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By Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D.
In a knockdown, drag-out battle for supremacy, the bugs are batting 1.000 and humans are back in the dugout. The discovery of penicillin in 1929 has long been considered one of the most significant medical advances in human history. Bacterial infections ranging from pneumonia to staphylococcus to tuberculosis -- once nearly universally fatal -- could be easily treated and usually cured.
Penicillin and a rapidly developing pharmacopoeia of newer generation antibiotics became the panacea of the 50s and 60s. Every cough and sniffle was treated with antibiotics. And, for a time, the development of new antibiotics kept pace with the innate intelligence of the bacteria they were designed to kill. Fast forward a decade or two and scientists began to notice antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.
However, discovery of these resistant strains didn't seem to set off the alarm bells in the medical community that one might expect.
Antibiotics in Our Food
Instead, farming conglomerates got into the act and began adding prodigious quantities of antibiotics to animal feed. The livestock industry uses an astounding 25 million pounds of antibiotics, 92 percent of it to promote growth, prevent disease and counter unsanitary conditions on farms and to ease the stress of shipping animals, according to Dr. Mathias Egger, a British researcher who has intensively studied the U.S. antibiotic problem. Only 2 million pounds are used for specific animal infections, the only appropriate use of these drugs.
Low concentrations of antibiotics are now measurable in nearly all of our animal-based foods and are seeping into rivers and streams from animal feed, finding their way inexorably into our water supply.
And while human antibiotic use has diminished somewhat, strains of resistant bacteria are evolving faster than new ones can be developed. Over the past two decades, hardly any new antibiotic groups have been discovered to try to trick these wily bugs.
More than 3 million pounds of antibiotics are prescribed for human use in the United States each year. Given a population of 284 million Americans, this means every man, woman and child in the U.S. gets 10 teaspoons of pure antibiotics each year.
Overuse has resulted in food-borne bacterial infections resistant to antibiotics. Salmonella is found in 20 percent of ground meat, but constant exposure of cattle to antibiotics has made salmonella resistant to at least one anti-salmonella antibiotic. Diseased animal products account for 80 percent of salmonellosis in humans or 1.4 million cases a year. Salmonellosis is not just an intestinal infection. It can damage the joints and the heart, creating chronic illness.
The conventional approach to this epidemic is to radiate food in an attempt to kill the organisms, but farmers keep using antibiotics that recreate the original problem instead of learning to keep the animals healthy naturally.
For example, approximately 20 percent of all chickens sold in the U.S. are contaminated with the Campylobacter jejuni bacteria, causing 2.4 million human cases of illness annually. Of these organisms, 54 percent are resistant to at least one anti-campylobacter antimicrobial drug.
Resistant Strains Multiply Rampantly
A new antibiotic resistant strain of tuberculosis is causing worldwide concern in the scientific community, particularly since the contagious disease is making an insidious comeback. The Public Health Research Institute has analyzed strains of tuberculosis that resist as many as nine antibiotics. Thanks in part to jet planes, resistant tuberculosis has spread over time from New York to Colorado, Florida, Nevada and even France.
Resistant bacterial strains are also evolving rapidly. A Swiss study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that no strains of the common intestinal bacteria Escherichia coli resisted antibiotics in a study period from 1983-99. But between 1991-93, 28 percent of all strains of E coli tested were resistant to all five antibiotics in the fluoroquinolone class.
Perhaps worst of all, bacteria are actually smarter than we are. In other words, they learn from our mistakes. Once a bacterial strain develops resistance, all of its offspring are also immune. And epidemiologists say when bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, they are under "selective pressure" that allows only resistant forms to survive and reproduce.
Overprescription
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has warned doctors and patients that 90 percent of upper respiratory infections, including children's ear infections, are caused by viruses, which are not affected by antibiotics. There is only one type of sore throat-causing bacteria -- group A beta-hemolytic streptococci -- that requires antibiotics. Penicillin and erythromycin are the only recommended treatments.
