As we learned last month, bacterial infections, which killed millions of people throughout history, can now be treated by a class of medication called antibiotics, derived from the natural world, and discovered just 80 years ago. But, we also learned that many bacteria have grown resistant to all known antibiotics, and the fear is that in a few years, most bacterial infections will grow resistant to all known antibiotics, and we will revert back to the era before antibiotics, and, once again, millions will die from simple infections that are routinely treated and cured by the antibiotics currently in use.
Bacteria, like all other organisms, have a survival instinct to stay alive. This survival instinct also kicks in when an antibiotic is used to try to kill bacteria. Within four years of penicillin being discovered, bacteria were already developing a resistance to it; the stronger of the bacteria withstood the attack and then reproduced, developing stronger strains of bacteria. Newer antibiotics were being developed so they took over when penicillin no longer worked. By the 1970s, penicillin-resistant strains of the most common cause of pneumonia spread around the world. By the year 2000, resistant strains of bacteria existed for every known antibiotic. No new antibiotics have been developed in the last 30 years and bacteria are becoming more resistant. The current antibiotics have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms that they are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective. Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections. So, what is the solution to this world-wide crisis?
WHAT IS CAUSING THE ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANCE PROBLEM?
Part of the problem is the overuse of antibiotics when they are not necessary, creating treatment-resistant bacterial strains. Doctors often prescribe antibiotics to their patients because both the doctor and patient feel that “something has been done” when a patient leaves a doctor’s office with a prescription for medication in their hand. In fact, doctors admit that, in a majority of cases, they write a prescription for an antibiotic because the patient insists on having “something”, despite the fact that, in their professional opinion, the patient does not need an antibiotic to treat the ailment they are coming to them for.
Children are of particular concern because they have the highest rates of antibiotic use. They also have the highest rate of infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Pressure from parents makes a difference. A recent study showed that doctors prescribe antibiotics 65 percent of the time if they perceive parents expect them; and 12 percent of the time if they feel parents do not expect them.
Antibiotic resistance can cause significant danger and added suffering in people who have common infections that once were easily treatable with antibiotics. When antibiotics fail to work, the consequences are longer-lasting illnesses; more doctor visits or extended hospital stays; and the need for more expensive and toxic medications. Some resistant infections can cause death. Antibiotic resistance also undermines the treatment of infectious complications in high-risk patients who have other illnesses to contend with. Many of the advances in medical treatment—joint replacements, organ transplants, cancer therapy, and treatment of chronic diseases such as diabetes, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis—are dependent on the ability to fight infections with antibiotics. If that ability is lost, the ability to safely offer people many life-saving and life-improving modern medical advantages will be lost with it.
In order to combat antibiotic resistance at a patient/doctor relationship level, both the doctor and the patient have a responsibility in discussing the best treatment options, even if it means that “no medication” and a “wait and see” approach is the best treatment. Often illnesses “go away” on their own without the need for medication. The most common illnesses that antibiotics are wrongly prescribed for are the common cold and the flu. Both are viral, not bacterial illnesses, and they will not respond to antibiotics. Colds and flus, although they cause people to suffer from a number of annoying symptoms, are cured without medication within 7–10 days. Antibiotics will not help a cold go away faster, nor will it decrease the intensity of symptoms, so there is no point in taking them. In fact, taking an antibiotic for a cold can produce resistant-treatment bacteria that may cause other illnesses such as pneumonias and bronchitis at a time when one’s immune system is in a weakened state.
SOLUTION #1: ANTIBIOTIC STEWARDSHIP
Health agencies around the world are becoming more aware of the dangers of the overuse of antibiotics. Many governmental health bodies have created guidelines for safe and wise use of antibiotic—often called antibiotic stewardship—which will help to decrease the types of scenarios that cause antibiotic resistance.
