In an earlier writing on antibiotic resistance a number of corroborating and informative links were placed in the text to help the reader understand that this issue is a serious health concern and is now receiving due attention from many sources. Today’s Journal provides deeper perspectives for your consideration.
Everyone should be aware of the development of antibiotic resistance as a global problem. This has become an important ecosystem concern and it impacts our lives through various ecosystem processes. It also obviously impacts our lives when we have to interface in any manner with the medical industry.
Antibiotic resistance began to develop when the first antibiotic, penicillin, came into wide usage during WWII. After penicillin’s success, more and more antibiotics were discovered and developed, usually from plant molds. Varieties were later synthesized by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
And so, antibiotics have been in use for the last 70 years to treat patients who have infectious diseases, and since the 1940s, these drugs have greatly reduced illness and death from infectious diseases. However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, and these drugs are now far less effective. In many cases, antibiotics are now completely ineffective.
The example of penicillin resistance is a typical story about the increase in the frequency of antibiotic-resistant organisms since the time when this first antibiotic usage became common. Penicillin is an antibiotic produced by the common bread mold Penicillium that was serendipitously discovered in 1929 by the British microbiologist, Alexander Fleming. By the 1940s, penicillin was available for medical use and was successfully used to treat infections in soldiers during World War II.
Since then, penicillin has been commonly used to treat a wide range of infections. In 1967 the first penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae was observed in Australia, and seven years later in the U.S. another case of penicillin-resistant S. pneumoniae was observed in a patient with pneumococcal meningitis. In 1980 it was estimated that 3-5% of S. pneumoniae were penicillin-resistant and by 1998, 34% of the S. pneumoniae sampled were resistant to penicillin.
A similar story line such as this one for penicillin could be developed for most of the current commonly used antibiotics. The issue of antibiotic resistance has become a more serious concern with the advent of the 21st century. It is now widely recognized as a very serious ecosystem and human health issue.
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.
A recent article with an excellent 30 minute video documentary on this subject has appeared on the popular Mercola.com holistic health website. You can see this article here. This timely article is well worth your time, as is the video shown at the top of the article from the Catalyst, which is a documentary production company from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Catalyst documentary and the Mercola article discuss the causes of antibiotic resistance, as well as the use of phage therapy as an alternative to blind and thoughtless antibiotic usage. This intervention employs the use of the natural predator of bacteria, which are viruses known as bacteriophages.
You have approximately 1,000 different species of bacteria living in your body, and these bacteria actually outnumber your body’s cells by 10 to 1. You also harbor the bacteriophages, and they in turn outnumber bacteria 10 to 1. It is often said these days that of our 100 trillion cells, only 10 trillion of these cells are human. (I think the phages are sub-cellular and are not included in the total count.)
Might we really be a collection of microbes here to have a human experience? The scientific and clinical literature is so far mute on this question. Back to the Journal line…
Bacteriophages were first used in the early 1920’s in France, and then more extensively in the 1930’s in Russian military troops to ward off dysentery. Later use in Russia found phage therapy to be effective against diphtheria, tetanus, gangrene, scarlet fever, meningococcus, Salmonella, and Shigella.
Your Natural Antibiotic Options
The most important antibiotic that one can have is to develop the natural host defenses which all people are gifted with. In order to build host defense from the ground level on up, one must first think about a lifestyle of gastrointestinal (GI) health practices to enhance the ecology and chemistry of the GI tract.
GI ecology health is built around a diversity of commensal microbial organisms which live in the gut and provide us with a beneficial chemistry which affects all organ systems. The many species of bacteria are recognized as important to maintain in their number and balance. GI stool testing is available to assess the bacterial ecology and the chemistry of by-products which are very important for GI lining health and systemic health.
The most basic of GI health protocols involves consideration of macronutrient choices of prebiotic and probiotic foods which are high in soluble fiber and naturally beneficial organisms, such as are found in fermented foods…yogurt, kefir, fermented vegetables, fermented soy foods, and others.
Minimization or avoidance of GI toxins is a major consideration. Typical toxins are sugars, all processed foods, alcohol, excessive caffeine, excessive grains and the prolamines contained in grains. Prolamines are the grain’s natural defense mechanism. This family of grain chemicals create leaky gut in humans. The leaky gut phenomenon contributes to autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and all inflammatory conditions. Blood testing from labs which offer advanced immunological arrays will define which foods should be avoided that contribute to leaky gut on an individual basis.
The following nutritional supplements from Designs for Health will assist gastrointestinal health and are recommended:
A unique probiotic for oral health is Probiommune. This pleasant tablet contains Streptococcus salivarius, an important microbe for oral cavity microbial ecology.
