Antibiotics are widely prescribed for infections. These drugs work by either killing bacteria or interfering with their reproduction. They are readily available, easy to take, and have been of great benefit in serious or life-threatening illnesses.
Antibiotics however have become ubiquitous. All of us have taken them, even for minor illnesses. There is today a knee-jerk tendency to rush to antibiotics for almost any kind of ailment. If a patient demanding antibiotics is not accommodated, she goes across the street to another doctor. In many parts of the world, they can be obtained without medical examination or prescription.
But this excessive use of antibiotics is not always necessary and may even be harmful. I would like to look with you at the rationale for using antibiotics and argue they are not always necessary.
Let’s take a couple of steps back. For thousands of years (actually, until the 1940s), otherwise healthy humans survived their minor infections without antibiotics. Certainly the very young, the elderly, the infirm, the immunologically compromised did become seriously ill and often died. During times of bacterial infection even otherwise young and healthy people died. But for most people, most of the time, minor bacterial infections were managed without such drugs. How?
First, our immune system can deal quite well with bacteria, providing (an important qualifier!) that we are otherwise healthy. A sore throat, a sinusitis, a minor chest infection will normally run its limited course as our immune defenses overcome the bacterial invaders. Our immune system has evolved over untold millennia and continues to evolve as bacteria simultaneously evolve. On a cellular level, it is the ultimate race for survival, and it usually doesn’t require extraneous antibiotics.
Second, we can inhibit bacterial or viral pathogens by eating natural foods with an antimicrobial effect. Garlic is the classic example, citrus fruits another, but there are many others, usually from alternative medicine lore. Vitamin and mineral supplements (such as zinc for the management of viral colds) are also useful.
Third, we can reduce our risk of exposure by minimizing contact with obviously infected people, washing our hands, covering our faces, and other public health measures. Topical cleansing and reasonable personal hygiene are all part of prevention.
But, you may say, why not use antibiotics if we have them? After all, they seem to work just fine for most infections. Well, for several reasons.
First, antibiotics can destroy bacteria indiscriminately, including beneficial ones that form the body’s normal flora. Yeast infections developing with the use of broad spectrum antibiotics are due to a loss of normal “healthy” bacteria and the overgrowth of other pathogens.
Secondly, when antibiotics are taken in a suboptimal dose, some bacteria will survive, mutate, and develop resistance. As a result, the resistant strain can now re-invade and then not respond to the next course of antibiotics. The pharmaceutical industry is in a constant race to stay one step ahead of the bugs. And we are losing the race.
Third, antibiotics may have side effects such as diarrhea, or skin rash, which then require prescriptions for additional drugs.
But most importantly, by quickly eliminating every routine pathogenic bacterium, we are denying our immune system the education it needs! Our cells learn to protect us, but they must “know the enemy.” There is an understandable concern that today’s children who are unnecessarily coddled with multiple courses of antibiotics for every sniffle may well grow up into adults with an incomplete immune pedigree, who then depend on medical intervention for infections that would normally be trivial.
How can you incorporate this information into your antibiotic strategy? I have several practical suggestions.
First, support your immune system! Get lots of rest, eat well, take your vitamins, exercise. Most importantly perhaps, deal with stress, especially chronic stress, purposefully and positively.
Second, do not request antibiotics for every sniffle! Unless there are specific issues, your body is able, with your support, to conquer minor viral and bacterial infections. Give it a chance for at least a few days and if your infection is turning the corner let your immune system finish the job.
Only if things do not get better, or grow worse, should you begin a course of medication.
Third, while avoiding contact with obviously infected sources, don’t worry about minor bits of dirt! They challenge your immune system and make it stronger. For most of human history, people bathed less, hand-wiped less, and didn’t have sparkling white toilet bowls. Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but the commercially driven paranoia about “germs” has led to an obsessive quest for sterility which is next to impossible.
And finally, if your doctor gives you antibiotics, please finish the entire prescription! You may feel all better in three days, but the bugs are not completely gone and may come back. I’m always concerned when a patient sheepishly tells me that she started her own treatment using some antibiotics that she had “left over.” Inadequate self medication is a wake-up call for the bugs to return next time—and better armed.
