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Many Americans Take Antibiotics, Needlessly

by Nicole Dorsey Straff

NICOLE JULY pills drugs (post)Improper use of antibiotics in humans — as well as the animals we eat — has led to a situation in which the weakest bacteria are killed, and the strongest (and most dangerous) bacteria survive and thrive, often proving untouchable by potent antibiotics. “Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is worse today than ever before, and it isn’t slowing down,” said Stuart B. Levy, M.D., president of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston.

Use antibiotics as a last-ditch measure for bacterial infections that are unlikely to resolve without them,  urged Michael A. Schmidt, Ph.D., author of Beyond Antibiotics: Strategies for Living in a World of Emerging Infections and Antibiotic- Resistant Bacteria. They are ineffective against viral illnesses such as colds and flu, and taking them for these relatively minor infections contributes to the problem.

For anyone who wishes to avoid taking antibiotics unless they’re absolutely necessary, there’s a key window of time before being diagnosed with a bacterial illness when infections can be treated with remedies for which “resistance won’t emerge in any real way,” said Levy.

The antibiotic experts also recommended:

° Eat organic, whole foods to keep antibacterial pesticides and antibiotic-pumped animal products off your plate.

°  Never stockpile antibiotics—no matter how tempting ads for free ones may be—and always finish the full course of your prescription, even if your symptoms subside. If you must throw out old drugs, learn how to do it without harming the environment at smarxtdisposal.net.

° If you must take antibiotics
 down them with green tea. It can make antibiotics work nearly 100 percent better and even weakens drug-resistant bacteria.

When is the last time you took stopped taking a series of antibiotics just because you began feeling better? I admit I do it!

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