What do antibiotics do?
Antibiotics fight bacteria. (Think of them as “bacteria-busters”!) There are many different kinds of bacteria that cause many different illnesses. Because of the wide variety of bacteria, there is also a wide variety of antibiotics that have been developed to treat them. When your doctor diagnoses a bacterial infection she will determine which antibiotic is appropriate for that particular infection. If your doctor diagnoses a bacterial infection, ask her if it is absolutely necessary to use an antibiotic. Some bacterial infections can be cleared up without antibiotics when under a doctor’s supervision. For example, antibiotics used to be routinely and automatically prescribed for ear infections in young children. However, recent research has shown that many of these infections can heal on their own without antibiotics as long as a doctor is monitoring the infection. Talk with your doctor about the necessity of using an antibiotic, the pro’s and con’s of using one versus not using it, t
When you get sick, more often than not the miscreant is a microbe, and doctors often fight back with antibiotics. The relationship between microscopic misery merchants and antibiotics is like that of the Bloods and the Crips. One just can’t stomach the other. On contact one either kills the other or keeps it from reproducing and increasing its turf, the human body. This rumble dates back thousands of years to when concoctions with natural-antibiotic-packed ingredients like sour milk and turtle shell were used to turn the tide in corporal turf wars. The age of modern antibiotics started in 1926 when Alexander Fleming discovered that a fungal mold made penicillin and that penicillin could keep some kinds of bacteria at bay. Since then a bevy of antibiotics—some produced naturally and other synthesized— have prevented bacteria that cause tonsillitis, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and many other maladies from making the human body a one-gang town.
Antibiotics kill bacteria. They do not even harm viruses. Most “colds” go away by themselves. Even bronchitis in healthy adults will likely resolve without treatment. But what is the harm of taking antibiotics? There exists the unpredictable risk of allergies and adverse reactions, which, although rare, can be serious. More importantly from a public health perspective however, is the rise of resistance. Let’s say you use antibiotics fre-quently. Eventually, the “strongest” bacteria – or the ones that are not killed by the medication – will survive. When these germs do cause serious infections, the commonly used antibiotics will not be effective. This phenomenon is already a problem in most hospitals and could harm you the next time you come down with an infection. Last but not least, there is unnecessary cost when these medications are used inappropriately. This is not to say your doctor cannot help you find relief from those miserable symptoms. Different medications whether prescripti
