In spite of everything negative and full of warning that can be said, antibiotics are extremely effective. They save lives. For infections that require hospitalization: deep wounds and damage into the bones and internal organs, nothing will compare. Nor is there a replacement for their abilities post-surgery to prevent infection that may lead to sepsis, gangrene, organ failure, even death. The development of antibiotics truly is one of the great breakthroughs in modern medicine.
Nonetheless, antibiotics are prescribed during patient visits to their doctors in an almost blanket-like manner. Infections, whether bacterial, viral or fungal, get treated at least initially with antibiotics. Prescribing an antibiotic for infection of epithelial tissues – in the nose, throat, sinus, ears, mouth, gums, lungs, skin, bladder and urethra – is all too common, and up to 85% of these infections are viral, not bacterial. Antibiotics often produce immediate symptomatic relief but they are nonetheless not the correct treatment for the dis-ease.
The symptomatic relief leads patients into the next common quandary…what happens when I stop taking my prescribed antibiotics before the 7 or 10 or 14 days I am supposed to take them for? All my symptoms have stopped bothering me and I feel fine!
You get the same instructions every time: take the prescription until it is finished. Do not DO NOT forget to take all of it to the very last dose since the reason for taking them is to eliminate ALL those evil bacteria ASAP.
Not all bacteria are equal. Some will be weak and go quickly. Some will last longer. Some will survive. There are varying levels of strength (resistance) that all the different bacteria have against any given antibiotic. If one bacteria can fight harder and last longer or last-period, it may become the mutant (read: resistant) bacteria of the future as it reproduces. If an antibiotic is strong and long enough, so the theory goes, then it should be able to kill off ALL bacteria, leaving NO (resistant) ones behind. In other words, if the ‘bugs’ all go quickly, they won’t have time to mutate and resist…the reason for taking the FULL course: DESTRUCTION to the bitter end.
I don’t know if this works out though…(more to come…)