Hyla Cass, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 And you may have contributed in a small way to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. As antibiotics are used more and more often, bacterial strains that are resistant to those drugs evolve and spread. As a result, the drugs we've come to count on to get rid of truly dangerous infections don't work nearly as well as they used to.
When do you really need an antibiotic? That's a conversation for you to have with your doctor. If you are being evaluated for some sort of infectious condition, ask whether it is likely to be viral; if he isn't sure, you can ask for a culture to be performed. |
Erich Grotewold
See book keywords and concepts |
 Fitness consequences of genetically engineered herbicide and antibiotic resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana, Genetics 145: 807-814. Purugganan, M. D., 1998, The molecular evolution of development, BioEssays 20: 700-711. Purugganan, M. D, Rounsley, S. D, Schmidt, R. J, and Yanofsky, M. F, 1995, Molecular evolution of flower development: diversification of the plant MADS-box regulatory gene family, Genetics 140:
345-356.
Purugganan, M. D, and Wessler, S. R, 1994, Molecular evolution of the plant R regulatory gene family, Genetics 138: 849-854.
Quattrocchio, F., Wing, J.F, Leppen, H.T.C, Mol, J. |
Bottom Line Health
See book keywords and concepts |
| With such strong warnings, you might assume that antibiotic resistance is going away. But the reality is that it isn't.
Increasingly, bacteria that are responsible for sinusitis, ear and urinary tract infections and many types of pneumonia are resistant to one or more antibiotics. This means that many infections that were once easily cured by taking an antibiotic for a few days can now linger much longer—and even become life-threatening.
How antibiotic-resistance develops: Bacteria can become resistant to antibiotics by mutating to become insensitive to the drug. |
James Dowd and Diane Stafford
See book keywords and concepts |
 In the case of an infection, your adequate vitamin D level should speed clearance of the microbe and reduce the likelihood of incomplete eradication of the microbe or the development of antibiotic resistance. The vitamin D and the antibiotic team up to overcome infection more quickly and completely. Moreover, vitamin D will assist in the repair of damaged tissues after an infection, too. Vitamin D speeds wound healing, and antibiotics in the absence of a functioning immune system aren't effective. |
Bottom Line Health
See book keywords and concepts |
| Despite widespread concern about the growing problem of antibiotic resistance, too many people are still receiving prescriptions for antibiotics that they don't need, according to two recent studies.
"In the United States approximately 150 million prescriptions are written each year, and 60% of those are for antibiotics," says Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University Medical Center. |
| So, approximately 90 million antibiotic prescriptions are written and approximately half of those are either unnecessary or inappropriate, which is the leading cause of antibiotic resistance in this country. These studies represent a beginning effort in trying to break the cycle of inappropriate antibiotic use," he says.
THE FIRST STUDY
The first study looked at the rate of antibiotic prescriptions and included 4,158 American children between the ages of three and 17 who were examined in a physician's office, hospital outpatient department or emergency room for a sore throat. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
See book keywords and concepts |
 When the common strep infection evolves a trait that gives it antibiotic resistance, it's all luck. When humans evolved to cope with the rapid onset of the Younger Dryas, it was all luck. To be clear, scientists thought natural selection was influenced by the environment—but mutation never was. Mutation was an accident; natural selection occurred when the accident was helpful.
The problem with this theory is that it takes the evolution out of evolution. |
Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN
See book keywords and concepts |
| Antibiotics can kill beneficial bacteria, cause diarrhea and colitis, and lead to antibiotic resistance by bacteria if overused. Very commonly, viral infections are misdiagnosed as bacterial infections. In these cases, patients receive a completely pointless dose of antibiotics. It's estimated that over 50 million pounds of antibiotics are prescribed every year. In many cases, these drugs are being prescribed needlessly. Whether the prescriptions are necessary or not, these antibiotic drugs are contaminating intestinal tracts and causing serious side effects. |
Dr. Steve Blake
See book keywords and concepts |
 The genes of the bacteria may also have been altered by the addition of antibiotic resistance to ampicillin. This is one possible difference between synthetic and naturally-occurring riboflavin.
Heat does not normally degrade riboflavin. However, ultraviolet light and other forms of irradiation including visible light destroy riboflavin, as shown in Figure 1-8.
Riboflavin is destroyed by light and ultraviolet light
( uv )
\\\
Visible
Ultraviolet light light
Figure 1-8 Riboflavin is destroyed by light and UV light. |
Gerald E. Markle and Frances B. McCrea
See book keywords and concepts |
 Increased use is responsible for the recent rise in antibiotic resistance among common respiratory pathogens. Current overtreatment, in other words, limits the effectiveness of future treatment not only for common colds, but also for more serious conditions.
