The growing threat of antibiotic resistance and “superbugs” is an issue I’ve been raising the red flag about for years now.
And I know many of you already understand the threat is real.
But it can be hard to explain to friends and colleagues who I’ve noticed often roll their eyes and assume I must be exaggerating.
The antibiotic apocalypse? The end of modern medicine?
“Impossible” is the reaction I often get.
So for those of you, like me, who are trying to educate friends and family on the gravity of the situation, I’ve put together this “news reel” highlighting some of the biggest headlines from a variety of sources over the last 18+ months.
(You can add any links I’ve missed in the comments below!)
And be sure to share this page with friends and family.
In The News: Antibiotic Resistance
Over The Last 18+ Months
Stopping the Rise of Superbugs by Making Them Fight for Food
– The Atlantic, December 11, 2017
QUOTE: “The history of antibiotics is a history of running in place. Two years after the first of these life-saving drugs—penicillin—was mass-produced, bacteria that resisted the drug became widespread, too.
With grim inevitability, the same events have unfolded for every other drug. Every time scientists identify a new substance that can hold back the tide of infectious disease, resistant superbugs surge over that barrier in a matter of years.”
Antibiotic Resistance Could Spell End of Modern Medicine, Says Chief Medic
– The Guardian, October 13, 2017
QUOTE: “England’s chief medical officer has repeated her warning of a ‘post-antibiotic apocalypse’ as she urged world leaders to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.
Prof. Dame Sally Davies said that if antibiotics lose their effectiveness it would spell ‘the end of modern medicine.’ Without the drugs used to fight infections, common medical interventions such as caesarean sections, cancer treatments, and hip replacements would become incredibly risky and transplant medicine would be a thing of the past, she said.”
‘Antibiotic Apocalypse’: Doctors Sound Alarm Over Drug Resistance
– The Guardian, October 8, 2017
QUOTE: “Colistin is known as the ‘antibiotic of last resort.’ In many parts of the world doctors have turned to its use because patients were no longer responding to any other antimicrobial agent. Now resistance to its use is spreading across the globe.”
The World Is Running Out of Antibiotics, WHO Says
– CNN, September 19, 2017
QUOTE: “Although the risk of getting a completely resistant infection is low in the United States, about 2 million people each year become infected with ‘resistant enough’ bacteria that are harder to treat. . . . And every year, more than 20,000 people die of these infections.”
Doctors’ Advice to Finish Antibiotics Overlooks Resistance
– The Scientist, August 11, 2017
QUOTE: “For some diseases, such as tuberculosis or staphylococcal blood infections, completing the full course of antibiotics is known to be important for making a full recovery. But for other pathogens, the optimal dose is less clear, and despite the dearth of evidence, physicians regularly encourage people to complete their full course of antibiotics to prevent the spread of resistance.
‘That’s never made any sense to me. Why would resistance arise if you stop using your antibiotics?’ asks biological engineer Jim Collins of MIT. ‘In fact, I think the adage should be that in order to ensure increased likelihood that you will successfully treat your infection, you should complete your full course of antibiotics, but bear in mind that the risk you run is, the longer you use antibiotics, you increase your risk of developing resistance.'”
New Antibiotic Resistance Genes Found in Soil Microbes
– The Scientist, June 19, 2017
QUOTE: “Farm soil harbors abundant genes related to antibiotic resistance in microbes, including some that have never been identified in human pathogens, according to a study published Friday (June 16) in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Researchers identified novel gene products, including peptides and enzymes, that can provide resistance to classes of antibiotics used to combat a range of bacterial infections, including those that cause strep throat and chlamydia.”
Key to ‘Superbug’ Antibiotic Resistance Discovered
– Science Daily, May 16, 2017
QUOTE: “An international study led by Monash University has discovered the molecular mechanism by which the potentially deadly superbug ‘Golden Staph’ evades antibiotic treatment, providing the first important clues on how to counter superbug antibiotic resistance.
‘Superbugs’ are bacteria that are resistant to commonly used antibiotics, presenting a global health threat.”
Peer Into The Post-Apocalyptic Future of Antimicrobial Resistance
– WIRED, March 18, 2017
QUOTE: “The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) determined that, left unchecked, in the next 35 years antimicrobial resistance could kill 300,000,000 people worldwide and stunt global economic output by $100 trillion.
There are no other diseases we currently know of except pandemic influenza that could make that claim. In fact, if the current trend is not altered, antimicrobial resistance could become the world’s single greatest killer, surpassing heart disease or cancer.”
Superbug Drug Launched to Fight Growing Threat of Antibiotic Resistance
– Independent UK, March 14, 2017
QUOTE: “Doctors are ‘running out of options’ for treating common infections caused by bacteria which mutate to resist regular antibiotics, said microbiologist Matthew Dryden. ‘Resistance is increasing, almost exponentially. It’s a problem facing every emergency department in this country,’ he told The Independent.”
New Drugs Alone Won’t Defeat Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
– Health Line March 14, 2017
QUOTE: “Bacterium have been on Earth longer than humans and have shown an incredible ability to adapt to their surroundings, they said. ‘‘We can’t count on drug development to keep us one step ahead,’ said Norman. ‘We need to be humble about this.”
UFU Takes Action on Antibiotic Resistance
– Ulster Farmers Union, March 14, 2017
QUOTE: “The immediate concern is to prolong the effectiveness of current antibiotics. We want to see strategies implemented that will secure these vital medicines for the future,” said Mr Doupe.”
Curing The ‘Addiction’ Of Antibiotic Resistance
– Huffington Post Canada, March 13, 2017
QUOTE: “Letting the public know they are enabling microbial addicts when they overuse, misuse, and abuse antibiotics may lead to a change of mindset. People may even think twice about asking for an antibiotic at the doctor’s office or perhaps not purchase meat from animals raised on antibiotics.”
The Science of Healthy Microbiomes to Address the Threat of Antibiotic Resistance and Weight Gain
– News-Medical.net, March 13, 2017
QUOTE: “According to Margaret Chan, former WHO Director General, “a post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill.”
Deadly Fungal Infection that Doctors Have Been Fearing Now Reported in U.S.
– The Washington Post, March 10, 2017
QUOTE: “‘These pathogens are increasing, they’re new, they’re scary and they’re very difficult to combat,’ said Anne Schuchat, CDC’s acting director, during a briefing in Washington this week about the growing danger from antimicrobial resistance.”
GOP Health Care Bill Would Cut CDC Fund to Fight Killer Diseases
– NBC News, March 8, 2017
QUOTE: “‘We don’t have a lot of time,’ Schuchat said. ‘Resistance is a problem now, because it is a threat to modern medicine itself.’ Bugs are evolving into forms that cannot be treated with any drugs, and no new classes of drugs are on the horizon.”
Antibiotic/Antimicrobial Resistance
– Center for Disease Control, March 8, 2017
QUOTE: “However, these drugs have been used so widely and for so long that the infectious organisms the antibiotics are designed to kill have adapted to them, making the drugs less effective.
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections.”
This Scientist Sent A Superbug To Space To Help Life On Earth
– Huffington Post, March 7, 2017
QUOTE: “MRSA’s ability to mutate rapidly and unpredictably means it outpaces scientists’ ability to develop drugs that kill it. In turn, MRSA kills more Americans each year than AIDS – many of them children.”
Warning Over Highly-Contagious Superbug Sweeping the Nation
– Edinburgh News, March 7, 2017
QUOTE: “The team of investigators discovered a new variant of the well-known gene that causes resistance to polymyxin – currently the toughest antibiotic in our arsenal against bacteria.
