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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Healthy Living / Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow

Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
  • Gut Damage from Antibiotics Persists for Long Periods of Time
  • Could Damage to Gut Flora Be Permanent?
  • Preservation of the MicroBiome+−
    • Sources and More Information

How to Repair Your Gut After Antibiotics

Contrary to the opinion of the conventional medical establishment, there is no free lunch when it comes to antibiotics. Doctors, for the most part, are still handing out prescriptions like candy to their patients despite the continuing and growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

There is now a strain of tuberculosis (TB), the scourge of the last century, that is completely resistant to all antibiotics.  Doctors have nicknamed this TB strain “TDR”  for Totally Drug-Resistant.  As of January 2012, a dozen patients in India were infected with this TB superbug.

The problem with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections continues to expand with babies and children representing a large chunk of the cases.  I’ve been contacted by more than one young mother recently who was beyond desperate to resolve an MRSA infection in her child – an infection which was resisting all conventional treatments like antibiotics.

Beyond the problem of antibiotic resistance, however, are the long term effects of even a single round of antibiotics.  The expectation in the health community that you can just fix the damage with probiotics and/or fermented foods and that gut flora magically returns to normal seems to be far from accurate.

Evidence is now emerging from multiple sources that gut flora may actually be permanently altered by drugs or, at the very least, the damage persists for several years.

Gut Damage from Antibiotics Persists for Long Periods of Time

The Journal Microbiology reports that the generally acknowledged precept that use of antibiotics only causes disruption of the gut flora for a few weeks is highly flawed.

Gut flora does not quickly return to normal after a round of antibiotics.

Even a short course of antibiotics can lead to resistant bacterial populations taking up residence in the gut that persists for up to 4 years – maybe even longer.

As a result, researchers are urging prudence and restraint in the use of antibiotics in order to prevent treatment failure for patients that have resistant bacterial populations still residing in their intestines from previous courses of antibiotics.

What this means is that taking antibiotics today for an illness that is not life-threatening may, in fact, lead to a growth of superbugs in your gut that could actually threaten your life down the road and prevent antibiotics from working for you when you desperately need it.

Could Damage to Gut Flora Be Permanent?

Dr. Martin Blaser MD of New York University’s Langone Medical Center who writes in the August 2011 edition of Nature, has this to say about damage to gut flora from antibiotics:

Early evidence from my lab and others hints that, sometimes, our friendly flora never fully recover. These long-term changes to the beneficial bacteria within people’s bodies may even increase our susceptibility to infections and disease. Overuse of antibiotics could be fueling the dramatic increase in conditions such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies and asthma, which have more than doubled in many populations.

As evidence, Blaser goes on to say that infections with H. pylori, the bacterial cause of ulcers, has plummeted in recent years.   H. pylori, as it turns out, is very susceptible to the same broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat children’s ear infections and colds which are doled out without much thought at most pediatrician offices.

Shockingly, the majority of children routinely receive up to 20 courses of antibiotics before the age of 18.   In addition, between one third and one-half of pregnant women receive antibiotics during pregnancy. The high C-section rate also negatively affects the composition of gut flora of these children. They completely miss out on exposure to Mom’s friendly bacteria as they travel through the birth canal.

This is a lot of antibiotic exposure for our younger generations and the implications for those children who don’t acquire H. pylori due to excessive antibiotics appear to be dramatic with a higher risk for both allergies and asthma. This may be the case even when attempts to repair the gut after a course is completed are followed.

Blaser’s research group has also observed that lack of H. pylori in the human body affects the production of ghrelin and leptin, 2 hormones that play a factor in weight gain.

Preservation of the MicroBiome

The composition of a person’s microbiome, not only in the gut but also on the skin and everywhere in the body, has huge implications for long term health.    Altering this balance with antibiotics not only negatively affects the variety of bacterial species present but also promotes the retention of resistant bacteria in the gut for up to 4 years and perhaps far longer.

Preservation of your personal microbiome is critical and affects not only your health but the health of your children as parents bequeath their microbiome to their offspring.