In addition, one can consider adding a phage supplement in cases of bacterial ecology distortions, known as dysbiosis. Examples of phage supplements are:
An excellent herbal based formula for general immune system support is Immunitone Plus.
A multi-pack and multi formula product which contains Immunitone Plus as well as other supportive and synergistic products is the Immune Support Packets.
Concluding Remarks
In addition to developing GI health, you should be using vitamin D in a dosing appropriate to your genetics, age, and medical conditions. Vitamin D was covered in the last Journal, and you can reference these comments. Vitamin D should always be complexed with vitamin K2, as has also been addressed in the prior writing on Vitamin K2.
Silvercillin solution is a very effective and safe antimicrobial which one case use in a routine preventive manner or at the first sign of an infectious process. This nano particle silver compound was covered in this Journal entry.
Other helpful immune system enhancing supplements from Designs for health can be seen here.
I invite you to peruse this website from Tufts University Medical School which is the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, or APUA. Here you will find helpful corroborative information.
And last but not least, please be aware that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup, is the most used agricultural chemical in history. On a global basis glyphosate is used in about 700 different herbicides. Designed to kill bacteria, glyphosate was originally patented as an antibiotic. It harms both soil, the ecosystem, and human health.
Signing off from Crestone and Beyond
Other References
I’ll be placing more related references here as I collect them.
- Antiseptic Agents and the Human Microbiome
- Biofilms and Resistance
- Botanicals to Ward Off the Bugs
- Vitamin D…a writing on this website about vitamin D, which is an antimicrobial peptide.
- Antibiotics and Mitochondria–You Need to Know This…Dr. David Perlmutter explains new evidence (8-15-2017) that common classes of antibiotics damage mitochondria and induce more reactive oxygen species and oxidative damage. The use of oral N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) as an antioxidant mitigates this damage.
- Antibiotic resistance could spell end of modern medicine, says chief medic…The Guardian makes a statement on this important subject, posted here on 10-14-2017.
- 25 Most Dangerous Drugs…this is from mainstream MSN
- A new worrisome trend of super-bug resistance is reported in the WSJ on 3-6-18, based on a study from Emory University.
- At Hamburger Central, Antibiotics for Cattle That Aren’t Sick…industrial CAFO feedlots for cattle are a main source of antibiotic usage, antibiotic resistance, and generalized environmental toxicity. The meat you may consume should not come from these operations….from a NYT article posted here on March 24, 2018.
- Antibiotics & the Altering of the Human Microbiome…”The widespread use of antibiotics has undoubtedly saved thousands of lives from basic pathogens; however, storm clouds have been brewing and we are just now starting to see the consequences of unbridled antibiotic distribution.”
- The Top 20 Natural Remedies for Cold and Flu…this 3-7-19 article by Chris Kresser discusses the difference between cold and flu, and covers good natural remedies for both. Antibiotic resistance is included as a topic in the article.
- A Mysterious Infection, Spanning the Globe in a Climate of Secrecy…this NYT article, posted here on April 6, 2019, describes the appearance and rise of the drug resistant fungus Candida auris. This embodies a serious and growing public health threat: drug-resistant pathogens.
- The Antibiotics Business is Broken—But There’s a Fix…”every dose of antibiotics poses a risk of encouraging bacteria to adapt and develop resistance. So these new medications are caught in a conundrum: Their fiscal promise and their social value are at odds.”
- Citrus Farmers Facing Deadly Bacteria Turn to Antibiotics, Alarming Health Officials…a story from the 5-17-19 edition of the NYT about more of this antibiotic resistance problem. One also wonders if the food and farming industry is poised for a collapse.
- CDC: 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions unnecessary…a May, 2016 announcement from the CDC…”At least 30 percent of antibiotics prescribed in the United States are unnecessary, according to new data published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).”
- Association Between Use of Multiple Classes of Antibiotics in Infancy and Allergic Disease in Children…a December, 2019 report from JAMA Pediatrics which found that antibiotic use during infancy is associated with a higher risk of anaphylaxis, asthma, food allergies, dermatitis, rhinitis, and conjunctivitis.
- 14 Ways Cruciferous Vegetables Can Improve Your Health…the benefits of the phytochemicals in cruciferous vegetables is covered here. Broccoli, cabbage, collards, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and bok choy contain beneficial chemicals such as indole-3-carbinol (I3C), diindolemethane (DIM), and sulfurophane. DIM reduces biofilms, a main contributor to antibiotic resistance. DIM has other important benefits, as do the other cruciferous phytochemicals.