Extensive Antibiotic Over-use

Humankind’s battle with germs is out of control. In the last 15 years infectious diseases jumped from the fifth leading cause of death to the third. The human body is constantly being attacked and assaulted by germs, microbes, bacteria, viruses, fungal infections, molds, parasites, amoebas, worms, and more. They attack us through the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and our surrounding environment. They manifest through various channels, including infections of the eyes, ears, lungs and respiratory system, throat, sinus, skin, digestive system, internal organs, etc.

Historically, our main line of defense against harmful organisms has been antibiotics. While antibiotics have definitely saved thousands of lives, our extensive over-use of antibiotics has created “smart” germs that mutate into deadly, drug resistant strains. Straph infections, once easily treated by penicillin, are now 95% resistant to conventional treatment! At least 30 new diseases from drug-resistant super-germs have emerged in the last 20 years and experts predict hundreds more are on the way. Strains of drug resistant tuberculosis and pneumonia are targeting people with compromised immune systems, especially those with HIV. HIV is an example of a super-virus unheard of until the 1940’s.

Our immune systems are overworked and overwhelmed. They do their best to defend our bodies from viral and bacterial infections and unwanted parasites, yet are often overcome. We turn to antibiotics which help in the short term, but leave our bodies weak, stripped of healthy flora, out of balance, and more susceptible to additional infections, and harmful yeast overgrowth. For example, Candida Albicans is yeast that is commonly found in our gastrointestinal tract. Under normal conditions it is harmless, but after repeated rounds of antibiotic use (antibiotics destroy bad bacteria, but also destroy the good, healthy bacteria and flora needed for optimal health) Candida can multiply out of control, wreaking havoc on our immune systems and releasing large amounts of toxins into our bloodstream. Candida is an extremely hard condition to overcome, and can be responsible for dozens of mild to very severe health problems. It is a very real side effect of antibiotic over-use.