Blaser observes that:

“Each generation … could be beginning life with a smaller endowment of ancient microbes than the last.”

If Dr. Blaser and the other researchers are correct, it seems that people need to guard their microbiome against the assault of antibiotics in the same manner that they protect their home and possessions with locks on the doors.

Bottom line?

If your illness is not life-threatening, skip the antibiotics even for something like strep which even WebMD admits will almost always resolve without drugs or complications.  The risk to your future health is just too great otherwise.

 

Sources and More Information

Long-Term Impacts of Antibiotic Exposure on the Human Intestinal Microbiota
Short-term antibiotic treatment has differing long-term impacts on the human throat and gut microbiome
Stop the Killing of Beneficial Bacteria
Are Antibiotics Always Necessary for Strep Throat?
The 11 Best Natural Antibiotics and How to Use Them
How to Kick Strep Throat Faster and Better Without Antibiotics

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Category: Healthy Living, Healthy Pregnancy, Baby & Child
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Reader Interactions

Comments (113)

  1. Corey N Mindy Bauder via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    Colloidal Silver is one of the strongest antibiotics in nature. I’ve used it to treat infected wisdom teeth prior to teeth removal, sinus infections, pink eye, etc. Great stuff and it will not damage your healthy gut flora!

    Reply
  2. Chris Bramich via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 12:57 pm

    What if your body doesn’t tolerate Cod liver oil or fermented foods well? I think I’m still battling a stubborn candida problem and CLO and fermented foods both give me GI issues.

    Reply
    • Judith

      Jan 5, 2013 at 6:39 pm

      I’d add liver to the suggested foods, for vitamins A and D, plus many other nutrients.

  3. Sarah Couture Pope via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:11 pm

    Rebecca Vander Weit Campbell on my Resources page are several companies that sell it … you can compare prices but they are all good in my experience. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/#supplements

    Reply
  4. Brittnee Turner Horting via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    Sheena…there are a couple essential oils that would help you! Eucalyptus is really good for pain as well as killing infections. Lavender also works well for pain.

    Reply
  5. Rebecca Vander Weit Campbell via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    Where would you all suggest I purchase fermented cod liver oil? Any online resources?

    Reply
    • Erin

      Jan 4, 2013 at 5:10 pm

      Green Pastures is company in America that makes fclo. There website it greenpastures.org. There are other sites who carry some of their products, but, of course, are not as comprehensive.

  6. Pavil, the Uber Noob

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    Is there a way to get an assay of one’s gut micro biome?

    Ciao, Pavil

    Reply
    • Lana

      Jan 5, 2013 at 2:05 pm

      Yes, through Metametrix you can get a GI Function Profile. Find a doc at their website (metametrix.com) and then shop for one who will order the test and allow you to pay the lab up front. That way it’s as cheap as it gets.

  7. Morgaine Donohue via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:03 pm

    Speaking of, Im on a round of augmentin right now. I noticed a rash last night on the sides of my face, around my ears, and as of today its spread to my temples. Is that normal?

    Reply
    • Charlene

      Jan 5, 2013 at 1:02 pm

      Be careful. That sounds like hives – maybe an allergy to the med. Please ask your doctor about this. Could be dangerous.

    • Jennifer

      Jan 6, 2013 at 12:25 pm

      Could be german measles too . . . but if you’re taking meds probably that

  8. Ginger Jilek via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 1:02 pm

    Chris- if you can’t tolerated fermented food or cod liver oil, I would suggest a lot of wild caught fish, flax seeds, chia seeds(all for your Omega 3) organic free-range eggs (for your vit A and D), and probiotics until your candida can get under control. Avoid all sugars!

    Reply
  9. Lindsey Miller via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    Sheena raw coconut oil kills yeast and fungus.

    Reply
  10. Angie Carswell via Facebook

    Jan 4, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    Sheena, I dealt with Chronic mastitis too. More than likely it is a yeast problem triggering the mastitis. Major doses of live probiotics and a diet that starves the yeast will benefit you and your nursling.

    Reply
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