IN THREE DECADES, ANTIBIOTICS PREDICTED TO CAUSE MORE DEATHS THAN CANCER
“We have a big problem in this country and it drives me bonkers. Over half of all the antibiotic prescriptions in this country are unnecessary. Until I became a doctor, every single time I got a cold, I took antibiotics. I took 2-3 courses of antibiotics every single year from the time I was in high school until I was in my early 20’s.” Dr. Travis Stork, from yesterday’s segment of The Doctors titled New Killer to Top Cancer by 2050?
“If we fail to act, we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine.” Prime Minister of Great Britain, David Cameron, speaking of the study we are discussing below.
I’m not a big TV watcher — especially when it comes to network TV. So, although I had heard of the program “The Doctors,” I had never actually seen it nor knew anything about it. Yesterday, I was at the shop getting a tire rotation and oil change, and browsing an old issue of Guns & Ammo while I waited. There was a TV playing in the background with the sound turned way down to the point that over the commotion of the air-wrenches in the work area, I could not hear it. However, I looked up and the headline at the bottom of the screen immediately grabbed my attention, “Antibiotic Use Kills More Than Cancer!“
I assumed (correctly) that the segment pertained to a study that came out in the last few days of 2015 in the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance. The study blamed most of the problem on ANTIBIOTICS USED FOR COMMERCIALLY-RAISED MEAT, but, like the doctors from The Doctors, it laid part of the blame at the feet of both physicians and patients. Their website states…..
“Routine surgeries and minor infections will become life- threatening once again and the hard won victories against infectious diseases of the last fifty years will be jeopardized. Hospital stays and expenses, for both public health care providers and for out of pocket payers will increase significantly. Drug resistant infections are already on the rise with numbers suggesting that up to 50,000 lives are lost each year to antibiotic-resistant infections in Europe and the US alone. Globally, at least 700,000 die each year of drug resistance in illnesses….”
SUPERBUGS and nasocomicals such as C. DIFF are downright scary. Because of this fact, I guess we should be thrilled that the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance has been, “assessing solutions to” this problem. Other than playing the part of ‘Captain Obvious’ and suggesting a ban on universal antibiotics given to farm animals for the express purpose of making them fat, their chief idea should scare the pants off you —- doubling down on worldwide forced vaccination policies.
Just last month, The Review published a paper on this very topic called Vaccines and Alternative Approaches: Reducing our Dependence on Antimicrobials. “Vaccines prevent infections and so reduce the need to use antibiotics. This is true for vaccines that prevent bacterial infections, and it is also true for vaccines that prevent viral infections, such as the flu, which should not be treated with antibiotics anyway. Vaccines and other alternative approaches to reducing our dependence on antibiotics in food production should be explored urgently.“
Turning increasing segments of healthcare over to the government is bringing this issue to a head. You might be one of those people who doesn’t care how many shots you or your children get each year, or why the incidence of CHRONIC DISEASES HAS GONE THROUGH THE STRATOSPHERE.
If so, that’s OK. It’s a free country (at least for now). Just make sure you are making those decisions from a position of knowledge (i.e, don’t take your doctor’s word for anything). On the other hand, if you are concerned about the VACCINE WARS THAT ARE PLAYING ON THE HORIZON like a steadily creeping mirage, get involved because whether you like it or not, your tax dollars are already paying for this. “The Review recommended Global Innovation Fund and long-term sustained funding from philanthropic, public and private sources…. and strengthening the market for new vaccines and alternatives through interventions such as market entry rewards“. Back to The Doctors.
Here’s why things aren’t going to change any time soon as far as the average physician’s day-to-day antibiotic prescription habits are concerned. Dr. Rachael Ross — the program’s resident “sexologist” — looked at the live studio audience and essentially blamed them for this problem. “It really does start with you guys, to the point where you say, ‘no doc, I don’t want antibiotics’. Or you stop asking us for them because…… it’s tough; you have a patient who’s been sick for seven or eight days and they come in saying, ‘doc, I just came in cause I need antibiotics…..“.
Horse-apples. It starts with doctors stepping up to the plate, showing some gumption, and actually following their profession’s own Evidence-Base on the topic! What does she think people go to the doctor for? Comfort? Assurance? Advice? Heck no; they can get that from their dog and Google! People aren’t going to the doctor so they can hear that they’ve got the flu, a bug, are sick, have a cold, an upper respiratory infection, a sore throat, etc, etc, etc, and then return home empty-handed. They’re going for the express purpose of getting drugs — namely antibiotics. And if their doctor won’t prescribe them, they’ll just go down the street and find one who will (or borrow some of mom’s leftovers).
And as far as antibiotics and health are concerned, let’s forget about the “Superbugs” for a moment. Take a look at THIS POST or THESE POSTS to see why I have been warning my patients for two and a half decades that antibiotics are arguably the singularly worst substance they are regularly exposing themselves / their families to. If you are interested in truly changing your health, HERE is the post you need to read. Unfortunately, as long as those in charge of healthcare have such massive financial interests at stake, you can forget about being able to trust EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE.