Nevertheless, one study that surveyed 6.7 million adult visits to the doctor between 1989-99 in which the patient complained of sore throat found antibiotics were prescribed in 73 percent of cases. Even worse, patients treated with antibiotics were given non-recommended broad spectrum antibiotics in 68 percent of these visits.
The CDC has also determined that 40 percent of the 50 million prescriptions issued by physicians' offices each year for colds and flu are inappropriate too. In 1995, Richard Besser, M.D., a pediatric and medical epidemiologist at the CDC, said 20 million unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics were issued. Eight years later, in 2003, Dr. Besser said there are "tens of millions" of unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions issued annually.
This government body also says using antibiotics when they are not needed can lead to the development of more resistant strains of bacteria that cause more than 88,000 deaths a year due to hospital-acquired infections. Twenty million unnecessary prescriptions for colds and flu does not take into account the millions of prescriptions issued unnecessarily each year for conditions such as acne, intestinal infections, skin infections and ear infections -- non-life threatening conditions that are only marginally affected by antibiotics.
Allergy to penicillin is also fairly common. While the reaction is treatable if it's caught in time, thousands suffer and 400 Americans die each year from anaphylactic reactions.
This goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: We must stop using antibiotics unnecessarily. Antibiotics have their place in cases of serious infection. They must be saved for these cases or infectious diseases will once again become major killers.
Antibiotic overuse has another insidious effect: destroying the healthy balance of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.
Antibiotic literally means 'against life.' Broad spectrum antibiotics destroy all bacteria in the digestive tract, the ones that may (or may not) be causing a problem and the ones that are vital to the digestive process and to immune function. If the healthy balance of microorganisms is not restored, yeast , especially Candida albicans, can multiply to fill in the gap.
In the intestines, at a certain critical amount in its budding form, yeast changes into an invasive form that digs into mucus membranes from the nose to anus. Candida does not necessarily invade the blood stream -- unless someone is on long-term IV antibiotics. Candida, however, has more than 179 different toxic waste products and byproducts that are related to systemic problems ranging from endometriosis to headaches, PMS, psoriasis and more. (You can find out more about candida and related conditions at our Web site.)
Anyone who takes antibiotics for any reasons can and should restore healthy microbial balance by taking a good quality probiotic. For more information on probiotics, go to www.yeastconnection.com.
The CDC's "solution"
The CDC is now targeting consumers in a $1.6 million advertising campaign called "Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work." The campaign, intended to educate patients about the overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics, should be directed at both health care professionals and consumers, however. After all, antibiotics must be prescribed by a medical professional. Doctors should know how to prescribe these medications properly and should refuse to issue inappropriate prescriptions and use the opportunity to educate their patients who request them.
Dr. Besser has responded to this suggestion by saying, "Programs that have just targeted physicians have not worked. Direct-to-consumer advertising of drugs is to blame in some cases." He also suggests the Get Smart campaign will help patients feel more comfortable about asking their doctors for the best care for their illnesses rather than asking for antibiotics.
And what exactly is the "best care" for colds and flu that run rampant this time of the year?
Dr. Besser does not elaborate and the CDC pointedly avoids the latest research on dozens of nutraceuticals scientifically proven to treat viral infections and boost the immune system.
Will doctors recommend vitamin C, echinacea, elderberry, vitamin A, zinc lozenges or homeopathic oscillococcinum? For most doctors, the answer is "probably not." The archaic solutions offered by the CDC include a radio ad that says, "Just say 'no' -- snort, sniffle, sneeze -- no antibiotics please." Their recommendations aren't anything new: Rest, drink plenty of fluids and use a humidifier.
Fortunately, the public is waking up to the many solutions for staying healthy. Remember, those "solutions" include, saving antibiotics for times when you really need them. If you must take them, be sure to take a probiotic supplement to rebuild normal intestinal flora.
Carolyn Dean, M.D., N.D., is health advisor to Woman's Health Connection at www.yeastconnection.com and is featured on the website's "Ask A Pro" page. She has written Everything Alzheimer's, The Miracle of Magnesium and Natural Prescriptions for Common Ailments. Her newest book, Hormone Balance, will be released in Spring 2005.
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