The new multidrug-resistant bacteria, which carries the gene variant, was found on a patient with salmonella and could easily be passed on in bacteria. More troubling, the gene was found in a healthy individual during a routine medical, suggesting that other healthy carriers may be spreading the resistance unknowingly.”
ALERT: Air Pollution Could Promote Antibiotic-Resistant Respiratory Infections
– Nature World News, March 6, 2017
QUOTE: “The researchers found that black carbon, a major component of air pollution, alters the way how the bacteria grow and from communities. These changes could influence survival rate of the bacteria on the lining of respiratory tracts and how well they could hide or combat the body’s immune system.”
The Superbug Dirty Dozen
– The Wall Street Journal, March 5, 2017
QUOTE: “The World Health Organization published a medical most-wanted list this week on 12 dangerous ‘superbugs,’ and the warning spotlights the growing threat of bacteria that can resist all or nearly all antibiotics. Ominously, deadly microbes are outpacing science’s capacity to develop new human defenses.”
How to Solve a Problem like Antibiotic Resistance
– Science Daily, March 3, 2017
QUOTE: “‘If bacteria continue developing resistance to multiple antibiotics at the present rate, at the same time as the antibiotic pipeline continues to dry up, there could be catastrophic costs to healthcare and society globally,” said senior co-author on one of the articles, Dr Tony Velkov, an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Career Development Fellow from Monash University, Victoria, Australia.”
Diesel Fumes Making Lung Diseases More Antibiotic Resistant
– Wakefield Express, March 3, 2017
QUOTE: “This has implications for the treatment of infectious diseases, which are known to be increased in areas with high levels of air pollution. And they warned high pollution in major cities and urban areas will have a serious impact on people’s health unless efforts are made to clean up this toxic smog.”
Hospital Room Floors May Harbor ‘Superbugs’
– WebMD, March 2, 2017
QUOTE: “In their study, the team took samples from the floors of 159 patient rooms in five Cleveland-area hospitals and found that many were contaminated with infection-causing bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), and Clostridium difficile.”
Battling Superbugs with Big Data
– Live Mint, March 2, 2017
QUOTE: “New virtual marketplaces have made the entire drug distribution process an opportunity for unchecked financial gains by irresponsible actors. The lack of awareness among patients regarding the appropriate use of antibiotics has led to self-medication and non-adherence to the prescribed course of antibiotics, further intensifying the problem.”
Antibiotic Resistance Could Lead to Pneumonia and TB Returning to Ireland
– Irish Mirror, March 2, 2017
QUOTE: “Antibiotic resistance has been directly linked to outbreaks of superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile.”
Bacteria Can Protect Each Other: a New Challenge in Antibiotic Resistance
– Libotech Europe, March 1, 2017
QUOTE: “This study may explain why physicians sometimes encounter antibiotic-susceptible bacteria in patients that did not respond to antibiotics. It also highlights the necessity of administering antibiotics with caution. Now we know that healthy microbes in our organism can develop resistance mechanisms they could use to protect pathogens in future infections.”
Penicillin: Miracle Drug Turns Into Weak Antibacterial Due To Superbugs
– The Science Times, March 1, 2017
QUOTE: “However due to drug misuse and improper compliance of antibiotic use: resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistant or “superbug” has emerged. Science Daily defined antibiotic resistance as the ability of any microorganism to tolerate or withstand the effect of anti-infective drugs. Improper diagnosis, unnecessary prescriptions, and use of antibiotics in livestock are also few of the contributing factors.”
UTIs Are Becoming Untreatable With the Rise of Antibiotic Resistance
– PBS, March 1, 2017
QUOTE: “Almost half of all women will acquire a urinary tract infection (UTI) at least once in their lifetime. Normally, antibiotics are highly effective in treating UTIs. But without antibiotics, the infection can spread into the kidneys or the bloodstream, causing severe illness.
Now, a new list released by the World Health Organization indicates that E. coli, a leading cause of UTIs, is becoming resistant to some antibiotics.”
WHO Stresses Urgent Need for R&D for Drug-Resistant TB Alongside Newly-Prioritized Antibiotic-Resistant Pathogens
– World Health Organization, February 28, 2017
QUOTE: “The MDR-TB public health crisis continues: there were an estimated 580 000 cases and 250 000 related deaths in 2015. Only 125 000 were started on treatment, and just half of those people were cured.”
WHO Superbug List: Enemy No. 1 Is Bug That Plagues Soldiers
– NBC News, February 28, 2017
QUOTE: “The list also includes carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae or CRE — the germs that former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Thomas Frieden called ‘“nightmare bacteria.’ “Certainly Acinetobacter are something that we have seen in our returning military service people,” said Dr. Helen Boucher of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.”
Air Pollution Alters Staphylococcus Aureus and Streptococcus Pneumoniae Biofilms, Antibiotic Tolerance and Colonization
– Wiley Online Library, February 28, 2017
QUOTE: “Our results show that black carbon impacts bacterial colonisation in vivo. In a mouse nasopharyngeal colonisation model, black carbon caused S. pneumoniae to spread from the nasopharynx to the lungs, which is essential for subsequent infection.”
Superbug to Make Stomach Ulcers ‘Trickier’
– News.com Australia, February 28, 2017
QUOTE: “The relatively simple treatment of a common yet potentially deadly stomach condition, made possible because of two Australian Nobel laureates, is under threat by a ‘high priority’ superbug. Helicobacter Pylori (H.pylori) was on Tuesday listed by the World Health Organisation as one of 12 bacterium posing the greatest threat to human health because of their resistance to antibiotics.”
Deadly, Drug-Resistant ‘Superbugs’ Pose Huge Threat, W.H.O. Says
– The New York Times, February 27, 2017
QUOTE: “We are fast running out of treatment options,” said Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, the W.H.O. assistant director general who released the list. “If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time.”
Deadly Superbugs Found on Phones, Laptops and ATMs
– Newstalk, February 26, 2017
QUOTE: “Results detected traces of the deadly superbug MRSA on the hot water dispenser in a public canteen, on toilet doors, waste bin lids and on the screens and covers of mobile phones. Faecal matter was also found on toilet door handles.”
FDA Bans Chemicals Linked to Antibiotic Resistance From Soap
– Salon, February 25, 2017
QUOTE: “Not only does research suggest that antimicrobial products are ineffective at reducing microbes on the product, but several studies also suggest they may be causing an increase in antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic-resistant infections, such as MRSA, cause an estimated 23,000 deaths every year in the United States.”
Hospital Superbugs Cases Soar After Thousands of NHS Cleaners are Axed in ‘Theresa May’s Funding Squeeze’
– Mirror UK, February 25, 2017
QUOTE: “A new Oxford University study has found the risk of MRSA infection is 50% higher in hospitals which outsource cleaning.”
Dangerous Antibiotic-Resistant Infections on the Rise for Children in the U.S., Study Finds
– Washington Post, February 25, 2017
QUOTE: “‘Antibiotic resistance increasingly threatens our ability to treat our children’s infections,’ said Sharon Meropol, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of pediatrics, epidemiology and biostatistics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
First Systematic Study of Deadly, Antibiotic-Resistant Fungus Reported
– Science Daily, February 24, 2017
QUOTE: “The deadly fungus, Candida auris, which has been found in hospitals, is resistant to entire classes of antimicrobial drugs, limiting treatment options for those infected. Microbiologists have provided previously uninvestigated details pertaining to C. auris drug resistance and growth patterns.”
Scientists Are Creating a Genetic Chainsaw to Hack Superbug DNA to Bits
– Gizmodo, February 24, 2017
QUOTE: “‘What we’re trying to do is kill bacteria,’ Rodolphe Barrangou, a molecular biologist at North Carolina State University, told Gizmodo. ‘It’s like a Pac-Man that’s going to chew up DNA rather than make a clean cut. It chews it up beyond repair. It’s lethal.’”
