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Change Your World Week Fall 2021 (Archived)

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How Antibiotics are Secretly Harming Our Future Selves

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Intro To The Use of Antibiotics

Antibiotics are a common go-to for a defense mechanism in bacterial infections, because of this we are starting to experience antibiotic resistance and are running out of effective antibiotics to use. In other words, they “mutate and actually become resistant to the antibiotics that we have” https://batonrougeclinic.com/antibiotics-helpful-or-harmful/.  This also affects the people who have used antibiotics too many times in their lifetime, and can no longer be treated when truly needed in the future. Not only this, but antibiotics can also become extremely harmful to the body and this will be further explained down the page. The use of antibiotics went from a rewarding discovery to a frightful comeback.

What Effects the Antibiotics Have on Our Physical Health

Before jumping into how exactly the bacteria in your body become resistant to antibiotics, let's go over the different side effects they cause:

  • Vomiting.
  • nausea (feeling like you may vomit)
  • diarrhea.
  • bloating and indigestion.
  • abdominal pain.
  • loss of appetite.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/antibiotics/side-effects/.

Many people believe that when they fall ill, any antibiotic will cure them. This false assumption results in overuse and misuse of antibiotics and kill the bacteria in the body that was meant for that antibiotic. This can result in the death of good and bad bacteria, but either way, the bacteria that do survive mutate and become resistant. The next time this person falls ill it will be nearly impossible to cure the resistant bacteria because it has already been exposed to the antibiotic previously.

What Is Antibiotic Resistance, and How To Educate On The Matter

Based on a study taken on who uses antibiotics and how they perceive them, it is reported that “39% of them strongly agreed antibiotics are harmless, and so, they can be used be regularly, and that 44 % stop taking medication once they feel better after taking 2-3 doses from an antibiotic course prescribed by a doctor, and 39% do not check with a physician before starting an antibiotic, they purchase antibiotics earlier given by Physicians” https://web-p-ebscohost-com.ezproxy.delta.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=12&sid=950e0723-d72c-4dfb-9eea-461cd1d98d85%40redis Overall, this survey showed that many students are not aware of antibiotic resistance, and many students are self-medicating. Also, it is unknown to these students that once you stop taking antibiotics after 2-3 days (even if you start to feel better) your body will once again fall ill and it will be much harder to cure. The reasoning for this is, once the antibiotic starts to kill the weak bacteria, the stronger bacteria remain and become resistant and mutate to create more resistant bacteria. Therefore people need to be better educated on the importance of when and how to take your antibiotics, and how to avoid using them unless in an emergency.

  • Doctors need to be straightforward in informing patients of the severity of continuing to take the full medication, and the science behind it.
  • People need to learn that it is okay to visit the doctor when feeling ill and view It as self-care rather than self-medicating. Health comes before all.
  • Healthcare workers are also responsible for change by cautiously prescribing antibiotics only when strongly needed and practicing clean hygiene and work procedures. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antibiotic-resistance.
  • Lastly, the individual is responsible for taking a part in infection prevention, (washing hands, good hygiene, clean environment, etc.)
Do you fullfill the whole antibiotic prescription as instructed?
Yes: 2 votes (100%)
No: 0 votes (0%)
Total Votes: 2
Do you think there will be a change with proper education on the matter?
yes: 0 votes (0%)
no: 1 votes (100%)
Total Votes: 1

What Alternatives Are There if not Antibiotics?

We cannot totally eliminate antibiotics, but as stated previously there are ways to go around it by avoiding them unless necessary, getting proper care when needed, spreading educated answers, etc, but what if there was another way to kill the bad bacteria without touching the good?  Because antibiotics, in summary, can result in resistant bacteria in the human body, there has been researching on alternatives to replace the use of antibiotics in many cases. Instances such as “the use of bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents”. Essentially, they are a good replacement for antibiotics because they also only target the bacteria, but as opposed to antibiotics they do not bring alongside effects and are more likely to succeed in the cancelation of bacteria. As stated, “these treatments” as in antibiotic use “are not free of adverse side effects while currently displaying limited efficacy” in oppose to bacteriophages. https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/8/493/htm. As for the bacteriophage use that can target the specific microbes, antibiotics “are not specific and harm both phytopathogenic and beneficial bacteria present in the environment” https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/8/493/htm. This is basically saying that along with our bad bacteria, antibiotics are killing the good bacteria that our bodies naturally need.

Action Plan

As mentioned above, bacteriophages would be a great investment and alternative that needs to be further studied. We can create a petition of why our health matters, and later send this to the state of representatives requesting more funds in this study. This follows with contacting K-12 schools and requesting they teach more in-depth on the results of using antibiotics because the best way to make a change is to educate those around you.

Opposing Viewpoints

Antibiotic resistance is an extremely important subject to consider. However, some people do think antibiotics are more beneficial than harmful. Here are some counterarguments:

  •  antibiotics are used for surgeons for pre-surgery to reduce future infection.

https://www.keckmedicine.org/the-pros-and-cons-of-antibiotics/

Although, I argue that many sicknesses are better left to treat themselves and a healthy immune system can cure on its own over time.

What is not considered by many is that they also kill the good bacteria in your body leaving room for the bad bacteria and bacteria mutation.

All and all any form of manmade response to fighting pathogens is a long stretch and can be difficult to gain control of whether it is antibiotic or bacteriophages, as stated “Here is no man-made defense that cannot be outmaneuvered by microbial evolution and adaptation.” Institute of Medicine, et al. Antibiotic Resistance: Implications for Global Health and Novel Intervention Strategies: Workshop Summary. National Academies Press, 2010. But with the help of infection prevention limiting any use of antibiotics unless absolutely necessary, we can potentially save ourselves and future generations.

Overall Standpoint

Overall, Antibiotics should only be used in emergency scenarios, people need to be better educated and consider the side effects of overuse and misuse, and doctors and healthcare workers need to be more considerate of the cases they prescribe to. Antibiotics are not something to take lightly and are a huge concern to our overall health. I also hope to see alternatives to antibiotics become bigger and more commonly used to prevent the resistance the antibiotics bring along.