Anti-antibiotics

What does natural selection have to do with antibiotics?  Bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to antibiotics.  This is a global problem that is becoming more of a concern.  When antibiotics are not taken for their appropriate use, bacteria are much more likely to become resistant because of natural selection.  Within a large population of bacteria, there will be a few “stronger” bacteria that have natural mutations that keep them alive against an antibiotic.  These become “resistant” to antibiotics.  These more resistant bacteria multiply, setting the bar higher. 

This natural selection, as stated by the name, is a naturally occurring process.  Life is always finding ways to live.  Unfortunately, there are things that we have been doing that increase the rate of resistance

Antibiotics in our food.  The food industry in the United States uses antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infections.  According to some estimates, the food industry uses 5 ½ times more antibiotics on animals than the amount humans take (about 85%).  This overuse is causing more and more bacteria strains to become resistant to these drugs.  You know the milk cartons and meat packages that say it is not treated with antibiotics?  This is because more and more people are becoming concerned about having all these antibiotics in our food.  It has been found that farms that don’t use antibiotics have no incidents of infection by very dangerous and resistant strains of bacteria.  To most people, it is common sense to not give antibiotics to healthy animals. So how does overuse lead to stronger bacteria?  Think of it like this, if an antibiotic comes in and kills a large population of bacteria once every 10 years, there will be a strain of bacteria that survives and multiplies, making that kind of bacteria a little more resistant.  If that same thing happens every few months, the bacteria evolve much more quickly because each time, a new mutation is found to survive.   

Antibiotics in the medical world.  People are not taking antibiotics for their intended use either.  In the past, medical professionals have been pretty casual in their prescriptions.  Sometimes they gave antibiotics to fix a viral infection like a cold or flu.  This has no use and just allows bacteria to learn to fight those drugs.  In the recent years, this problem has gotten better; doctors are becoming more careful with prescribing.  It is also prudent to take combinations of antibiotics to make sure that all bacteria are killed.  On the patient side, we need to take the drugs exactly as prescribed until all the pills are gone.  If a patient feels better but are not done with their medication, many stop taking them.  This allows the few remaining bacteria (the stronger ones) to live and reproduce forming more bacteria that are resistant to the antibiotic.

So as a general rule of thumb; try to buy products that say they are not treated with antibiotics and be sure to finish all your pills when you do have a bacterial infection