Study Tracks How Superbugs Splash Out of Hospital Sink Drains
– NBC News, February 24, 2017
QUOTE: “Antibiotic-resistant superbug bacteria grow up hospital drains and can splash out into sinks and onto counters, researchers reported Friday. Their experiment helps explain just how such germs cause outbreaks of disease in hospitals. And it also demonstrates just how hard it will be to prevent this kind of spread, because the bacteria are especially difficult to kill when they are growing in pipes.”
Superbug Concerns Keep Spreading
– Lifezette, February 24, 2017
QUOTE: “Disease and safety experts from the European Union warned this week that superbug bacteria found in people, animals, and food across the E.U. pose an ‘alarming’ threat to public and animal health. The reason: a growing resistance to widely used antibiotics.”
Rise in Resistant Infections in Children, Longer Hospital Stays
– United Press International, February 23, 2017
QUOTE: “Over the eight-year study period, antibiotic-resistant infections increased from 0.2 percent in 2007 to 1.5 in 2015, a more than 700 percent increase, according to researchers. Researchers found children with Enterobacteriaceae infections resistant to multiple antibiotics had 20 percent longer hospital stays than patients that did not have antibiotic-resistant infections.”
EU WARNING: Evolved Superbug Found in Humans Poses ‘Alarming Threat’ to Public Health
– Express Europe, February 22, 2017
QUOTE: “‘We have put substantial efforts to stop its rise, but this is not enough. We must be quicker, stronger and act on several fronts.’ Resistance to ‘carbapenem’ antibiotics was also detected for the first time in animals and food – albeit at low levels.”
Incidence and Outcomes of Infections Caused by Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae in Children, 2007–2015
– Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Published February 22, 2017
QUOTE: “Infections with Gram-negative enteric bacilli are becoming increasingly difficult to treat; considering the global burden of these antimicrobial-resistant organisms, interventions to curtail or even reverse this trend are needed urgently.”
‘Alarming’ Superbugs a Risk to People, Animals and Food, EU Warns
– Reuters, February 22, 2017
QUOTE: “‘Antimicrobial resistance is an alarming threat putting human and animal health in danger,’ said Vytenis Andriukaitis, the EU’s health and food safety commissioner. ‘We have put substantial efforts to stop its rise, but this is not enough. We must be quicker, stronger and act on several fronts.’”
Genetic Mutations That Drive Antibiotic Resistance in Bacteria
– Science Daily, February 21, 2017
QUOTE: “The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is challenging clinicians, with some infections already resistant to nearly all available drugs. A 2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that such infections kill at least 23,000 people each year in the United States alone.”
How Travel Helps Antibiotic Resistance Spread Around The World
– Huffington Post Canada, February 20, 2017
QUOTE: “While the target of the symptoms may be eliminated, the use of antibiotics may allow for colonization of the gastrointestinal tract with antibiotic resistant bacteria. As a result, the traveler unexpectedly may end up being an importer of a public health threat.”
Superbugs Rampant in China’s Poultry Products, Study Shows
– South China Morning Post, February 18, 2017
QUOTE: “The researchers traced the spread of the bacteria from slaughterhouse to hatcheries. The highest detection rate was recorded in chicken farms, where 97 per cent of samples were contaminated. Professor Timothy Walsh of Cardiff University, a lead scientist for the study, said people in China should watch what they eat.”
Online Pharmacies Are Breeding Grounds For Antibiotic Resistance
– Vocativ, February 17, 2017
QUOTE: “But even if the antibiotics are used correctly and taken at the right dose for the right amount of time, there’s still the more basic question of how many users should be taking these antibiotics at all, as every unnecessary antibiotic treatment chips away at the drugs’ effectiveness.”
British Scientists Discover how Deadly Bacteria Survive a Last-Line Antibiotic
– Labiotech Europe, February 16, 2017
QUOTE: “Scientists from the Queen’s University in Belfast and the University of Queensland in Australia have finally identified the precise molecular mechanism by which this organism resists colistin, a last-line antibiotic used to treat MDR infections. This discovery could help researchers find new ways to fight deadly infections by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
Stopping the Superbug Spread
– World Health.net, February 13, 2017
QUOTE: “Overuse of antibiotic drugs let bacteria build resistance thus becoming superbugs. In the United States, patients in hospitals have a 1 in 7 chance of getting sick with a superbug, and half of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions are deemed unnecessary. Every year, two million people become sick with antibiotic resistant bacteria. One of the top drug-resistant bacteria causes diarrhea and is called C. difficile and its existence is the result of antibiotic overuse. This infection will kill over 15000 people every year.”
The Microbes Fight Back: Antibiotic Resistance
– The Royal Society of Chemistry, GB, February 11, 2017
QUOTE: “This book does highlight that microbial resistance is a global challenge and that we have a long way to go before we can, as US Surgeon General William H Stewart once said, ‘close the book on infectious diseases and declare the war against pestilence won’.”
Common Weed Could Help Fight Deadly Superbug, Study Finds
– The Washington Post, February 10, 2017
QUOTE: “Researchers from Emory University and the University of Iowa found that extracts from the Brazilian peppertree, which traditional healers in the Amazon have used for hundreds of years to treat skin and soft-tissue infections, have the power to stop methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in mice. The study was published in Nature’s Scientific Reports.”
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Found in Flies
– PBS, February 9, 2017
QUOTE: “Flies at poultry farms in China were loaded with bacteria containing genes for antibiotic resistance, the team discovered. The same team also found E. coli containing mcr-1, a gene that imparts resistance to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort, in 1% of hospital patients in two of China’s large cities, neither of which have a history of using colistin to treat humans.”
Antibiotic Tolerance Facilitates the Evolution of Resistance
– Science Magazine, February 9, 2017
QUOTE: “We found that in all cases tolerance preceded resistance. A mathematical population-genetics model showed how tolerance boosts the chances for resistance mutations to spread in the population. Thus, tolerance mutations pave the way for the rapid subsequent evolution of resistance. Preventing the evolution of tolerance may offer a new strategy for delaying the emergence of resistance.”
Flies Are Spreading Antibiotic Resistance from Farms to People
– New Scientist, February 6, 2017
QUOTE: “‘Their ability to contaminate the environment has immense public health concerns,’ the team concludes. It may be why hospital patients who lived far away from farms were not less likely to have a resistant infection during summer, says Walsh. ‘In the summer flies will carry those bacteria everywhere.’”
Exactly How Bad is Antibiotic Resistance Right Now? A Woman in the US Recently Died from a Superbug that no Antibiotics Could Treat
– Popular Science, February 3, 2017
QUOTE: “People in the United States have been infected by pan-resistant bacteria before. ‘It’s not the first time that there has been an untreatable bacterial infection in the US,’ says James Hughes, co-director of the Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center in Atlanta. ‘This particular case…is an extreme example of how bad it can get.’”
Report: Antibiotic Resistance Rising in Europe
– Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, February 1, 2017
QUOTE: “According to the report, more than half of the E coli isolates reported to EARS-Net in 2015 were resistant to at least one class of the antimicrobials tested, while more than a third of the K pneumoniae isolates showed resistance to at least one antimicrobial drug.”
Rare E. coli ‘Superbug’ Found in LA County Patient Marks a First for California
– LA Daily News, January 31, 2017
QUOTE: “But the concern is that the “superbug,” known as mcr-1, has shown to be resistant to an antibiotic known as colistin, which is deemed one of the few “last resort” antibiotics “used to treat infections caused by certain multi-drug resistant organisms,” according to the alert.”
