Antibiotics are often seen as the cure-all of modern medicine. It is true that antibiotics have been used with great success over the last 80 years or so, but they are not without consequence.
As researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine recently noted in their study, which was published in the journal Genome Medicine in April of 2016, mankind’s control over microbial disease is beginning to wane. Bacteria becomes resistant to antibiotic and begins to spread. The researchers note that the incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections is continuing to rise. In the year 2015, an approximate 50,000 deaths were related to antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the United States and Europe.
But antibiotic resistance is only one of many drawbacks about the use of antibiotics, albeit a rather concerning one. What if antibiotics actually inhibited the function of your immune system, for instance?
The commensal microbiota, or microbiome, are an integral part of human health. These friendly microorganisms have many profound effects on our health. Being that they are bacteria, they too feel the impact of antibiotic use. Antibiotics do not have the ability to differentiate between good and bad bacteria — they just kill everything.
The microbiome plays an essential role in our immune system, as researchers from the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona noted in their 2012 review. The review analyzed evidence indicative of the microbiome’s role in immune system homeostasis and the modulation of both adaptive and acquired immune systems.
It would seem that antibiotic use could easily impact the balance and function of the immune system quite easily by wiping out the normal populations of bacteria that are present in the gut.
A personal account of the benefits of staying off of antibiotics was recently authored by Kali Sinclair, copywriter for Green Lifestyle Market, and a lead editor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine. Sinclair details her awful experiences suffering with an autoimmune disorder and how liberating it was when she began to follow alternative medicine. Her chiropractor suggested that if she wanted a natural remedy for her strep throat, she should try taking a Spanish black radish supplement. Amazingly enough, it worked! Not too long after, Sinclair developed pneumonia. She returned to her regular, conventional doctor seeking prescription drugs. However, the doctor actually encouraged her to go back to the chiropractor, and see what he suggested as a natural remedy for her illness.
Another expertly prescribed supplement paved the way to Sinclair’s full recovery from pneumonia without prescription drugs, and she hasn’t looked back ever since.
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