More Antibiotics? You Must be Kidding!
At first I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this story. Free antibiotics from a major grocery store chain? Even conventional medicine has recognized the dangers of the promiscuous use of these drugs and the hazards that can result. Where is the watchdog of our drug safety in America -- the FDA -- when a company comes up with a marketing ploy such as this? They get militant with anyone that dares discuss the benefits of natural foods or supplements, but yet allow the encouragement of these harmful drugs that, as the article points out, don't even effectively treat most of the ailments they are typically prescribed for.
Not only don't antibiotics help with viral ailments such as flu, colds, and others, but they actually weaken the body's ability to fight disease by compromising the balance of flora in the digestive tract where approximately 75% of the immune system is located. A better alternative is to take a quality probiotic product that boosts the number of "good" bacteria in the gut, thus strengthening the body and increasing its ability to absorb more nutrients from food as well. This plan to hand out antibiotics only encourages doctors to overprescribe and is one of the finest examples that I have ever seen of the pretzel logic that has long been the hallmark of Big Pharma and the FDA.
--Foreword by my hubby, Tom Mathison--
Antibiotics -- Even Free Ones -- Won't Cure Most Winter Ills
January 07, 2009 01:01 PM ET
The eastern seaboard will soon be awash in free antibiotics, as Wegmans yesterday announced the 72-store supermarket chain will make a 14-day supply of nine generic oral antibiotics available at no charge.
Giant Foods and Stop & Shop had already announced similar programs.
Wegmans says the program is aimed at helping people get through cold and flu season and will end March 31.
This is a nice public relations effort, and it is truly helpful for consumers who need these drugs. But the fact is that most wintertime ailments -- cold, flu, most sore throats, bronchitis, sinusitis -- are caused by viruses, not bacteria, and won't respond at all to antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But doctors, pressed for time and perhaps not entirely certain that their patient's illness isn't caused by a bacterial infection, often go ahead and prescribe a course of antibiotics anyway. If the drugs are free, the temptation to prescribe is even greater. This can lead to a second problem: antibiotic resistance.
Overuse of antibiotics has led to an alarming growth in bacteria and other microbes that don't respond to the antibiotics that used to kill them. Antibiotic resistance is considered one of the world's most pressing public health problems.
Taking antibiotics when you don't need them may make your body resistant to antibiotics when you do, according to the CDC. If you've got a bug and your doctor says to let it run its course, do that instead of demanding antibiotics, even free ones.
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2009/01/07/antibiotics_print.htm
(Photo taken from JupiterImages.com)