The Unconstrained Evolution of Fast and Efficient Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Genomes
– Springer Nature, January 30, 2017
QUOTE: “Evolutionary trajectories are constrained by trade-offs when mutations that benefit one life history trait incur fitness costs in other traits. As resistance to tetracycline antibiotics by increased efflux can be associated with an increase in length of the Escherichia coli chromosome of 10% or more, we sought costs of resistance associated with doxycycline.”
Bacteria with Antibiotic Resistance Mutations Reproduce Faster than Non-mutated Bacteria
– Natural Science News, January 30, 2017
QUOTE: “Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that can be incredibly harmful to people with bacterial infections. When bacteria develop a resistance to modern drugs, doctors are left with fewer options for treating their patients. In some cases, bacteria become immune to all common antibiotics and these strains are a serious public health risk. Scientists have frequently studied the evolution of antibiotic resistance in an attempt to solve the problem.”
Antibiotic Resistance on the Rise: Superbug Infections Found in Chinese Hospitals
– Salon, January 27, 2017
QUOTE: “People infected with these resistant strains can usually be treated with current antibiotics, but doctors warn that as these bacteria — which are already untreatable with last-resort drugs — acquire resistance to current drugs, the infections may become impossible to treat.”
We Told You So: Antibiotic Resistance & The Food Supply
– American Free Press, January 27, 2016
QUOTE: “Valentine quoted the Union of Concerned Scientists, who issued a stern warning: ‘Tetracycline, penicillin, erythromycin, and other antimicrobials that are important in human use are used extensively in the absence of disease for nontherapeutic purposes in today’s livestock production. Cattle, swine, and poultry are routinely given antimicrobials throughout much of their lives.’”
The Attack Of The Superbugs
– Vocativ, January 27, 2017
QUOTE: “Samples from one of her infected wounds had tested positive for a bacteria called Klebsiella pneumoniae that was at least partly resistant to all 14 available antibiotics the hospital had in stock. The CDC, brought in for more testing, additionally found her passenger was truly resistant to at least a whopping 26 antibiotics found in the U.S., including the aptly-called ‘last resort’ drugs colistin and tigecycline.”
Antibiotic Overuse Behind ‘Superbug’ Outbreak
– WebMD, January 25, 2017
QUOTE: “Overuse of fluoroquinolones enabled antibiotic-resistant C. difficile to thrive because non-resistant bugs in the gut were killed off by the antibiotics. This left the way clear for rapid growth of antibiotic-resistant C. difficile, the researchers explained.”
A Deadly Superbug Appears To Be Invading America’s Hospitals
– STAT, January 23, 2017
QUOTE: “Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has dubbed CREs ‘nightmare bacteria.’ That’s because they are resistant to many, and sometimes most, antibiotics, including carbapenems, an important class of last-resort drugs.
They also have the capacity to transfer resistance genes from one family to the next — for instance from E. coli bacteria to Klebsiella pneumoniae. Think of it as gangs in a neighborhood teaching each other all their worst tricks.”
Dangerous Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Are Spreading
– Consumer Reports, January 19, 2017
QUOTE: “‘Our healthcare facilities are our first—and possibly our only—line of defense,’ says McGiffert. ‘This research underscores how critically important it is for them to take concrete steps now to contain these deadly superbugs before they spread more widely.’”
Think Antibiotic-Resistant ‘Super-Bugs’ are Only a Distant Threat? Think Again.
– Public Radio International, January 17, 2017
QUOTE: “‘I think this is the harbinger of future badness to come,’ said Dr. James Johnson, a professor of infectious diseases medicine at the University of Minnesota and a specialist at the Minnesota VA Medical Center.
Other scientists are saying this case is yet another sign that researchers and governments need to take antibiotic resistance seriously. It was reported Thursday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a journal published by the CDC.”
Drug-Resistant Superbug May be More Widespread Than Previously Known
– CNN, January 17, 2017
QUOTE: “In fact, transmission of these bacteria person-to-person may be occurring without symptoms, say the researchers, from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Broad Institute.”
A Superbug That Resisted 26 Antibiotics
– NPR, January 17, 2017
QUOTE: “Then, if CRE or other resistant infections are diagnosed, the hospital can set up appropriate precautions, like isolating the patient, and immediately start lab tests to try to find an effective antibiotic.
But in this case, there was no effective antibiotic. ‘And we’re going to see more of these, from a drip, drip, drip of cases to a steady drizzle to a rainstorm,’ predicts Johnson. ‘It’s scary, but it’s good to get scared if that motivates action.’”
Resistance to the Antibiotic of Last Resort Is Silently Spreading
– The Atlantic, January 12, 2017
QUOTE: “To be clear, these E. coli with mcr-1 found in China were still susceptible to antibiotics other than colistin, but if a bacterium with genes that make it resistant to every other drug then picks up mcr-1, you get the nightmare scenario: a pan-resistant bacteria. These drug- resistant infections usually happen in people who are already sick or have weakened immune systems.”
How Do Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Survive Antibiotics Without Resistance Genes?
– Contagion Live, December 30, 2016
QUOTE: “As multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens continue to vex healthcare settings around the world, researchers work to understand the adaptations that make these superbugs so resistant. Now, in one new study, a team of scientists have identified how bacteria are able to evade the effects of antibiotic drugs.”
Bill Gates: World Faces Decade at Risk from Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs
– The Guardian, December 30, 2016
QUOTE: “‘I cross my fingers all the time that some epidemic like a big flu doesn’t come along in the next 10 years,’ Gates told a special edition of Radio 4’s Today programme guest-edited by Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England.”
Antibiotic Resistance just Became More Complex
– Phys.org, December 27, 2016
QUOTE: “Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor. This new take on how the microbial context can compromise antibiotic therapy was published by a team of microbiologists from the University of Groningen microbiologists, together with colleagues from San Diego, in the journal PLOS Biology on 27 December.”
How Hospitals, Nursing Homes Keep Lethal ‘Superbug’ Outbreaks Secret
– Reuters, December 22, 2016
QUOTE: “The outbreak and the way it was handled expose what a Reuters investigation found to be dangerous flaws in U.S. efforts to control the spread of superbug infections. An examination of cases across the country reveals a system that protects the healthcare facilities where superbugs thrive, while leaving patients, their families and the broader public ignorant of potentially deadly threats.”
NARMS—Combating Antibiotic Resistance with Surveillance
– Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Last Updated December 16, 2016
QUOTE: “Any use of antibiotics can lead to resistance. However, when animals are given antibiotics for growth promotion or increased feed efficiency, bacteria are exposed to low doses of these drugs over a long period of time. This type of exposure to antibiotics may lead to the survival and growth of resistant bacteria. This is inappropriate antibiotic use.”
Antibiotic Resistance Will Hit a Terrible Tipping Point in 2017
– New Scientist, December 14, 2016
QUOTE: “This will mean more resistant bacteria, which could be a big threat. The livestock industry has long played down any risk to human health caused by using antibiotics in farming, but the danger is now accepted, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).”
Superbugs Killing Twice as Many People as Government Says
– The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, December 11, 2016
QUOTE: “The growth in infections that are resistant to antibiotics (also known as anti-microbial resistance, or AMR) is one of the biggest health crises facing the world today. Scientists have warned the world is on the cusp of a “post-antibiotic era” – where everyday infections will become untreatable and potentially fatal – unless concerted global action is taken.”
Why Drug-Resistance Genes Are Showing Up In Smog
– Time Magazine, December 8, 2016
QUOTE: “Not only did Larsson and his colleagues find evidence that genes linked to antibiotic resistance can be present in the air, but they also found a high amount of the genes in areas where there’s a lot of pollution from antibiotic manufacturing. Waste from manufacturing plants can end up in water sources, as Larsson has found in other research.”
