Bio-Teen May. 2014 | Page 4

What are Antibiotics? How does a bacteria become immune? How do we fix this problem?

Antibiotics Overuse and Disuse

by Jenell Louissaint

Before antibiotics your immune system was the only thing that you had to fight off infections. But nowadays people get antibiotics for everything, whether its an ear infection or pneumonia. However bacteria are finding a way to evolve. Some have become immune to antibiotics such as, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis. As a doctor, it is my job to keep my patients healthy, but if I know they can heal on their own, yet they insist for antibiotics, should I give them some? My answer is no. With the increase of immune bacteria, I think it is dangerous for doctors like myself to just give out something so vital for our survival.

What are antibiotics? They are substances used to kill or stop a bacteria’s growth. Antibiotics have been around for as long as the 1940s, and since their discovery they have been very effective. They have made many diseases a smaller threat and are part of our everyday lives, but like everything in the 21st century we have yet to understand how to use something in moderation and bacteria now pose a new threat. Bacteria are becoming immune to the very thing we use to kill them.

How does a bacteria become immune? Bacteria, like all living organisms, are constantly changing and still under the rules of natural selection. Lets say you are treated for pneumonia. The antibiotic will kill off most of the bacteria, but the few that have the ability to survive are now the only ones living. This is called survival of the fittest. Because the bacteria already immune are the only ones alive, they are the only ones to reproduce. All of the next generation will be immune, and so will the generation after that and so forth. If you are infected with this new and improved pneumonia bacteria the old antibiotics aren’t going to do anything, and its up to your immune system alone to get you better. If the enhanced pneumonia bacteria is life threatening, and you have nothing to fight it off then you could possibly die because of what was once a bad cough. So was being forcing your doctor to give you antibiotics realy a good idea?

How does a bacteria become immune? Bacteria, like all living organisms, are constantly changing and still under the rules of natural selection. Lets say you are treated for pneumonia. The antibiotic will kill off most of the bacteria, but the few that have the ability to survive are now the only ones living. This is called survival of the fittest. Because the bacteria already immune are the only ones alive, they are the only ones to reproduce. All of the next generation will be immune, and so will the generation after that and so forth. If you are infected with this new and improved pneumonia bacteria the old antibiotics aren’t going to do anything, and its up to your immune system alone to get you better. If the enhanced pneumonia bacteria is life threatening, and you have nothing to fight it off then you could possibly die because of what was once a bad cough. So was forcing your doctor to give you antibiotics to heal yourself faster really a good idea?

What else are they used for? To keep their animals from getting sick farmers lace their feed with antibiotics. This is the perfect place for bacteria to evolve.

How can we fix this problem? The Food and Drug Administration and other federations plan to restrict the use of antibiotics. Therefore everyone should limit their use of antibiotics. Doctors should not prescribe medicines greatest weapon to people who don’t absolutely need it. Most people would argue that we are constantly getting new medicine. But it could take years before there are any breakthroughs and even then, the whole populous could already be on the verge of extinction.