DeSoto Magazine – Southern Girl Afield - Ann Yungmeyer

■ living well
Antibiotics:
Six Ways to Use Them Safely
By Dr. John Spencer M.D.
It’s impossible to calculate just how many human lives would have been cut short without
them. Yet, the story of humans and antibiotics is like the story of the child who cried wolf.
We cry-out when we have a bacterial infection and an
antibiotic gets rid of it quickly and efficiently. But we
cry-out for antibiotics too often, sometimes when they
can be of no use, like when we have a viral infection,
such as a cold, or the flu. Antibiotics are powerless
against viruses. They can only fight bacterial infections
like measles or pneumonia. Yet, many misguided,
headstrong people pressurise their doctors into
prescribing antibiotics for ailments unconnected
with bacterial infection. The doctors, who should
know better, are probably too busy to argue. The
misguided patient is just wasting money. But they’re
both causing a serious problem for us all.
Taking antibiotics for illnesses that are not bacteriarelated
is more than a waste of money. It’s dangerous
and potentially has long-term health consequences.
Many antibiotics cause unpleasant side effects like
rashes, nausea and diarrhoea. Much more seriously,
indiscriminate use of antibiotics causes bacteria to
develop resistance. This means that at best, an
antibiotic’s ability to fight particular infections is
impaired, and at worst, it’s non-existent. This doesn’t
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