Better Healthcare Means Careful Use Of Antibiotics
Overusing antibiotics speeds up the process of bacteria mutating to become resistant. We need to be prudent in our use of antibiotics.
At the same time, we need to remember that although we can’t kill off all the bacteria, that’s really a good thing. Not all bacteria cause disease, and some are quite beneficial.
We can wage a smarter war against the bad guys however. To help slow down the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria we need to:
1. Use Antibiotics Only When Necessary!
Don’t walk into the doctor’s office expecting an antibiotic for every sniffle. Face the fact that some things need time to get better, and only time, NOT antibiotics! And if the doctor gives you an antibiotic every time you visit, start asking if it’s really necessary, and what exactly he or she is treating.
2. Take Antibiotics Correctly.
When you do take an antibiotic, take the entire course of treatment as prescribed. To quit taking your pills the minute you start to feel better is a bad idea. Not all the disease causing bacteria are likely gone, just knocked down. If you quit taking your medication too soon, the more resistant little devils will start raising havoc once more, and you’ll be sick again. And this time, you’ve got more resistant microbes to deal with. Not good.
Take only those antibiotics that have been prescribed for you, not someone else’s leftovers. Every antibiotic doesn’t treat every germ. Most have a specific bacteria they target. If you take an antibiotic that targets a different bacteria than the one you have, you’ve wasted your time and delayed getting the right stuff to make you better. The wrong drug won’t be killing off the germs making you sick, and to add insult to injury, you’ll be helping build some of those resistant dudes. You need to take the right antibiotic.
3. Eat Antibiotic Free Food.
Read the labels when you go to the grocery store. Buy meats that have been raised organically, or at least look for “Antibiotic Free” somewhere on the label. As consumers are becoming more aware of the problems with antibiotics in their food they are creating a demand for foods that are antibiotic-free.
If you can’t find such foods in your grocery stores, try a local farmer. People growing food sustainably or organically will not be using antibiotics as growth promoters.
Europe has already moved away from using sub-clinical doses of antibiotics in agriculture. We need to make the same shift here in the U.S.
4. Cleanliness For Better Healthcare.
Proper hand washing technique is a good thing. You’ve probably seen the commercials that ran showing people washing their hands while singing a children’s song. Getting clean hands helps prevent spreading viruses such as those that cause colds as well as disease causing bacteria.
However, using antibacterial soap isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee voted unanimously on October 20, 2005 that there was a lack of evidence supporting the benefit of consumer products including handwashes, bodywashes, etc., containing antibacterial additives over similar products not containing antibacterial additives.
Since on one hand, there’s no evidence antibacterial soaps help, and on the other hand, there’s some evidence there’s a link between antibacterial soaps and bacterial resistance, why take the chance? Regular soaps will clean just as effectively without the specter of creating antibiotic resistant bacteria.
5. Go Pro for Better Healthcare
Ever hear of probiotics? Many years ago when I worked as a pediatric nurse, pediatricians routinely prescribed them when giving antibiotics. I think they fell away from that, but maybe it will become another fad in healthcare again.
At any rate, probiotics are defined as microorganisms that “may improve health when taken in sufficient quantities”. The idea behind probiotics is to keep the beneficial bacteria in plentiful supply.
There are a variety of probiotics available. The CDC is monitoring research on their use, but there hasn’t been enough research to meet their criteria to make positive recommendations. However, it would seem prudent to at least take a course of probiotics after taking antibiotics as a way to build back up the good bacteria in your body.
Germ Warfare For Better Healthcare
There isn’t a quick fix to the problem we’ve created by overusing antibiotics. The fact that every antibiotic will eventually become useless as the bacteria become resistant to it isn’t going to disappear just because it’s inconvenient.
The problem is here and now and the problem is real. We need to all take whatever steps we can to protect ourselves from antibiotic resistant bacteria, and to help slow their spread.
No one wants to go back to the FDA’s description of a world “…faced with previously treatable diseases that have again become untreatable, as in the days before antibiotics were developed.”
[click to continue…]