The conclusion is clear and twofold: the practice of prescribing antibiotics for common colds and flu is common medical practice, and it is unsatisfactory medical practice, both for the patient and for the public health.
"Maybe Grandpa's cure was not so bad after all," mused Fran.
Seeing my look of incomprehension, she explained. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
See book keywords and concepts |
| Of course, good is a matter of perspective—a mutation that helps bacteria develop antibiotic resistance isn't good for us, but it is good from the bacteria's point of view.)
Finally, DNA isn't destiny—it's history. Your genetic code doesn't determine your life. Sure, it shapes it—but exactly how it shapes it will be dramatically different depending on your parents, your environment, and your choices. Your genes are the evolutionary legacy of every organism that came before you, beginning with your parents and winding all the way back to the very beginning. |
Bottom Line Health
See book keywords and concepts |
| Linder says that in addition to concern about antibiotic resistance, parents should be cautious about giving children unnecessary medications because all drugs, including antibiotics, have certain risks.
"Exposing kids to medicine they don't need may not help them, and it exposes them to all the risks of the drug," he says.
THE SECOND STUDY
The second study included 334 primary-care doctors from 12 rural areas in Idaho and Utah. |
Roberta Bivins
See book keywords and concepts |
 And then there were the failures of biomedicine, rendered more visible by its many successes: iatrogenic disease, nosocomial infection, antibiotic resistance, thalidomide.
Western consumers were disenchanted by science, and living in societies rapidly transforming around political movements—including feminism, environmentalism, anti-racism, and multiculturalism?dedicated to redressing social imbalances which had often been reinforced by the science of earlier eras. |
Jeffrey M. Smith
See book keywords and concepts |
 Microbiologist John Heritage "said the risk of spreading antibiotic resistance occurred when cells were broken open during the processing of the food, releasing the modified DNA into the environment. The risk was magnified when the processing created dust, Dr. Heritage said, because the dust would be breathed in. "74
—BBC
1. Bacteria in the mouth can take up free DNA.
2. GM DNA might similarly transfer from food.
3. Breathing dust or pollen from GM crops might cause genes to transfer to microorganisms in the respiratory tract.
4. |
| Studies have confirmed that antibiotic resistance genes from soil organisms have transferred into the human and animal intestinal tracts, as well as the human mouth.19 Several characteristics of GM crops, however, may overcome the natural barriers to transfer, making gene exchanges between GM foods and gut bacteria much more frequent.
1. Antibiotics: Gene transfer among certain bacteria increases one-hundredfold in the presence of the antibiotic tetracycline. |
| In chicks fed GM corn, antibiotic resistance marker genes were found in their stomachs.10 The transgene for a Bt corn line (the full length of the coding portion for crylAB) was found in-tact in sheep rumen (the first compartment of a ruminant animal's stomach). The authors concluded, "DNA in maize grains persists for a significant time and may, therefore, provide a source of transforming DNA [i.e., horizontal gene transfer] in the rumen.
Short DNA fragments from plant chloroplasts were found in the lymphocytes of cows, and possibly in their milk. |
| SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARD TO INTRODUCE A GENE THAT CODES FOR antibiotic resistance INTO THE NORMAL FLORA OF THE GENERAL POPULATION"37
JL 9
\he benefit to be gained by the use of the kanamycin resistance marker in transgenic plants is outweighed by the risk " 38
—Internal memos from FDA's Division of Anti-Infective Drug Products
1. Antibiotic resistant marker (ARM) genes have been inserted into most GM foods on the market.
2. If ARM genes were to transfer to pathogenic bacteria inside the gut or mouth, they might create super diseases, untreatable with one or more types of antibiotics.
3. |
| Political appointees approved ARM genes and a 1998 FDA document states, "It is highly unlikely that antibiotic resistance genes could be transferred from plant genomes to gut microorganisms."42 This assumption has yet to be tested in humans, although antibiotic resistant genes can transfer into bacteria typically found in the human mouth (see section 5.8) as well as into soil microorganisms. |
| The authors concluded that there was still sufficient genetic material to allow for the possible transfer of antibiotic resistance genes into E-coli. They said that this implies "that DNA released from the diet within the mouth may retain sufficient biological activity" to transfer into "oral bacteria."75
In another study, an oral bacterium was able to take-up and express foreign genes within a minute.76 And in a third study, 40%-65% of a GM plasmid survived after 10 minutes in human saliva and 6%-25% remained after a full hour. |
Hyla Cass
See book keywords and concepts |
| And you may have contributed in a small way to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance. As antibiotics are used more and more often, bacterial strains that are resistant to those drugs evolve and spread. As a result, the drugs we've come to count on to get rid of truly dangerous infections don't work nearly as well as they used to.