Often doctors prescribe an antibiotic without testing as to which specific bacteria are causing the infection. They prescribe a “broad-spectrum” antibiotic that is capable of killing a large number of different types of bacteria; however the drawback of these “broad-spectrum” antibiotics is that they also kill many of the healthy bacteria that our bodies need; they also work to develop antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria that are present in the body but not causing disease at the present time, but could in the future. Best medicine practices call for testing for the specific strain of bacteria, which involves taking a sample from the patient and sending it to the lab and waiting up to 48 hours for a result. This can delay treatment, so doctors would prescribe a “broad-spectrum” antibiotic initially, as many infections, if not treated immediately, can cause complications and worse consequences for the patient. With proper antibiotic stewardship, once the results are in, the doctor should switch the patient to a “narrow-spectrum” antibiotic that is a more specific treatment for the type of bacteria that is actually causing the infection. However, all this is more time consuming and involves more work, so it is not routinely done. Sometimes patients return to the doctor once they finish the course of medication, as they are still sick; the antibiotic has not been effective in curing the infection, and a stronger antibiotic is needed. By this time, the bacteria have grown stronger, which could necessitate even stronger and more toxic antibiotics. Patients should have discussions with their doctors regarding proper testing and treatment of bacterial infections.
Doctors are being educated on the appropriate use of antibiotics, which can help preserve the effectiveness of current antibiotics, extend their life span and protect the public from antibiotic-resistant infections. Also, many hospitals and medical associations have implemented new diagnostic and treatment guidelines to ensure effective treatments for bacterial infections and reduce inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Educational posters, pamphlets, and advertising alert the public to the dangers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and what they can do on their part to combat the problem. Guidelines include:
- Use antibiotics only as prescribed by your doctor.
- Take the appropriate daily dosage, at the same time every day, and complete the entire course of treatment, even if you are feeling better.
- If you have an antibiotic prescription, ask your doctor what you should do if you forget to take a dose.
- If for some reason you have leftover antibiotics, throw them away. Never take leftover antibiotics for a later illness. They may not be the correct antibiotic and would not be a full course of treatment.
- Never take antibiotics prescribed for another person.
- Do not pressure your doctor to give you an antibiotic prescription. Ask your doctor for advice on how to treat symptoms.
Despite the fact that they save lives, antibiotics can cause adverse effects, which is another reason to only take an antibiotic when absolutely necessary. Some of these adverse effects are fever, nausea, yeast infections, mild allergic reactions such as rashes, hives, congestion, or severe allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis (swelling that can block your ability to breathe and cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure), which can cause death. Diarrhea is also a common side effect, as the antibiotic can alter the normal intestinal bacteria, and cause overgrowth of disease-causing bacteria, such as C. difficile, which can kill the elderly and those who are ill with other diseases. Antibiotic use can also result in the other bacteria that you carry in your body being resistant to antibiotics for a prolonged time (at least three months) and those bacteria can spread to at-risk people in the community. Some scientists hypothesize that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics can permanently alter the body’s normal bacterial flora which has been associated with chronic disease.
SOLUTION #2: PREVENT INFECTIONS FROM OCCURRING
Not only can we prevent antibiotic-resistant bacteria from becoming a problem by proper use of antibiotics, we can also take measures to prevent bacterial infections, which reduce the need for antibiotics. These measures include:
- A) HYGIENE
The easiest and most effective way to avoid becoming infected with bacteria is to practice good hygiene. This includes washing your hands regularly with soap and water. A simple handshake can easily transfer bacteria from one person to another. Many bacteria can live on surfaces in our environment for many days, and we can easily transfer bacteria onto ourselves from touching these surfaces. These include things like doorknobs, handrails, gas pump handles, ATM buttons, and surfaces in public washrooms. In fact, any surface we touch can harbour bacteria. We do not even need to touch a surface to make contact with bacteria. We can also transfer bacteria by putting items such as cell phones, purses, books, and other personal items onto a surface contaminated with bacteria and then picking the items back up again. Money that passes back and forth from people can transfer bacteria. We put cash register receipts in our wallets that someone else has handled, and those receipts then touch the credit cards we use, the cash we use.
