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Andrew Lopp Ms. Ingram English 1102 29 October 2012 Super Bacteria Takeover As technology and humanity have advanced, so have the diseases that afflict us and the medication that we use to treat such diseases. The medicines in use today have been scientifically enhanced to be very potent. This has become more advantageous because the sick can be cured faster with fewer side effects and be back to work without a moments notice. Although medicines, antibiotics in particular, have significantly aided man in fighting disease, harmful drawbacks are beginning to emerge and are halting our medical progress; in fact, progress is somewhat regressing due to using and abusing the medicine available at hand. The overprescribing of drugs is a main cause of our problems today. As antibiotics become more frequently prescribed, they become less and less productive in combating the bacteria they are engineered to destroy. These bacteria are developing what is called antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance evolves naturally via natural selection through random mutation (Science Daily). The antibiotics used in treatment may kill 99.9% of bacteria, but they leave behind the resistant .1% of bacteria which mutate and reproduce to from a whole new population of mutated, resistant bacteria. Now that current antibiotics will not defeat these bacteria, new drugs of stronger

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potency must be developed to kill these bacteria. This is a cycle that we have set in progress and are now finding that our antibiotics are almost useless against. Resistant bacterial infections are more frequently showing up in hospitals today. Some resistant bacteria are streptococcus pneumonia, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), neisseria meningitides, and others. Among these, MRSA is the one most commonly seen in hospitals and healthcare facilities because of the large numbers of people with weakened immune systems (CDC). It is becoming harder to fight MRSA because it is resistant to a wide variety of drugs including: methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin (CDC). This resistance has been aided by our need to use antibiotics to combat the simplest illnesses that could have been equally as cured with a few days rest and our own immune systems. It is this mindset, that there are no side effects to our actions of using drugs liberally, that has developed the problem that we face today. As consumers, we tend to want the solution that is the quickest fix to our problems. Consumers are causing the problem to grow exponentially because of our choice of treatment for our illnesses. The common choice is for patients to take whatever medicine is prescribed to them without question. These choices are only helping bacteria mutate faster and become resistant to our medications. There are other contributing factors to this downfall as well. It seems that everywhere we look stands another dispenser of antibacterial hand sanitizer or soap intended to cleanse us of the harmful bacteria we collect throughout the day. The

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availability of products like these is harming our immune systems by disrupting their natural function. Instead of letting our immune systems build proper immunity, we are using synthetic germ killers to do this job thus weakening the immune system. However, there are some people who approach medicine with a holistic view. People that approach medicine with this view believe that holistic medicine is the art and science of healing that addresses care of the whole person - body, mind, and spirit. The practice of holistic medicine integrates conventional and complementary therapies to promote optimal health, and prevent and treat disease by addressing contributing factors (AHMA). Practitioners of holistic medicine are more reasonable in treating illnesses. Unlike traditional doctors, they tend to shy away from prescription drugs. They look at all factors in a patients life, diet, exercise, etc, and try to find an underlying cause to the patients illness. The holistic doctor assesses the patient as a unique individual, rather than an example of a particular disease (AHMA). Although the patient may have to make a lifestyle change to be cured of their affliction, his or her doctor will try to keep medication out of the solution if at all possible as to shy away from a dependence on medicine and its possible consequences. By doing this, they are not as much of a contributing factor to the resistance problem at hand today. This should be the chosen method of treatment for most illnesses. An example of holistic medicine could be the use of whole medical systems such as homeopathy to induce natural healing. Holistic practitioners believe a system isn't just a single practice or remedy such as massage but many practices that center on a philosophy, such as the power of nature or the presence of energy in your body (Mayo Clinic). Homeopathy is a particular method of treatment where minute doses of

