Overuse Of Antibiotics Makes You Immune Against It

Posted on 22. Nov, 2009 by emmadeangela in Story

Do you routinely pop an antibiotic when the first few signs of coughs and colds kick in? Well, the virus behind coughs and colds do not respond to antibiotics. And not only will you not be healed, but you are actually increasing your risk of developing resistance to antibiotics!

The Threat of Powerless Antibiotics

Experts at the European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) recently released a statement that the use of antibiotics, even when not necessary, is only contributing to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant infections. The agency fears that modern medicine will reach a point when antibiotics will be powerless against life-threatening infections.

It’s not surprising why, today, so-called superbugs exist. One of these superbugs that have proven to be a problem in hospitals worldwide is methicillin-resistant Staphyloccus aureus, or MRSA. Just how frightening is this scenario? This superbug is accountable for around 25,000 deaths per year in Europe, and around 19,000 in the US.

In the future, when antibiotic-resistance reaches full blast, several different medical procedures will be unfeasible to perform. Organ transplants and cancer therapies would be more threatening than life-saving. Even newborns would be suffering and deprived of medical caring that they’d need.

Resistance from Animals to Humans

Even if you stay away from unnecessary intake of antibiotics, still you could get the resistance from a different approach. Did you know that antibiotics are excessively used on farm animals? And did you know that when these farm animals develop antibiotic-resistance, it may be passed onto you when you consume them?

According to the European Food Safety Authority, or EFSA, some of the resistant microorganisms involved in human diseases, such as salmonella and campylobacter, are actually spread through the foods that humans eat. This is due to the antibiotics given to farm animals via their food and water.

The association also revealed that antibiotic-resistant MRSA and E. coli are now affecting farm animals in some countries, and may potentially be passed to the consumers. That is why EFSA believes that antibiotics should be given to farm animals only when necessary. They are urging the government to launch a drive to reduce the administering of antibiotics on farm animals, as well as ban the advertisement of such to the farmers themselves.

The Need for Alternative Remedy

It’s not anymore surprising why, as these facts get more and more accessible to the public, natural cures and home remedies are becoming popular these days. The idea of a future where our doctors and powerful medications can do nothing to save lives is indeed scary.

All-natural alternatives to conventional antibiotics, if used according to instructions, pose no untoward or threatening effects to the overall health. Used for many centuries now, some of nature’s bounty prove to be as effective, if not more powerful, as today’s pharmaceutical antibiotics. Some of them include garlic, aloe vera, honey, tea tree oil, and many others.

Natural cures and remedies have always been popular in Asia and the Far East. Nowadays, they’re also becoming more and more widely used in the US and other parts of the world. And it’s not unlikely that you hear about doctors also encouraging the use of all-natural remedies in line with modern treatments.

A quick browse through the internet will show you how popular natural cures and home remedies are nowadays. There’s a reason why they’re not worn out through the passing of time: they work. Times like this when we are threatened by ill effects of abusing pharmaceutical antibiotics, it seems a wise move to turn to alternative and natural means of healing.

Tags: antiboitics, Natural Remedies