Antibiotics: Friend or Foe? - There is no doubt that antibiotics have saved
numerous lives since their development. But many
health care providers in the past have seen them as a
panacea for all ailments including viral infections that
are not affected by antibiotic therapy. They have been
overused and with disastrous results. Antibiotics are
used to help the body in fighting infection, but unfortunately,
they also may encourage recurrent infections
caused by a destruction of the good as well as the bad
bacteria lowering the immune function and leading to
a dependence on antibiotics. Because of an overuse and
misuse of antibiotics, some forms of bacteria are now
resistant to them. Diseases which were aided with
antibiotic therapy are now resistant to the treatment.
Antibiotics are sometimes prescribed by physicians
even when they are not appropriate.4
Medical professionals almost felt guilty a few years
ago when not prescribing some form of antibiotic
when patients visited the office. After all, what good is
a doctor if the patient does not leave with a cure.
Fortunately, most doctors now know the detrimental
affects that can follow excessive and inappropriate use
of antibiotics. Most doctors now will be honest and up
front with their patients when there is not a cure-all
answer to their problem. An investigative reporter a
few years ago visited a number of physicians around the
country asking for antibiotics. It was interesting to note
that almost all of the physicians agreed to prescribing
antibiotics upon the patients request even when it wasn’t
warranted. In being confronted after, most replied
that they had to do what the patient asked in order to
keep their practice flourishing. No wonder antibiotic
overuse has resulted in drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
The negative affects of antibiotics are well known.
Antibiotics interfere with the growth of bacteria, both
good and bad. But they are crafty creatures and have
the ability of changing their ...
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