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Over-prescription of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance,
and affects the ability of bacteria to survive antibiotic treatment. That’s
very important because if antibiotics do not work for infections, there
isn’t much else that will. Now that’s a scary thought.
A recent study of patients hospitalized for respiratory infections found
that in those who were diagnosed with a viral infection (antibiotics will
not help a viral infection) and who also had a normal chest x-ray (which
detects pneumonia that is often due to a bacterial infection), 63 percent
were still prescribed antibiotics! Is it just habit to prescribe
them perhaps?
Surprise, surprise: Those patients were found to
NOT benefit from the antibiotic treatment, and in fact,
some went on to develop the antibiotic-associated Clostridium
difficile infection.
This over-prescription of antibiotics is widespread,
and is putting people at risk of developing dangerous
infections such as C. diff, MRSA, E. coli and Klebsiella
infections. In fact, two bacteria strains that carry
a specific gene (NDM-1) have recently been in the news.
Why? Because bacteria that carry
this gene are resistant to almost all antibiotics, including
last-resort antibiotics currently being used when
the more common ones fail.
So, next time your doctor wants to prescribe an antibiotic,
be sure that it’s being used for a bacterial infection
and not a viral infection. And if you are being prescribed
an antibiotic for a bacterial infection, a helpful way
to support gut bacterial balance is to use a high-potency
probiotic supplement.
Yours in Health,
Brenda Watson, CNC |
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