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Antibiotics are a bedrock of modern medicine. But in the very near future, we're going to have to learn to live without them once again. And it's going to get nasty
Are you ready for a world without antibiotics? Within 10 years the era of antibiotics may draw to a close
Seeded on Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:20 AM EDT
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- Public Discussion (16)
That's really a terrifying reality. Anti-biotics aren't just the cure for various childhood ailments that make your kid snotty and miserable, they also make it possible for us to treat cancer (without them opportunistic infection tends to wipe out patients) and deal with infections in old age too.
- 4 votes
#1 - Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:27 AM EDTYou can effectively thank the millions and millions of idiots that took anti-biotics for a day or two until they felt better and then stored them for the next person they knew that got sick and gave them one pill to make them feel better.
Once again the stupidity of humans is the reason for our failures.
- 3 votes
#2 - Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:59 AM EDTGood seed. I think an important point in the article is that this needs to be an international issue. I once worked with an organization that provided medicines, including TB drugs, to 3rd world countries. One of the biggest problems we faced was ensuring that recipients completed the full course of drugs, and those areas ended up with a high percentage of drug resistant diseases. Of course, I have the same battle with my mom in the US, and she was a nurse. (sigh)
- 3 votes
#3 - Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:35 PM EDTMy initial impression... this lady's a nutter! but what she's saying is partially true, i think. The article is written like a fear piece, like all the swine flu bull @!$%# that passed by without an issue... No one can predict a specific time for the "end of antibiotics" especially this hack.
With that said there is a war going on in all hospitals in america (the world) against these super resistant bacteria. Some are winning. I think she's right, partially right, going into a hospital now is more dangerous than during the golden age of antibiotics... But no bacteria is resistant to a little 70% alcohol. The "gels" she mentioned are what's winning this war. destroying the bacteria while it's on the doctors/nurses hands before it gets spread to the immuno-comprimised chemo patient... In Better and Atul Guwande illustrates this really well in just one chapter. It's something like 99% of compliance (hand washing before and after entering every patient room, every time) is ridding hospitals of all traces of MRSA and Staph...
As far as having an appendix surgery now as apposed to when no antibiotics are available, it's preferable for sure... but! The techniques and knowledge are always improving... And then there's technology. My appendix was removed through 3 small cuts, not even really open to infection, using a little @!$%#ing camera! how cool is that! this itself reduces the chance of infection down to 1 in 1000 (or lower with skilled hands).
So... I don't really know. It's freaky to think about for sure. and yes it could mean that older folks that are getting pneumonia are put six feet under a few years sooner, but our immune systems are evolving right along side these nasty bugs. An apocalyptic situation is soooo unlikely; billions of bodies, trillions of bacteria (most harmless) all evolving together, always.
We'll be ok. Sarah Boseley can go to hell.
But! one interesting thing... we should be giving our bodies the best chance at fighting these wee beasties... turns out because of all the exposure to nasty bugs these faceless masses she mentioned in India would most likely outlive our antibiotic infused asses if it ever came down to it!
I had a paper saved talking about the lack of bacterial fluara in the guts of the privileged citizens of industrialized nations and how it's hurting our fitness... but i can't find it.
Another unmentioned tidbit... bioengineering is just awakening as is the field of quarum sensing and countless other discoveries about the microbial world (we know so little). Who's to say that a lab somewhere in the world doesn't find a way to disrupt bacterial communication, or attack it with micro RNA, or...
But this doesn't even matter... humans have lived well without antibiotics for much longer than with. So yes Sarah B. we are ready for a world without antibiotics, not that anyone can predict this. You're article is just white noise.
Sincerely and optimistically informed,
Matt LaBella
- 1 vote
#4 - Thu Aug 12, 2010 1:32 PM EDTHey I'm curious, if one doesn't take a bunch of antibiotics for everything, wouldn't they work better when you do? We try to avoid food with said antibodies, and just plain don't go to the doctor for every little sniffle.... Just curious...