Phages Carry Antibiotic Resistance Genes
– The Scientist, December 8, 2016
QUOTE: “The study makes ‘a pretty strong case that antibiotic resistance genes really do exist in the virome,’ said Andrew Singer of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who was not involved in the work.”
New Kind of Antibiotic Resistance Shows Up on a Hog Farm
– Scientific American, December 7, 2016
QUOTE: “No one is sure where these resistance genes came from or how they got to the farm but researchers have ideas. “The most logical source would be a hospital, where carbapenems are frequently used and CRE are not uncommon,” Wittum says. Farm workers might, for instance, carry CRE home from a hospital visit and then deposit the bacteria on farm equipment.”
Antibiotic Resistant Infections Kill 23,000 Americans Each Year, Sicken 2 Million
– EcoWatch December 6, 2016
QUOTE: “‘Livestock use of antibiotics is contributing to a public health crisis of antibiotic resistance,’ said Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) senior health officer and physician David Wallinga, MD. ‘It’s you, me and the people we love who will suffer the consequences when the medications we rely on to treat common illnesses no longer work.’”
Rare Superbug Gene Discovered on U.S. Pig Farm
– NBC News, December 6, 2016
QUOTE: “Carbapenems are considered an antibiotic of last resort, so germs that resist their effects are very difficult to kill. Worse, this superbug gene is carried on an easily swapped bit of genetic material called a plasmid, and the researchers found it in several different species of bacteria on the farm.”
Superbug Infections Must be Listed on Death Certificate Under Proposed Bill
– LA Times, December 5, 2016
QUOTE: “Currently many deaths from infections acquired in hospitals and nursing homes are not publicly recorded, leaving health officials to guess at their toll. Today we have to estimate the number of deaths from infections and we have no idea if that is accurate,’ said Hill (D-San Mateo). ‘We’re shooting in the dark.’”
Fear, Then Skepticism, Over Antibiotic-Resistant Genes in Beijing Smog
– The New York Times, December 2, 2016
QUOTE: “Though fears of airborne bacteria were unfounded, there is a growing health problem of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics are heavily overprescribed in China, doctors and researchers say.”
How Drug-Resistant Bacteria Travel from the Farm to Your Table
– Scientific American, December 1, 2016
QUOTE: “Bacteria are everywhere, but they are more everywhere on livestock farms because everybody is literally walking around in poop. (Even though I was covered in plastic the whole time I toured Schoettmer’s farm, I reeked when I checked into my hotel room hours later.) And like germs in an elementary school, the bacteria in this excrement get shared widely—they get burrowed under the fingernails of visitors who scratch the animals’ heads, and they contaminate the hands of farm employees. (I never saw anyone wearing gloves.)”
Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs on Hong Kong MTR Trains, Study Reveals
– Post Magazine, November 25, 2016
QUOTE: “The bacteria were found on the hands of students who took trains on the various MTR lines. The findings come amid growing global concern about the spread of superbugs resistant to most forms of antibiotic – drugs used in humans to treat a wide range of illnesses and prevent infection during childbirth, surgery and organ transplants and also used widely in agriculture. China is the world’s biggest user and producer of antibiotics.”
Antibiotic Resistance Grows as Last-Line Drugs Fail
– Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, November 21, 2016
QUOTE: “’Antibiotic resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae is of increasing concern in Europe,’ added ECDC acting director, Andrea Ammon, M.D. ‘More than one-third of the isolates reported to ECDC for 2015 were resistant to at least one of the antibiotic groups under surveillance, and combined resistance to multiple antibiotic groups was common. Moreover, the emergence of K. pneumoniae infections with combined resistance to carbapenems and colistin is worrisome and an important warning that options for treatment are now even more limited than in the past.’”
Traces of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Have Been Found in Polluted City Air
– Science Alert, November 21, 2016
QUOTE: “Scientists are now cautioning that city smog might be spreading the genetic material that makes viruses untreatable, and at this stage, it’s not clear how much damage this could do in the world’s most polluted cities.”
Plasmids Shown to Play Key Role in Spread of Antibiotic Resistance
– Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, November 9, 2016
QUOTE: “According to Dr. MacLean, the spread of resistance genes in bacterial populations is driven by simple, Darwinian selection. During antibiotic treatment, bacteria with resistance genes have a higher reproductive rate than sensitive bacteria, and, as a result, the use of antibiotics causes the spread of resistance genes.”
13 Cases of ‘Superbug’ Fungal Infection in U.S.
– Chicago Tribune, November 7, 2016
QUOTE: “Candida auris fungal infection is emerging as a health threat worldwide, and it appears to spread in hospitals and other health care facilities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Research Project to Combat Superbugs, Antibiotic Resistance
– Weill Cornell Medicine, October 22, 2016
QUOTE: “’Most of the infections in these patients are from gut bacteria,’ said Dr. Satlin, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. ‘This project will allow us to understand how genes that confer resistance to important antibiotics spread among gut bacteria and proliferate in the setting of antibiotic exposures. A better understanding of resistance in the gut microbiome of these patients, and the effect that antibiotics have, could lead to new strategies for preventing and treating infections in this vulnerable patient population.’”
Superbugs: How Antibiotic-Resistant Bugs are Killing Mankind
– Wall Street Daily, October 19, 2016
QUOTE: “The experiment illustrates ‘the process of accumulating successive mutations’ that allows the bacteria ‘normally sensitive to an antibiotic’ to ‘evolve resistance to extremely high concentrations in a short period of time.’”
Lobby Group Links Antibiotic Resistance to ‘Dirty’ Drug Factories, and Aurobindo is a Culprit
– Fierce Pharma, October 19, 2016
QUOTE: “A hard-hitting report by campaigning organization Changing Markets says direct sampling of water from manufacturing sites operated by Aurobindo, Orchid Pharma and Asiatic Drugs and Pharmaceuticals has–for the first time–uncovered drug-resistant bacteria.”
Editorial: What We Don’t Know About Superbugs Could Kill Us
– LA Times, October 12, 2016
QUOTE: “Lest anyone think that the senator is merely headline chasing, Hill joined the drug-resistant infection fight long before it became such a global concern. In 2015, he authored Senate Bill 27, the nation’s toughest law to curb antibiotic use in agriculture. More than 70% of the antibiotics designed for human care are used in agriculture, where they historically have been used prophylactically for growth promotion and disease prevention. When the law goes into effect in 2018, it will allow antibiotic use on livestock only to control and treat infections.”
Mystery of Bacteria’s Antibiotic Resistance Unraveled
– Science Daily, October 7, 2016
QUOTE: “’Antibiotic resistance is one of the major problems in modern medicine,’ said Adbelwahab. ‘Our studies have shown how this enzyme deactivates rifampicin. We now have a blueprint to inhibit this enzyme and prevent antibiotic resistance.’”
Society and Superbugs: Losing ‘One of the Most Serious Infectious Disease Threats of Our Time’
– CNBC, October 2, 2016
QUOTE: “’This is really a frightening situation,’ Dr. Beth Bell of the CDC told CNBC’s ‘On The Money’ in a recent interview, ‘and really one of the most serious infectious disease threats of our time.’”
No One Knows How Many Patients are Dying from Superbug Infections in California Hospitals
– LA Times, October 2, 2016
QUOTE: “An epidemic of hospital-acquired infections is going unreported, scientists have found.
University of Michigan researchers reported in a 2014 study that infections – both those acquired inside and outside hospitals – would replace heart disease and cancer as the leading causes of death in hospitals if the count was performed by looking at patients’ medical billing records, which show what they were being treated for, rather than death certificates.”
