Fighting Against the Modern Plagues
In today’s post, it is time to talk
about awareness, but most importantly about who is spreading this awareness.
One individual who is taking up arms against antibiotic abuse and incompetent
health practices is Dr. Martin J. Blaser who will be the main topic of this
blog post.
Dr. Blaser has a long list of reasons why he is qualified to comment on this particular subject. He has studied microbiology for over 30 years, been the President of the Infectious Disease Society of America, the founder of the Foundation for Bacteriology and served as the Chair of the Board of Scientific Counselor of the National Cancer Institute.
Recently however, Dr. Blaser has been a
frequent appearance in media due to his new book which came out in 2014 called Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of
Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plagues. The book explains in detail Dr.
Blaser’s personal experiences in the healthcare industry related to
antibiotics, but also research pusblished by other biologists over the years.
Dr. Blaser addressed many concerns about antibiotics in the book, from the
increase of the use since the world wars to the importance of the human
microbiome. It is a very interesting read that is designed for people from all
types of education levels and occupations and not just the scientific
community. That’s what makes this book an invaluable resource when it comes to
spreading the message about the flaws in health practices concerning
antibiotics.
Dr. Blaser does discuss several of
these flaws in detail. In his webpage discussing the release of the book, he
talks about the human microbiome which is defined as a community of
microorganisms that live in symbiosis within the human body. Some of these
bacteria are useful or even essential for proper biological function, some are inert
or neutral, and some are harmful. However, the harmful species of bacteria are
never allowed full reign of the human body because there are other species that
keep the system in a tenuous balance. This means that overuse of antibiotics
not only have the potential of increasing the resistance of the harmful
bacteria in our microbiome but also killing off the good or the neutral species
that keep the microbiome stable.
How do we start to fix this problem? This cannot be done
overnight and Dr. Blaser stresses this point as well. Although his book tries
to inform the public about an issue that has been kept out of the spotlight of
the media over the last few decades for most of the chapters, it also ends on a
very promising note. The last chapters of the book emphasize common sense
solutions until modern science discover new alternatives that can truly declare
antibiotics obsolete.
Some of the solutions are remarkable simple like asking your
doctor if there are other options besides antibiotics, keeping track of every
course of antibiotics you take throughout the year, following the doctor’s
presecription faithfully and not skipping doses, or not choosing to take
antibiotics altogether for minor infections that just require time and rest to
heal.
Other solutions are ones that most people don’t often
consider like cutting back the use of hand sanitizers and using ordinary soap
instead. Overuse of these can kill off the good bacteria on the skin. One other
solution is to buy only anti-biotic free dairy, produce and meat. This is often
an area where people can consume antibiotics without even knowing just how much
they are putting in their body.
There are many more issues, examples
and solutions that Dr. Blaser goes over in his book. If you want to stay informed,
stay healthy and stay antibiotic-resistance free then give Missing Microbes a read!
References
Blaser, M. (2014). Missing
Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues (1st
ed., Vol. 1). New York City: Henry Holt and Company.
I found this post to be very interesting. A few months ago, I decided to stop using antibacterial soap on my hands, and although it's a small move, any move helps, right? Dr. Blaser's book brings information to light that a lot of people don't understand. I'm sure if I asked any lay person what exactly antibiotics do to your body, they wouldn't give me a very straight forward answer. I think that our society now really takes our bodily microbes for granted, but they really make up a lot of what we can do. The microbes that live within our bodies help with immunity and digestion, and I know most people don't understand that. This book would help inform uneducated individuals of the affects of antibiotic abuse and how we can prevent potential harm to our bodies. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWOW, I definitely learned a lot from this post. I already knew about antibiotic resistance through medication overuse but I had no idea that hand sanitizers and milk, meat, and produce were huge sources of antibiotics. That is something I will personally take into consideration as someone who does not like to take antibiotics and as such lets small things pass through time, rest, and healthy eating. Due to this I also appreciated that you provided concrete suggestions as to ways to avoid using antibiotics when you don't have to. The fact that Dr.Blaser wrote a book that is readable to the general public is very helpful to many and I think speaks a lot about his moral obligation as a scholar to spread his knowledge. Antibiotics are tricky because they are so commonplace and advertised in a way where they are always first line of defense instead of a more natural approach to a common cold or something. I'm glad this is being addressed!
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you started off your post. When speaking about plagues, you mention "who is spreading this awareness?" Play on words perhaps? Either way it received my attention. I've often thought of what taking so many pain relievers, antibiotics and other medications is effecting the immune systems of today's "pill-poppers" I seems to hold reason that the more artificial support you're body is taking in, the less antibodies it needs to naturally produce. It's good to hear others are considering these same possibilities.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way you started off your post. When speaking about plagues, you mention "who is spreading this awareness?" Play on words perhaps? Either way it received my attention. I've often thought of what taking so many pain relievers, antibiotics and other medications is effecting the immune systems of today's "pill-poppers" I seems to hold reason that the more artificial support you're body is taking in, the less antibodies it needs to naturally produce. It's good to hear others are considering these same possibilities.
ReplyDelete