Category: antibiotics

Stop the Spread of Superbugs

For nearly a century, bacteria-fighting drugs known as antibiotics have helped to control and destroy many of the harmful bacteria that can make us sick. But in recent decades, antibiotics have been losing their punch against some types of bacteria. In fact, certain bacteria are now unbeatable with today’s medicines. Sadly, the way we’ve been…


This Common Medicine Kills Your Gut Bacteria, Here’s How to Prevent That

In recent years, antibiotics abuse has become increasingly serious. We even take antibiotics to cure colds, even when they’re caused by viruses and not bacteria. The only function of antibiotics is to kill bacteria, such as gastroenteritis-causing salmonella, but people mistakenly, and frequently, think strong antibiotics are a cure-all for common ailments. We now know…


Early Antibiotics May Lead to Lasting Asthma, Allergies

Early exposure to antibiotics kills healthy bacteria in the digestive tract and can cause permanent asthma and allergies, a new study shows. The study, published in Mucosal Immunology, provides the strongest evidence so far that the long-observed connection between antibiotic exposure in early childhood and later development of asthma and allergies is causal. “The practical implication…


The Paradox That Haunts New Antibiotics

Forget COVID-19, monkeypox, and other viruses for the moment and consider another threat troubling infectious disease specialists: common urinary tract infections, or UTIs, that lead to emergency room visits and even hospitalizations because of the failure of oral antibiotics. There’s no Operation Warp Speed charging to rescue us from the germs that cause these infections,…


Antibiotics Increase Risk of Colon Cancer, New Study Warns

There are multiple risk factors for developing colon cancer.  So what causes it?  Over half of colorectal cancer cases are related to lifestyle factors, such as age, smoking, diet, and alcohol use. Now, a recent study suggests a strong link between antibiotic use and colon cancer.  Why is this the case, and what does it mean for…


Oral Antibiotics May Cause Reduction in Exercise

A study by the University of California (UCR) suggests that broad-spectrum oral antibiotics may reduce motivation and endurance for voluntary exercise in humans, with the effects magnified in high-exercise cohorts. “We believed an animal’s collection of gut bacteria, its microbiome, would affect digestive processes and muscle function, as well as motivation for various behaviors, including…


Silver: Metal as Medicine

Silver has been used as an anti-microbial agent long before people knew of microbes. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and other ancient cultures all used silver vessels to safely store food and purify water. American pioneers added silver coins to milk bottles to slow spoilage. Ancient doctors treated wounds with various silver preparations to speed healing….


Beware of These Antibiotic Effects

Before the discovery that essential symbiotic bacteria live in and on us, antibiotics were viewed largely as innocuous. As the “gut microbiome” (the microorganisms living in the intestines) becomes better understood, so too do the deleterious effects that antibiotics exert on our health. One immediate effect, as many people who have taken antibiotics know, is…


China’s Use of Antibiotics in Manufacturing Harming Health and the Environment

Chinese manufacturers produce over 200,000 tons of antibiotics each year for use by the pharmaceutical, healthcare, agriculture, and aquaculture industries. While antibiotics are essential, effluent from the manufacturing factories and overuse in China are polluting the environment, causing antibiotic resistance, and endangering people’s lives. One of the more serious outcomes of China’s massive use of…


Natural Alternatives to Antibiotics

Alexander Fleming discovered the first antibiotic, penicillin, in 1927. Since then, antibiotics – drugs that fight bacterial infections – have saved millions of lives worldwide. Although antibiotics have many beneficial effects, over-use of these medicines has created the new problem of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s most critical public health concerns….