Soaring Levels of Antibiotic Resistance Found in Supermarket Chickens
– The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, September 27, 2016
QUOTE: “Across the 283 samples tested by the FSA, 5% showed resistance to multiple antibiotics, meaning treatment options would be very limited. Given that 900 million chickens were produced in the UK in 2014, millions could be carrying multi-drug-resistant bacteria, the report warns.”
Gonorrhea Outbreak in Hawaii Shows Increased Antibiotic Resistance
– CNN, September 22, 2016
QUOTE: “’Since 2005, we have seen four isolated cases that showed resistance to both drugs. But the Hawaii cases are the first cluster we have seen with reduced susceptibility to both drugs,’ said Paul Fulton Jr., a spokesman for the CDC.”
CDC: Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea Growing U.S. Threat
– WebMD, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “Data published by the CDC earlier this year showed evidence of emerging azithromycin resistance in gonorrhea samples found across the nation, but those infections were still susceptible to ceftriaxone.”
‘Superbug’ MRSA May be Spreading Through Tainted Poultry
– Washington Post, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “Until now, researchers have known that livestock can carry the bacteria, putting farmers, farmworkers, veterinarians and others who work directly with animals at greater risk. MRSA bacteria have also been shown to be present in foods, including pork, beef and dairy, although outbreaks from food contamination have been rare.”
Drug-Resistant Superbugs Are a ‘Fundamental Threat’, WHO Says
– NBC News, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “And while antibiotics can be miracle drugs, they’ve been abused and overused so much that they are often useless against bacteria that evolve much, much faster than humanity can invent new weapons.”
How do Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Get Into the Environment?
– The Conversation, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “People carry all kinds of bacteria, potentially even resistant bacteria, in and on their bodies. People can shed these bacteria in communal spaces such as locker rooms or even beaches, but a major concern is their presence in human sewage. Resistant bacteria enter our aging sewer infrastructure and may eventually end up in the environment through sewage spills. This can expose people to hard-to-treat infections, and creates the potential for genes conferring resistance to be spread to other bacteria in environmental habitats.”
Antibiotic Resistance—The Tab Comes Due
– The Hill, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “Such a scenario threatens to return modern medicine to the pre-penicillin era in which Dr. Fleming practiced. In those times, a simple laceration could mean death, and modern procedures like organ transplantation, coronary bypass surgery, and prosthetic joint replacements were the fantastic stuff of scientific fiction.”
Antibiotic Resistance Could Kill More People than Cancer
– AgMag, September 21, 2016
QUOTE: “‘Poultry, cattle, and swine raised with antibiotics harbor significant populations of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are transmitted to humans through direct contact with the animals and through their meat, eggs, and milk,’ the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy said in a recent report.”
The Age Of The Superbug Is Already Here
– Huffington Post, September 20, 2016
QUOTE: “‘Antibiotics have been victims of their own success,’ he said. ‘It’s really sad how we’ve misused them in human medicine and animal husbandry. We’ve deceived ourselves, thinking that this ‘magic’ medicine would always be around.’”
Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and the World’s Peril
– Scientific American, September 19, 2016
QUOTE: “Antibiotics kill bacteria, and as anybody who has been on a long course of the drugs to treat an ailment knows, the medicine is indiscriminate, knocking off not only invaders like the bugs that cause pneumonia and ear infections, but also those that prevent stomach aches and constipation in response to ingestion of food. Human overuse or misuse of antibiotics has bred the emergence of Superbugs that are not only resistant to the drugs, but may be able to surge in numbers within a person’s gut, for example, leading to dangerous imbalances in bacterial populations that then cause diabetes, some types of heart disease, depression and an enormous range of common diseases.”
Chemicals in Indoor Dust Tied to Antibiotic Resistance
– Reuters, September 16, 2016
QUOTE: “For instance, dust samples with higher amounts of triclosan also had higher levels of a gene that’s been implicated in bacterial resistance to multiple drugs. While they found only very small amounts of triclosan – less than many household products contain – the connection suggests a need to investigate how these chemicals in dust may contribute to antibiotic resistance, the researchers conclude.”
A New Video from the Harvard Medical School Shows the Terrifying Reality of Antibiotic resistance
– Business Insider, September 13, 2016
QUOTE: “So the same bugs that at first had a hard time fighting off even just the lowest dose of the antibiotic had in just a little over a week, found a way to make themselves 1,000 times as strong. It’s a worrying sign, since developing new antibiotics to tackle mutant bugs is incredibly tricky, and resistance can develop before a drug even gets approved.”
The Surprising History of the War on Superbugs—And What it Means for the World Today
– STAT News, September 12, 2016
QUOTE: “Yet organizing a fight against antibiotic resistance proved much harder than against ineffective or dangerous drugs. For one thing, the goal was fuzzier. The World Health Organization organized meetings about antibiotic resistance as early as the 1950s, but they fizzled out. The experts who came to the meetings got bogged down in arguments over how to measure resistance and what level to consider a threat to public health.”
Giant Petri Dish Shows How Bacteria Mutate (VIDEO)
– CNN, September 8, 2016
QUOTE: “Scientists built a giant petri dish to see how bacteria become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.”
Antimicrobial Chemicals Are Associated with Elevated Antibiotic Resistance Genes in the Indoor Dust Microbiome
– American Chemical Society, September 7, 2016
QUOTE: “Antibiotic resistance is increasingly widespread, largely due to human influence. Here, we explore the relationship between antibiotic resistance genes and the antimicrobial chemicals triclosan, triclocarban, and methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, and butylparaben in the dust microbiome.”
Superbug Explosion Triggers U.N. General Assembly Meeting
– Nature America, September 7, 2016
QUOTE: “Colistin-resistant Escherichia coli has surfaced in more than 30 countries, including in a patient in the U.S. One strain of E. coli in the U.S. has actually proved resistant to both carbapenem and colistin (but fortunately that strain appears to be susceptible to some other antibiotics). ‘The fact we are so concerned about colistin resistance is a sign of how desperate we are,’ says Lance Price, a microbiologist and director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at The George Washington University. ‘It’s a shitty drug. It’s toxic and doctors don’t like to use it, but now they have to use it because it’s the only thing that treats some of these drug-resistant infections.’”
One in Four Supermarket Chicken Samples Contain Antibiotic-Resistant E. coli
– The Guardian, September 5, 2016
QUOTE: “The study, commissioned by the campaign group Save Our Antibiotics, also found 51% of E coli from pork and poultry samples were resistant to the antibiotic trimethoprim, which is used to treat more than half of lower urinary tract infections.”
Growing Antibiotic Resistance Forces Updates to Recommended Treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections
– World Health Organization, August 30, 2016
QUOTE: “Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are all caused by bacteria and are generally curable with antibiotics. However, these STIs often go undiagnosed and are becoming more difficult to treat, with some antibiotics now failing as a result of misuse and overuse. It is estimated that, each year, 131 million people are infected with chlamydia, 78 million with gonorrhoea, and 5.6 million with syphilis.”
Birth in a Time of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
– World Health Organization, August 29, 2016
QUOTE: “According to current estimates, more than 200 000 newborns die each year from infections that do not respond to available drugs. And studies using data from larger hospitals – where microbes are more likely to develop antibiotic resistance – estimate that about 40% of infections in newborns resist standard treatments.”
Antibiotic Resistance in Pets an Increasing Problem
– Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota, August 28, 2016
QUOTE: “Of greater concern to Weese are increasingly drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria like E coli and Salmonella, which can cause severe illness in humans. These pathogens could live in the guts of pets and be shed in feces, providing a possible avenue of transmission between pets and humans. ‘There’s a bigger unknown factor with the gram-negatives, so I’m a little more concerned about them,’” he says.