Yeah I have to agree with you people who are exposed to it are more likely to evolve to deal with it. Just like Europeans became somewhat immune to small pox, and it knocked out several Native Americans...
Hey I'm curious, if one doesn't take a bunch of antibiotics for everything, wouldn't they work better when you do?
Not really. Antibiotic resistance isn't like a drug tolerance where your body gets used to the chemical. Bacteria are evolving to survive in their environment and, since the discovery of antibiotics, that environment has contained a lot more of them.
Even if you don't take antibiotics someone else who does serves as a great evolutionary impetus for antibiotic bacteria to evolve and thrive and if you become exposed to those bacteria you'll also find antibiotics ineffective, regardless of how often you've personally used them in the past.
- 2 votes
Hey I'm curious, if one doesn't take a bunch of antibiotics for everything, wouldn't they work better when you do?
Unfortunately, it doesn't always work that way. One example is the high number of children taking antibiotics for strep throat, which has created a drug resistant version of strep. Even if you've never taken an antibiotic, and you are ill with a drug resistant strain, antibiotics previously used will no longer have the desired effect.
Years ago, most kids just stayed home from school until they were well, but in this day and age, most cases of strep are immediately treated with antibiotics to get the kids back in school. In my jurisdiction, parents get a nasty letter on truancy after 6 days of absense. But this policy has exacerbated the growth of drug resistant strains of childhood illnesses, and our area has seen an increase in hospitalization for children with these illnesses, because the antibiotics aren't working.
As someone above said, this article seems over the top with fear threats, but the issue is real, and I've yet to see many people take it seriously. Parents demand antibiotics (often for illnesses that won't even benefit from the use of antibiotics) and many doctors just prescribe to avoid the battle.
Yeah people really ought to listen to their doctors, and if necessary do get a second opinion, but if the second opinion matches what you got the first time, it's probably right.
I know people who demand medicine and surgery they don't need because some commercial or quack has convinced them they should.
I have the sense to realize it is my body, but I didn't go to medical school for all those years either.
Also, if you're diligent about gargling with hot salt water you can generally beat a case of strep in a few days if you've got a healthy immune system.
Note: I am not a doctor; you shouldn't take medical advice from me in lieu of consulting a physician.
- 1 vote
4.5 Killfile: I agree -- unless you have a 5 year old bringing it home from school every other week. LOL
I remember childhood strep as a sore throat and mild fever, and for the most part that's what my son had, but he'd get well, go to school, and come back a week later with the same symptoms. It was a real problem from October through June. I'm not big on constant doctor visits and medication, but after multiple truancy letters, even I had to cave -- after 10 days of absence in our district, you're required to provide doctor's verification of illness.
But the antibiotics didn't work. It wasn't a huge deal for my family, but others had kids with very high fevers, which were lasting more than a week. The school sent home letters stating that they were battling multiple strains of drug resistant strep.
Thankfully, we haven't had a repeat of that year, but one wonders.
Matt:
i think. The article is written like a fear piece
No, it's not a "fear piece". If u've been paying attention over the decades, u would have understood that various bugs get immune to the various meds, therefore new and more powerful drugs r needed. We're running out of combination's of drugs. It has to do w immunity. And our own body's way it fights something. If we "rely" on a pill or a shot to make us feel better, and overuse that drug, our body builds up an immunity to it. Then if we get sick again, it won't work...
- 3 votes
It doesn't necessarily have to be so scary, people just have to pay attention and stop expecting a quick-fix pill all the time.
- 4 votes
#5 - Mon Aug 16, 2010 1:49 PM EDTThanks for posting this article as well. It gives hope to what appears to be a hopeless situation.
- 1 vote
Exactly there are no quick fixes... Just because there's a pill for it, that doesn't mean it's a good thing.
- 1 vote
Shannoscubie: Excellent article! Another reason we should look at this as an international issue.
- 1 vote
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