibiotics currently save many lives. So the purpose of this article is not to demonise them but to examine their role (including their overuse in many cases), and to outline some essential strategies to reduce their potentially damaging effects on the body. We will examine the following areas below:

• The internal ecosystem: a delicate balance
• A brief history of antibiotics
• What are antibiotics used for?
• Are they being abused?
• Symptoms of an imbalance
• Suggestions from Dr. David Holland (co-author – The Fungus Link)

The internal ecosystem: a delicate balance

This article is based on the following essential principle: "There is a delicate balance or symbiosis that exists of micro organisms within the body that when altered can lead to disease."

A healthy human adult has about three to four pounds of beneficial bacteria and fungi living within her/his intestines. These microbes compete for nutrients from the food you consume. The beneficial bacteria (like probiotics) keep the bad guys (like yeast) in check and cause them to produce nutrients like B vitamins. (1)

The normal ratio is around 85% good bacteria and 15% bad micro organisms. Now unfortunately most people show the reverse ratio. One reason for this shift is through the use of antibiotics. (4)

A brief history of antibiotics

Antibiotics are also known as anti-bacterials, anti-microbials and mycotoxins.

In 1928 Alexander Fleming accidentally stumbled across penicillin when he noticed that a mould (fungi) had contaminated agar plate upon which he had tried to harvest bacteria. Bacteria near the mould died. This led scientists down the path of antibiotics in treating infectious diseases.

But fungi were actually the first organisms found to cause infectious diseases in humans. Schoenlein (1790 – 1864) linked fungi to ringworm (fungal infection) and began the fight against fungi until Fleming led the new drive against bacteria and later viruses. (1)

What are antibiotics used for?

Antibiotics only work against infections caused by bacteria. (5)

Therefore they do not work against viruses or fungal infections. According to the American College of Physicians, 70% of all antibiotics dispensed are for upper respiratory infection (URI) including bronchitis, sinusitis and pharyngitis.

However according to the Paediatric Infectious Disease Journal, antibiotics are often ineffective in these cases. (6)

A growing number of medical professionals assert that most URI’s are not caused by bacteria but fungi. (1,7)

In 1999, the prestigious Mayo Clinic announced that researchers had discovered the real cause of chronic sinusitis – 95 % of patients suffered from a fungal, not bacterial, infection. (2)

Two out of three infants receive antibiotics before they turn one year old according to the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. (7)

Now you may do your best to avoid taking antibiotics, but if you are consuming commercially farmed animals you are most certainly getting a regular dose. U.S. pharmaceutical firms produce more than 35 million pounds of antibiotics each year, and animals receive the vast majority, which is a good reason for paying more for grass-fed, free-range and organic meats. (8)

This information is not new, it just takes time to get it out there. The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and American Academy of Paediatrics published guidelines for the appropriate use of antibiotics and this resulted in a 41% decrease in prescriptions to children under 4, according to one study. But the problem (many in the medical profession believe) is the lack of attention to diet and insufficient measures to reduce the effect of antibiotics. (7)