Always wash your hands after using the toilet. Our cells phones contain 18X more bacteria than a toilet seat. But do
we think of sanitizing our cell phones on a regular basis? When you think of all the scenarios that could contribute to picking up a bacterial infection, hand hygiene becomes a key measure for staying healthy. Before washing your hands, avoid touching your face with your hands, especially during cold and flu season.
Proper hand hygiene is also vital before eating, and before preparing food. Touching our food with dirty hands transfers bacteria from our hands to the inside of our body. The food itself can also be contaminated with bacteria. Food poisoning from bacteria such as salmonella, listeria and E.coli causes illness and death. Deadly outbreaks of listeria, contained in food products, have been in the news lately, in items such as cantaloupes, apples, and ice cream. Let us take an example from America. While the American food supply is among the safest in the world, the Federal government estimates that there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually—the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year. And each year these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths.
To avoid food poisoning, wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, and keep kitchen work surfaces clean. Store your food properly. Good hygiene when you are buying, storing, preparing, cooking and eating food will make sure that you avoid getting bacteria on your food. And any bacteria that are on the food will be killed by proper cooking. Food preservation by freezing or drying also slows down the growth or kills bacteria.
- B) VACCINATIONS
Some vaccines protect against bacterial infections, such as diphtheria, tuberculosis, tetanus, cholera, typhoid, pneumonia and whooping cough. Vaccine safety has been forefront in the news for years, many talking against vaccines because of potential harm they may cause. But there have not been any studies that prove cause and effect between vaccines and adverse events, such as autism; and many studies disprove these connections. However, the statistic that cannot be disputed is the fact is that vaccines save lives. In countries where vaccines are not readily available, deaths due to bacterial infections are much higher than in countries with vaccination programmes. For example, death from tetanus number in the thousands worldwide. However, in countries that vaccinate, deaths attributed to tetanus is very rare. Compare these two statistics: In 2013, 49,000 newborns died from tetanus worldwide; whereas in America, in 2009, there were only 19 deaths attributed to tetanus. Whether or not to vaccinate is a personal choice, with many opting for strengthening the immune system and working in harmony with nature, rather than using vaccinations. We know that Sister White did get immunized when there was a smallpox outbreak, but beyond that, she has stated that we should study the latest and best authors on the subject of health, and obey religiously what our consciences and the Holy Spirit show us to be right.
- C) IMPROVE IMMUNE SYSTEM FUNCTION
The risk of a bacterial infection can also be reduced by improving the functioning of the body’s immune system, the defense against all disease and illness. The immune system is very complex, comprising many different aspects. To function well, it requires a harmonious working of all its parts. There is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies of the immune response. Attempting to boost the cells of the immune system via supplements, etc. is complicated because there are so many different types of cells in the immune system. Which cells should be boosted, and to what number? No one knows how many cells or what kinds of cells the immune system needs, to function at its optimum level. Therefore, research is taking a different approach. Instead of trying to determine which parts of the immune system are being affected by various factors, if a study into one of the factors shows significantly less disease, researchers will consider that the immune system is being strengthened in some way.
There are a variety of factors and their effects on the immune system that are being studied. These include factors such as herbal supplements; age; lifestyle components such as diet, exercise, sleep, weight maintenance, and stress management. Sister White, God’s prophet, gave many counsels regarding the connection between health and lifestyle. In addition to the factors already mentioned, she also talks about the use of water, sunlight, fresh air, proper hygiene and a vegetarian diet. We do not need science to tell us what we already know.
NEXT MONTH: SOLUTION #3: NATURAL METHODS TO COMBAT BACTERIAL INFECTIONS
Despite the world’s dependence on modern medicine, natural prevention and healing methods have always existed and continue to be used. Long before “modern medicine”, different herbs, foods, and natural treatments were used to prevent and treat illness and disease. These natural remedies are often more beneficial to us in fighting infections as they do not contribute to the problem of antibiotic resistance. They also work on improving immune system function to combat illness. So, how do we to know when to use natural methods vs antibiotics? And, what are the foods, herbs and treatments that can help us? We will learn more next month.