Antibiotics.

[Teresa]

Antibiotics. That one word entails a lot. 
Do you ever wonder if they are prescribed too much? Or maybe even if the right ones are used for the right problems? And sometimes it seems that the more we take of them, the less they work after awhile?
These are questions I get all the time from my clients.

It is weird, but I really do have my massage clients ask me all the time about medical problems and what they need to take or what they need to do. I always listen and if it is something herbal or muscle and back related, I can give them my opinion. But I continually remind them that I am a massage/energy/muscle healer, NOT a medical doctor.  But I do hear all the time about "antibiotics". And more often than not, people tell me that they don't know if the antibiotic worked, or if they hadn't of taken anything...that maybe the virus would have  just 'ran it's course'.
I don't know either to be honest. 

I know that Old Doc Buchele used to give everyone a shot of Penicillin regardless of what you had. And now they have the Z-Pac and that bubble gun stuff (Amoxicillan) that they give to all the kids.
Do we overuse antibiotics? And does too much usage build up an immunity to their results?  I think that we do. In the caseof the common cold etc...I think that the Drs. no longer say...Go home and rest, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and meat...drink lots and lots of water and juice, rub yourself with vapor rub and let it run it's course. But then again, we have never had so many strains of unknown bacteria's and viruses running among the people of the U.S.

We're not the only country that has a problem with overuse of antibiotics. But the only "good" part about that fact may be that the increase in antibiotic-resistant infections can't be blamed ENTIRELY on us.

There is supposedly a new plan for curtailing the rise in deadly superbugs, particularly one known as methycillin resistant staphylococcus aureus or MSRA.
MSRA is a type of staph infection that starts in the skin but can travel quickly throughout the body causing pneumonia or infections in the blood or bone. And without effective antibiotic treatment, MSRA can also quickly become fatal. But effective antibiotic treatment is becoming harder and harder to find.. and not because there aren't enough good ones out there.

The problem is that the antibiotics we do have -- the ones that should be able to make short work of bacterial infections like MSRA ...are being used too often and for problems that they can't even cure.
Because as great of a weapon as they are against bacteria, antibiotics are absolutely useless against viruses. And, unfortunately, a big chunk of the prescriptions written for them are handed to people battling viruses.

Many times, doctors think they're erring on the side of caution when they prescribe antibiotics to a patient who comes in with a bad cold: For years, they've been conditioned to think that while antibiotics may not help every case, they certainly can't hurt.
But, as we're discovering with conditions like MSRA, that's simply not the case.

The good news is, this is one aspect of health care that's easy to take control of yourself - - with or without any government "campaign."
The next time you visit your doctor for cold or flu symptoms , or any other illness... make sure you ask your doctor whether your infection is viral or bacterial. That is your right to know and to ask.

He'll most likely need to run a test or two to determine which type it is. If he writes you a prescription for an antibiotic in the meantime, my suggestion would be to ... don't get it filled until you've received the results and know for sure that you're battling something bacterial. And if that IS the case, make sure to take and use the full cycle of antibiotics ... even if you feel better before you're finished with the pills:
Stopping antibiotic treatment before the pills are gone is another major contributor to antibiotic-resistance.

[MarineMom]

I have been reading that for years. When my kids were small our family Dr said he had parents who demanded antibiotics for every little sniff and low grade fever and when he would not prescribe them they changed Dr. or went to the emergancy room and got what they wanted there. Even today when this information is more widely known I still know at least one mother who drags her child to the Dr demands (and gets) an antibiotic when his only sympton is a "fever" of 99. I have always been a questioner about everything so we did not get prescribed antibiotics very often 'cos I wanted to know the why's and wherefore's before I put any kind of drug into my childs system.

[Lookatmeknow!!]

I agree totally with this.  I was really bad about draging my child to the Dr. with my first.  I never demanded an antibodic, but was just worried about them.  I do know that Dr. Hutchins here in Howard is really good about telling you whether or not your child needs medicine or not.  I really like that.  I agree totally with this about over medicated.

[Roma Jean Turner]

My pet peeve about antibiotic use is that people are rarely told that once they finish the antibiotic they need replenish the the normal flora of the bowel by taking some acidophilus or yogurt.  Whenever I take an antibiotic I always do the two weeks of Activia and it makes a real difference on bowel function and digestion.  Now, I wonder if part of the allergic reactions that people develop from antibiotics acutally comes from the use over time without ever restoring that normal flora.