When do you really need an antibiotic? That's a conversation for you to have with your doctor. If you are being evaluated for some sort of infectious condition, ask whether it is likely to be viral; if he isn't sure, you can ask for a culture to be performed. |
Bill Sardi
See book keywords and concepts |
 American Journal Gastroenterology 100: 2100-15, 2005] However, cancer doctors can't fathom the use of non-prescription antibiotics that do not induce antibiotic resistance, such as allicin from garlic and carvacrol from oregano. The use of acid-forming bacteria supplements (acidophilus), garlic preparations, or resveratrol, are comparable to the use of antibiotics to kill off H. pylori. [Molecular Cell Biochemistry 243: 29-35, 2003]
Folic acid supplementation may serve to prevent pre-cancer-ous changes in the digestive tract. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 Accordingly, the incidence of infectious diseases and of antibiotic levels in milk should he investigated with particular reference to the risks of induction of antibiotic resistance in the general population.
AHergenicity of Hormonal Milk
The allergenic and immunogenic effects in humans of met-BGH in milk, and of novel peptides resulting from its pasteurization or digestion, should be investigated. |
| These concerns are still further emphasized by the results of recent investigations demonstrating that up to 38 percent of milk sampled nationally is contaminated by illegal residues of antibiotics and animal drugs, posing grave potential public health hazards, including antibiotic resistance, carcinogenicity, and allergic reactions (13). In this connection, without public notification, the CVM has recently tripled the allowable residues in milk of new antibiotics used for treatment of bovine mastitis, a common complication in s-BGH-treated cows. |
Ray Strand, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 In response to continued antibiotic resistance, several agencies launched campaigns throughout the 1990s to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics by public health and professional organizations, including the CDC, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of
- Family Practice, American Academy Society for
The development of new Microbiology, and Alliance for the Prudent Use antibiotics has not kept of Antibiotics.12 up with the development A follow-up study reported in the Journal of of antibiotic resistance. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Monsanto's own data further show up to an 80% incidence of mastitis, an udder infection, in hormone-treated cattle and resulting contamination of milk with statistically significant levels of pus; this will necessitate virtually routine use of antibiotics, with attendant risks of allergic reactions and antibiotic resistance.
Congress should insist that, at the very least, the FDA immediately revoke its restrictions on labeling of milk from untreated cows. More prudently, it should ban the use of these hormones. |
| Furthermore, the high incidence of chronic mastitis in rBGH injected cows results in contamination of their milk with pus, and with antibiotics used to treat the infection, with risks of allergic reactions and nationwide antibiotic resistance. Less well recognized is contamination of rBGH milk with the hormone itself, and immunological evidence of absorption of the hormone from the intestine. |
| Hazards from such residues include allergic reactions, induction of antibiotic resistance, and chronic toxic effects. Both Daughaday and Barbano and Grossman ignore these hazards, although the FDA admits that "illegal use of veterinary drugs can be an even greater threat to the public health than the illegal use of human drugs." Biotechnology and genetic engineering under controlled clinical conditions represent a major medical advance. |
KC Craichy
See book keywords and concepts |
 Antibacterial Soaps
Because of their potential to cause antibiotic resistance, the AMA (American Medical Association) and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) have been concerned about the overuse of antibacterial soaps for several years. Now research published in Environmental Science & Technology, April 2005, has now shown that in notmal dishwashing situations antibacterial soaps (with the ingredient triclosan) have been shown to react with the chlorine from typical tap water. |
Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
| Accordingly, the incidence of infectious diseases and of antibiotic levels in milk should be investigated with particular reference to the risks of induction of antibiotic resistance in the general population.
Allergenicity of Hormonal Milk
The allergenic and immunogenic effects in humans of met-BGH in milk, and of novel peptides resulting from its pasteurization or digestion, should be investigated. |
Mark Hyman, M.D.
See book keywords and concepts |
 This has led to extreme antibiotic resistance and superbacteria that aren't killed by any of the known antibiotics. Every course of antibiotics leads to your body being inhabited by more and more resistant organisms, which are tougher and tougher for your antibodies to fend off. Periodic antibiotic use also kills many of the healthy, beneficial bacteria in our bodies that live in harmony with our immune systems.
The dry-cleaning process (c) employs many toxic chemicals that leave a residue on clothes. This may explain the link between socioeconomic status and breast cancer in women. |
Email this page to a friend