Antimicrobial Resistance: Clear and Present Danger
– The Hindu, August 10, 2016
QUOTE: “A March 2016 paper on ‘Antibiotic Resistance in India: Drivers and Opportunities for Action’ in PLOS Medicine makes a convincing case for action against resistance: ‘Antibiotic resistance is a global public health threat, but nowhere is it as stark as in India. The crude infectious disease mortality rate in India today is 416.75 per 100,000 persons… twice the rate in the U.S. (200) when antibiotics were introduced.’”
Antibiotic Resistance Reaches Brazil
– The Scientist, August 8, 2016
QUOTE: “For the first time in Brazil, a person has tested positive for carrying bacteria with the antibiotic-resistance gene mcr-1, which blocks the drug colistin. As researchers reported today (August 8) in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the bacterial plasmid resembled antibiotic-resistant strains present on other continents.”
Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea Cases Up Fourfold in U.S.
– WebMD, July 24, 2016
QUOTE: “‘The confluence of emerging drug resistance and very limited alternative options for treatment creates a perfect storm for future gonorrhea treatment failure in the U.S.,’ said Dr. Jonathan Mermin, who directs the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention.”
Gonorrhea May Soon Be Resistant to all Antibiotics
– Scientific American, July 15, 2016
QUOTE: “The drugs, azithromycin and ceftriaxone, are used in combination to treat gonorrhea, a strategy experts hope will prolong the period during which these critical drugs will work.
But a nationwide surveillance program showed rises in the percentage of gonorrhea samples that were resistant to one or the other drug in 2014. In the case of azithromycin, there was a fourfold rise in the portion of samples that were resistant.”
A ‘Slow Catastrophe’ Unfolds as the Golden Age of Antibiotics Comes to an End
– LA Times, July 11 2016
QUOTE: “More ominously, the gene’s presence on a plasmid — a tiny mobile loop of DNA that can be readily snapped off and attached to other bacteria — suggested that it could readily jump to other E. coli bacteria, or to entirely different forms of disease-causing organisms. That would make them impervious to colistin as well.”
How Quickly Antibiotic Resistance can Spread
– LA Times, July 11 2016
QUOTE: “‘They found it everywhere,’ Hanage said. ‘The cat was not just out of the bag; it had gotten out of the bag, made its way into the hamster cage, and was eating the hamsters.’
Today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 9,000 U.S. patients per year are infected with carbapenem-resistant bacteria, causing 600 deaths annually.”
Why Antibiotic use on Farms Helps Fuel Antibiotic-Resistant Diseases
– LA Times, July 11, 2016
QUOTE: “It’s likely no accident, scientists say, that the first discovery of bacteria carrying the colistin-resistant mcr-1 gene occurred in China. Colistin is not generally used on American farms, but China is one the world’s largest producers of colistin, and its farmers are among the world’s heaviest users of the antibiotic.”
Tourists Pick up Antibiotic-Resistance Genes in just Two Days
– New Scientist, June 24, 2016
QUOTE: “Within two days of reaching India, for instance, two travellers had picked up qnrB, a gene that makes bacteria resistant to quinolone, one of the world’s most important antibiotics. The travellers’ gut flora retained the new genes for at least one month after they had returned home.
The type of drug resistance acquired depended on the destination, says Wolffs. In India, for example, widespread resistance to quinolones is well documented, not least because so much of the antibiotic is manufactured and overprescribed there.”
Antibiotic Resistance in Humans and Animals
– National Academy of Sciences, June 22, 2016
QUOTE: “The complete failure of our society to address this concern in the United States is profoundly disappointing and alarming to providers who increasingly struggle to care for patients infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Apologists abound. Excuses are rampant. As alluded to by the British report, “more science” is the often-heard refrain. Those who espouse the need for yet further study before action can be taken typically have close links to farms that continue to use antibiotics. Yet we are past the scientific tipping point.”
What The New Superbug Means For The Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance
– Huffington Post, June 3, 2016
QUOTE: “Bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics are the sort of thing that ‘[keeps] us awake at night,’ said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist and professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who was not involved in the woman’s case.”
The Superbug that Doctors have been Dreading just Reached the U.S.
– The Washington Post, May 27, 2016
QUOTE: “The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery ‘heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.’”
Here’s Why Doctors Are So Worried About the New Superbug
– NBC News, May 27, 2016
QUOTE: “Bacteria develop resistance to drugs quickly. By the time the first antibiotic, penicillin, was introduced in 1943, staphylococcus germs had developed resistance. It only took nine years for a strain of tetracycline-resistant Shigella to evolve after that drug hit the market in 1950. MRSA turned up two years after methicillin’s development in 1960.”
Nightmare Superbug: What is it? And should you worry?
– The Washington Post, May 27, 2016
QUOTE: “If this becomes more common and the gene gets into more bacteria that are already more resistant to other kinds of antibiotics, that’s a concern. If it gets into the health-care system, like nursing homes, acute care hospitals, where people probably don’t have good immunity or ability to fight infections, that’s the long-term concern. Then you are more vulnerable and affected than the average healthy person.”
Infection Raises Specter of Superbugs Resistant to All Antibiotics
– The New York Times, May 26, 2016
QUOTE: “‘Think of a puzzle,’ said Dr. Beth Bell, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘You need lots of different pieces to get a result that is resistant to everything. This is the last piece of that puzzle, unfortunately, in the United States. We have that genetic element that would allow for bacteria that are resistant to every antibiotic.’”
“Stop Treating Antibiotics like Sweets”: The Threat We Face from Antibiotic Resistance
– New Statesman, May 23, 2016
QUOTE: “Many medical procedures are dependent on the effectiveness of drugs such as antibiotics: treatments for cancer patients and antibiotic prophylaxis during surgeries, for example. All could be under threat by increased resistance. The continuing rise of resistant superbugs and the impotence of antibiotics would pose ‘as big a risk as terrorism’. A post-antibiotic world would spell dystopia.”
How to Stop Superbugs from Killing 10 Million People a Year
– CNN, May 23, 2016
QUOTE: “Superbugs are bacteria that are resistant to the antimicrobial drugs typically used to kill them. They are estimated to cause 700,000 deaths every year. If no action is taken, these numbers are expected to rise dramatically, causing more deaths than cancer by 2050. This would mean common procedures such as giving birth, treating wounds and undergoing surgery could become fatal due to a lack of effective antibiotics.”
Global Antibiotics ‘Revolution’ Needed
– BBC, May 19, 2016
QUOTE: “The review said the economic case for action ‘was clear’ and could be paid for using a small cut of the current health budgets of countries or through extra taxes on pharmaceutical companies not investing in antibiotic research.
Lord Jim O’Neill, the economist who led the global review, said: ‘We need to inform in different ways, all over the world, why it’s crucial we stop treating our antibiotics like sweets.’”
Prevalence of Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescriptions Among US Ambulatory Care Visits, 2010–2011
– The Jama Network, May 3, 2016
QUOTE: “Therefore, a 15% reduction in overall antibiotic use would be necessary to meet the White House National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria goal of reducing inappropriate antibiotic use in the outpatient setting by 50% by 2020.12 This estimate of inappropriate outpatient antibiotic prescriptions can be used to inform antibiotic stewardship programs in ambulatory care by public health and health care delivery systems in the next 5 years.”
Antimicrobial Resistance: Tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations.
– Review on Antimicrobial Existence, December 2014
QUOTE: “Although in modern, well-funded healthcare systems, obtaining access to second and third-line treatments may often not be an issue, mortality rates for patients with infections caused by resistant bacteria are significantly higher, as are their costs of treatment. And we are seeing in parts of European increasing number of patients in intensive care units, haematology units and transplant units who have pan-resistant infections, meaning there is no effective treatment available.”
(This is an updated version of an article originally posted on March 29, 2017.)
