Antibiotic Threat

There was a time when the question, "When will infectious disease be wiped out?" was a realistic, seemingly achievable question.

Now the new realistic question seems to be, "When will the next deadly plague occur?"

We have read about and feared AIDS and MRSA. Super bug is now a part of our vocabulary as often as the "24 hour bug" was twenty years ago. We find E. coli and Salmonella in our produce and peanuts and who knows what else on an alarmingly regular basis. Old diseases like tuberculosis are "making a come back".

Many infections are able to withstand most, if not all antibiotics. We, however, continue to take antibiotics for the most minor ailments thus causing a plethoa of bacteria and viruses to develop immunity to the drugs that were ironically created to eradicate infections in the first place.

According to the NY Times, there is a "new" bacteria to add to the list. It is Clostridium difficile, an infectious bacterium that attacks as a stomach bug. It causes an estimated 350,000 cases per year in hospitals alone and kills an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people per year.

The disturbing problem with this bacteria is that antibiotics can actually trigger this bacteria to strike. Because antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria in the body, often times upon completion of an antibiotic our immune system is missing the healthy bacteria. If we come in contact with C. difficile, it can create an opportunity for this bacteria to flourish.

The article further states that in some cases the only treatment for C. difficile is to remove the patients colon, and relapses are not uncommon once a patient has recovered.

To read the article in it's entirety, please click here.

Stories like this continue to reinforce to me the importance of a healthy immune system, in addition to thinking twice about taking antibiotics as well as any other pharmaceutical drug unless absolutely necessary.

It also provides yet again incentive to explore the many choices available to us for alternative antibiotics and many other products that help us live healthy and naturally.

My Story

I began blogging to share my frustration with the health care system here in our country. My first post on my other blog, Angellviews, was about a health nightmare I experienced. While never life threatening, it was none the less a major ordeal and something that I believe was entirely preventable, perhaps without the need for prescription drugs, definitely never to the degree I was prescribed. Since no health care provider could determine my situation, I decided to give it a name, Mad Dog Itch. To read more about my dilemma and the simplicity of the "cure", please pay a visit here.

So began my need to express myself; hence the blogs, as well as embarking on a career in the Wellness Industry. I've learned much this past year or so, and have even more knowledge to gain. That part will never end, the need for education and knowledge. There is so much we are told in this country that pertains to our health that is either half truths or far too often just outright lies. What concerns me is the shear number of people who are living with blinders on. I surely was. These same people often are heavily medicated with prescription drugs, frequently drugs they don't need or the wrong drugs prescribed in error. The reasons behind this are many, but one common thread prevails, greed. Greed usually at the hand of pharmaceutical and insurance companies, but they wouldn't be there without the helping hand of the FDA.

The FDA was founded to protect you and I, to determine what was safe for us to take as far as prescription drugs, over the counter drugs, as well as the food we eat every day. They were to be our big brother, our check and balance system. Unfortunately that is no longer the case. They have become fat, incompetent and yes, even corrupt. It is time, actually past time, for the FDA to reform.

Please click on this link to educate yourself about the state of the FDA, your life seriously could depend on it. Sign the petition that will put this necessary action into motion. Health care reform needs to happen in many different ways.

This is one where you can easily do your part.

Antibiotic Overkill

After contracting the Mad Dog Itch and the resulting futile trips to various doctors who shook their heads and gave me a variety of ineffective prescription drugs, I made a commitment to take the correct vitamins and supplements, eat better, and make my body healthier to prevent illness from striking. In the event I got sick, however, I surmised would still go to the doctor and get an antibiotic. I have since thought otherwise. First let me say we are completely overwhelmed by antibiotics. We run for one at the first sign of a symptom. We demand one for every infection and every perceived infection, ear, throat, respiratory, tooth, cut, you name it. Then there are viruses, we want antibiotics for those too, but the reality is antibiotics do nothing for viruses. Now here's the scary part, many doctors will give you one, (just ask, you'll see) even when you have a virus....."just in case" they will say.

Allow me to share a little scenario on the vicious cycle of antibiotics. First of all, antibiotics kill bacteria, not viruses. This statement in and of itself is vitally important due to the major overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Let's say you scurry to the doctor in panic mode because your throat is sore and you had strep throat two years ago and you certainly don't want to go through that again. The doctor sees no sign of infection, but gives you a "just in case" prescription of antibiotics and after a few days of taking them you feel better. The reality is you actually had a virus that came and went all by itself. The antibiotic you pumped in your body had to do something, so off to work it went eagerly killing good bacteria right and left. So now you are enjoying a yeast infection because good bacteria that naturally corrects the overproduction of yeast has met it's untimely demise from the antibiotic. While you are busy fighting that nasty yeast infection, you realize you feel bad, downright awful. Before you know it you have a cold that turns ugly and evolves into a sinus infection. Since your body was depleted from good bacteria, it's worn out and just doesn't have the fight it used to. Ironically this is the same fight a healthy body would have to kill off this infection. So of course off you go to the doctor to get yet another antibiotic and this time it has to be bigger and badder than the last one because the first one is no longer effective as your body is now immune to it. And so on and so on.

Do the drug companies care? Heck no, they are selling you multiple drugs and after all that's what they are in business for, to sell lots of drugs. The more the better for them. Does the doctor care? Perhaps, but if we were all healthy and didn't run to his office for every little bug, how long would he continue to have enough customers to sustain the nice, cushy lifestyle he has become accustomed to?

So what to do? If you are sick, really truly sick and there is a drug that will save your life, will you take this drug? Of course you will, I will too. However, to back up a few dozen steps, the ideal scenario is to prevent your body from becoming sick in the first place. Build your body into a fortress of ideal health that bacteria and viruses can not penetrate. Rid your body of toxins to build up your immune system. A strong immune system is your first line of defense to combat bacteria and viruses. In the event you need to fight a virus or infection, educate yourself and consider some natural treatments before resorting to drugs. Alternatives are out there.

Another Great Home Remedy

My youngest daughter is one of those little kids who immediately acquires a runny nose and nasty cough the minute the weather cools off. It drags on and on. One bout of flu like crud is almost gone and presto, there it is again. Bigger and badder than it's predecessor. And so we go, on and on.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading a blog, Heart Failure Solutions Carrie, the blogs author wrote a very informative post on the harmful effects of using cough medicine. When we cough, it is our bodies way of getting all the nasty stuff out. We then turn around and suppress it with cough medicine and defeat the bodies purpose of naturally curing itself. To read more about the harmful effects of cough medicine and more useful information, visit Heart Failure Solutions

Now back to my hacking daughter. In her post about cough medicine, Carrie recommends applying Vicks Vapor Rub to the bottom of your feet, putting socks on and getting a good nights sleep. We tried this and incredibly her cough was much improved after the first night and completely gone after the second night.....and hasn't returned. This child who has drug a runny nose and cough around with a box of Kleenex for as long as I can remember is now cough free.

No doctor visit, no prescriptions for drugs with multiple, harmful side effects and a healthy child at last. This home remedy is going to remain on my Top Ten Favorite List of Home Remedies for a very long time!