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a substance that cause symptoms are introduced to stimulate the body's self-healing response (Mayo Clinic). These systematic approaches to treatment are beneficial because they rely solely on the bodys natural responses and not on outside forces. This is an area where holistic medicine appears to hold an advantage on modern medicine. Holistic health care practitioners embrace a lifetime of learning about all safe and effective options in diagnosis and treatment (AHMA). These practitioners may use some medication in their treatment plans of illness, but they use the combined power of medicine, lifestyle changes, and natural herbs to get the full healing power of all three treatments. As time continues, the medical advances we have made are slowly coming back to haunt us. Jonbarron.org ranks the discovery of penicillin as the second greatest medical advancement in history. It effectively gave doctors the ability to cure illness at will and eliminate any harmful bacteria necessary. Although it gave us many advantages over bacteria, it now has turned the tables against us. Thanks to overprescribing, overuse, and poor management of patients, the medical community has created a situation even worse than existed before the advent of antibiotics (jonbarron.org). Bacteria like MRSA are now resistant to penicillin and its many variants leaving us exposed to these deadly infections. Not only are resistances building up, but so are drug-related allergies. The World Allergy Organization states that drug exposure is a direct cause of the development of drug allergies (WAO). Although in some patients drugs are an important facet of treatment, this problem is coming from what was discussed earlier: doctors

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overprescribing medication. If sensitization occurs with one drug, the patient may also be at risk for sensitization of other drugs with a close chemical structure (WAO). For example, sensitization to penicillin could also mean sensitization to other penicillinbased drugs such as oxacillin or amoxicillin. This will only add to the current resistance problem because it limits the patients that can be treated with these almost useless drugs. Businesses that make profit on the sale of pharmaceuticals are not helping the cause. Since it is their business to sell pharmaceutical drugs, they tend to push drugs on doctors and sell only their benefits. Although there are obviously disadvantages to these drugs, they tend to be overlooked for their short-term benefits. In the eyes of businesses, this upcoming problem can also be seen as a new business venture. All of this bacterial resistance creates a new market for pharmaceutical companies to expand their profit margins. There is much research and development to be done to create drugs that are effective in combating the new resistant bacteria. These drugs must not be antibiotics, though, because new antibiotic drugs would only perpetuate the current situation and create bacteria with an even stronger resistance. Sadly, most companies continue to develop new antibiotics. Therefore, this does not help the matter at hand. It will only continue to get worse until all potential antibiotics have been used and have created immunity in bacteria and we are left hopelessly attempting to successfully attack these super bacteria. Businesses trying to tackle new markets and patients developing a dependence on drugs have caused medical progress to regress slightly in past years. Forms of

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treatment that have worked in the recent past are becoming ineffective. Because our treatment forms are becoming less potent, they are being prescribed in higher doses. By referring to the process of mutation by natural selection and to common sense, it is not healthy for patients to be treated in this manner. To continue living in such a manner would be detrimental to society. In turn, we must reconfigure to a healthier lifestyle, change our medical practices, and work on creating a solution to the problem at hand. This is the only way that we can escape the bacteria lined hole we have dug for ourselves.

Works Cited

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"About Holistic Medicine." American Holistic Medicine Association. American Holistic Medicine Association. Web. 30 Oct 2012. <http://www.holisticmedicine.org/content.asp?pl=2&sl=43&contentid=43>. "Antibiotic Resistance." Science Daily. ScienceDaily, LLC. Web. 29 Oct 2012. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/a/antibiotic_resistance.htm>. Barron, Jon. "World's Greatest Medical Advancements." jonbarron.org. The Baseline of Health Foundation, 07 2008. Web. 30 Oct 2012. <http://www.jonbarron.org/article/worlds-greatest-medical-advancements>. "Complementary and alternative medicine." MayoClinic.com. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 20 2011. Web. 7 Nov 2012. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alternative-medicine/PN00001>. "Principles of Holistic Medicine." American Holistic Medicine Association. American Holistic Medicine Association. Web. 30 Oct 2012. <http://www.holisticmedicine.org/content.asp?pl=2&sl=22&contentid=22>. Thong, Bernard, Cassim Motala, and Daniel Vervloet. "Allergic Disease Resource Center." World Allergy Organization. World Allergy Organization, n.d. Web. <http://www.worldallergy.org/professional/allergic_diseases_center/drugallergy/> United States of America. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diseases/Pathogens Associated with Antimicrobial Resistance. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010. Web. <http://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/diseasesconnectedar.html>.