The Dangers of Overusing Antibiotics

Antibiotics are still one of the major sacraments of the Church of Modern Medicine. Already this winter I have seen over a dozen people at my office who have been prescribed antibiotics at various walk-in clinics to treat signs and symptoms of the common cold or the flu.

Even mainstream medical experts advise against this type of behavior in medical schools and teaching hospitals. Nevertheless, the mindless penicillin mentality practice goes on and on.

This is not to say that antibiotics should never be prescribed. There is a time and place for antibiotics and I do prescribe them on rare occasions. After all, if one is truly suffering from a confirmed case of bacterial pneumonia, kidney infection, or a strep throat based on laboratory tests (sputum culture, throat culture, urine culture, or special blood tests), antibiotics can be life saving.

In the overall picture of what happens in the fall and winter months, however, the need for antibiotics is really more in the mind than anywhere else. Since the mind can make just about any prescription work at a rate of 35% or more, antibiotics may well be the most dangerous and expensive placebos in medical practice.

Why are antibiotics dangerous?

Bacteria quickly learn how to become resistant to antibiotics, making their use for future, more serious infections, obsolete. Many strains of Streptococcus, E. coli, and Haemophilus influenzae are not only resistant to penicillin but also to broad spectrum cephalosporin and sulfa antibiotics.

The more antibiotics used by a given individual, the more likely the development of resistant infections. The reemergence of diseases like tuberculosis, once nearly eradicated in North America, is just one of the many newly recognized dangers of the overuse of antibiotics.

Antibiotics can cause Candida yeast and fungi growth, which leads to subsequent immune suppression caused by mycotoxins secreted by these organisms. The more fungi in the system, the higher the likelihood of developing food allergies or intolerances as well as autoimmune diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and numerous others.

Antibiotics also cause nutritional deficiencies as well as organ damage, especially to the liver, kidneys, and nervous system.

Antibiotics suppress immunity through the destruction of friendly bacteria in the small and large intestines. For example, antibiotics used for middle ear infections actually increase a child’s infection rate by up to six times compared to placebo.

Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacteria protect us against infections not only in our bowel but also in other areas like the skin. Overuse of antibiotics as well as the birth control pill can wipe out these friendly organisms, rendering the body more susceptible to bacterial, viral, yeast (Candida), fungal, and parasitic infections.

The beneficial bacteria (probiotics) are also involved in either the synthesis or bioavailability of many vitamins and minerals. Antibiotics can therefore lead indirectly to a long list of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The most important of these are the B complex vitamins, vitamin A, zinc, and magnesium. The end result may be anemia, chronic fatigue, and other nervous system symptoms such as memory loss, depression, anxiety, worsening premenstrual syndrome, fibromyalgia, and insomnia.

In my next blog, I will discuss some options you could try instead of turning immediately to antibiotics.