Antibiotics have been available to the average American since the 1940s. They have been working wonders by saving people from infections ranging from pneumonia to STDs. Antibiotics have their downsides though. Bacteria have been evolving due to these drugs. They have become increasingly resistent. The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is now tracking over 20 strains of drug-resistent bacteria. These are all new strains of bacteria that have resulted from antibiotic overuse. The problem here is that doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics. In 2010, 258 million courses of antibiotics were prescribed in America. That's for a population of 309 million, which means an average of 833 prescriptions per 1,000 people. In the south, the ratio is even higher at 1,200 prescriptions per 1,000 people. Bacteria have become so used to these drugs that they are forced to become resistent to them. The problem is magnified when a patient doesn't take all the antibiotics prescribed or takes them for the wrong reasons, promoting the bacteria to survive and adapt.
This is a huge problem in our world today. Doctors are over-prescribing medicine. In our world today, we feel like we have to medicate EVERYTHING. Medicine is perhaps the greatest improvement of the past one hundred years, but treating every single sickness is not the right thing to do. Medicines are loosing their kick. Either doctors have to stop over-prescribing medicine, or drug researchers have to start developing new medicines that don't encourage infections to evolve and become even stronger. Pretty soon, these antibiotics that we are prescribing today are going to be ineffective at what they were invented to do, saving human health. The stats in the paragraph above are completely ridiculous. In one year, U.S. doctors prescribed enough antibiotics to give them to four out of five Americans every year. If that isn't over-prescribing then I don't what is. We need to reroute our society to believe that not every single sickness needs to be medicated. The human body is an amazing machine that has the capability of fighting off infections effectively and safely. In the case of children and the elderly, the story is different, but the average American doesn't need to be prescribed a medication for every time they get sick. Sometimes you have to suck it up and let your body do its job.
LINK: http://www.omaha.com/article/20130413/LIVEWELL01/704129931#medication-nation-study-details-overuse-of-antibiotics-by-states
I agree tom, seems like any little sinus infection or cold must be treated with antibiotics, especially if you're young. Being young and fighting off infection is what leads to further immunity later in your life because your bodies' antibodies have learned how these bacteria work. But with antibiotics, it doesn't really give the immune system a chance to develop by itself. Doctors need to stop being so eager to give out antibiotics and let the body does what is was made for.
ReplyDelete