COMMENTS(35)
I am in total agreement with you. The article about UTI s, especially. You might want to add Candida Albicans to it. My grandmother showed my mother that if you put a little dab of Yogurt or Kefir up there(ahem), the Probiotics will attack the Bacteria and Yeast. No need for antibiotics besides they Destroy our microbiom which is what keeps us healthy anyways.
Good Job!
Pau D’arco is great for that sort of thing too.
Thanks George for pointing out the microbiome. We need to educate ourselves about it, and that we were created to stay healthy if in harmony with nature and the soil. Bacteria are not the enemy as they want us to believe. Louis Pasteur did a lot of damage…
He did do damage but it was inadvertent; he knew it and tried to explain… The Usual Suspects knew they could profit so, the rest is history.
Absolutely. Louis Pasteur originally created the germ theory but late corrected his mistake. By then it was too late. The tsunami of greed took over and that where the harm began.
The following dates have not even happened as of yet—
The Superbug that Doctors have been Dreading just Reached the U.S.
– The Washington Post, May 27, 2017
=============
QUOTE: “The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery ‘heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.’”
================
Antibiotic Resistance just Became More Complex
– Phys.org, December 27, 2017
QUOTE: “Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor. This new take on how the microbial context can compromise antibiotic therapy was published by a team of microbiologists from the University of Groningen microbiologists, together with colleagues from San Diego, in the journal PLOS Biology on 27 December.”
====================
Phages Carry Antibiotic Resistance Genes
– The Scientist, December 8, 2017
QUOTE: “The study makes ‘a pretty strong case that antibiotic resistance genes really do exist in the virome,’ said Andrew Singer of the UK Natural Environmental Research Council’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, who was not involved in the work.”
=====================
Gonorrhea May Soon Be Resistant to all Antibiotics
– Scientific American, July 15, 2017
QUOTE: “The drugs, azithromycin and ceftriaxone, are used in combination to treat gonorrhea, a strategy experts hope will prolong the period during which these critical drugs will work.
But a nationwide surveillance program showed rises in the percentage of gonorrhea samples that were resistant to one or the other drug in 2014. In the case of azithromycin, there was a fourfold rise in the portion of samples that were resistant
=====================
The Superbug that Doctors have been Dreading just Reached the U.S.
– The Washington Post, May 27, 2017
QUOTE: “The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery ‘heralds the emergence of a truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.’”
Vee, THANK YOU for noticing this + taking a minute to point it out. Typos! We 2017’d when we should have 2016’d! All fixed.
There’s still 1 with the wrong year that hasn’t been fixed yet. I only checked when I was going through comments that were left.
Antibiotic Resistance just Became More Complex
– Phys.org, December 27, 2017
QUOTE: “Bacteria that are susceptible to antibiotics can survive when enough resistant cells around them are expressing an antibiotic-deactivating factor. This new take on how the microbial context can compromise antibiotic therapy was published by a team of microbiologists from the University of Groningen microbiologists, together with colleagues from San Diego, in the journal PLOS Biology on 27 December.”
Me again. Just wanted to say that your Friends should feel Blessed to have you around!
I thought your website had gone into an infinite loop with all those antibiotic article links – and that’s just in the last 18 months – Wow!
I love the reference you made in your email about this page: “… And you find yourself regularly frustrated by ostriches”. What a great concept for an ongoing series. People can be such ostriches not only for Antibiotics & Superbugs but for a whole slew of ignorant naivety like: Fluoridated Water (actually drinking water in general), GMOs and Glyphosate, Refined Sugars & HFCS, Mercury & Lead in Amalgam Fillings, … and this list could go on forever.
I applaud you Marjory. This selfless outreach regarding the “Antibiotic Apocalypse” isn’t about improving YOUR quality of life or even that of your friends and followers; most of us are aware of this problem. This is about reaching and educating those zombies walking around with their heads up their … sandboxes.
This information is alarming, however, not surprising. I saw this coming down the pike with all the antibiotic soaps and cleansing products being pushed for the last 25 years. Not to mention allopathic doctors over-prescribing antibiotics for ailments that didn’t need an antibiotic.
People have to understand there is good bacteria and bad. If you do not replenish the good bacteria, the bad will take over. It is crucial to take probiotics if you take any antibiotic to keep the good bacteria to fight the bad bacteria. The immune system starts in the gut, when you wipe out the good bacteria with antibiotics you are defenseless and chronic illnesses and diseases can sneak on by and wreck havoc on your health.
I watched my father slowly die due to over-use of antibiotics. I wouldn’t wish that sort of death on my worst enemy.
The language used in these articles is the language of war – attack, ‘superbug’, resistance… Don’t we need to change this, revolutionise our whole approach, including our language? Indeed, isn’t this what the whole dire situation is asking of us? The new language would be a language that arises from the natural order, embodying principles such as balance, harmony, support, co-operation… These qualities predominate in nature far and beyond competition, threat & war…
@Julie Withers – yes, yes, and yes! Such an important point you are making! Instead of using language of war, attack and threat, we need to learn to use language of love and cooperation. That kind of energy shift (what is language but expressing thoughts which cause energy to be manifested in particular ways) can make all the difference in how we react to things like bacteria, viruses, and any other type of creatures that are deemed a threat and enemy in our society, how we react first mentally then physically. Thank you so much for making that point!
@Annie & Julie – NO. If you have something to refute, negate or challenge the CONTENT of these articles, let’s hear it. But – in my opinion – the ‘language’ is appropriate. This is serious stuff … this could threaten millions of people … if not the entire human race. People need to be awakened to this problem – so words like war, attack, superbug and resistance could not be more appropriate. And seriously, there’s nothing wrong with these words – like: “war on drugs” is nothing more than an initiative to rally everyone behind yet another threat to our society. Or “attack”, like your immune system attacks foreign bacteria and viruses. Or “resistance”, like when your body’s resistance has been lowered do to a lack of sleep, poor diet, or too much stress. And “superbug” – seriously? Bug is just a generic term for a myriad of threats to our system; when that threat could defy our natural defenses AND modern medical protocol, it’s called a superbug. What warm and fuzzy language of love and cooperation would you prefer they use?
I know I am late to this discussion but I would like to point out that Candida albicans which is a problem for so many people, is beneficial in the gut to clean up the crap that so many people eat. It’s a scavenger, like vultures and hyenas. It only becomes a problem when out of control or displaced to other parts of the body. It is also now known that so called ‘good’ elements – which include viruses, yeasts (fungi) and bacteria can swap sides depending on who is in charge. So if the good guys are in charge all is well but if the bad guys are in charge then “good” guys become bad guys. So BALANCE should be the language used. WAR is what got us here to begin with. Good health will protect us from ….. almost …..everything.
Tabs, you raise some very good points that are specific to this topic. But your points – and this article – have nothing to do with “language”. Sure a good “BALANCE” is necessary to ensure good health, but when the “bad” guys start outnumbering the “good” guys, we wage a nutritional “WAR” against the “bad” guys.
They are just words … we combine the necessary words to communicate our message – our thoughts, concerns and ideas. And we call this combination of words our “language”. But “LANGUAGE” is not the point of this article nor the cause of the antibiotic resistance problem. Your efforts (and the two previous posts) to obfuscate the problems that this article – and Marjory – are attempting to communicate to her audience is NOT helping. When you’re bogged down in “politically correct semantics” you are no longer a part of the solution – you become a part of the problem.
Tabs, you stated that “WAR is what got us here to begin with” What war? What war has resulted in this growing threat of antibiotic resistance? Perhaps we should focus on making our language more precise and less hyperbolic.
Fine. But let me point out that language not only reflects attitudes but also influences attitudes. The modern attitude including the medical, is kill, Kill, KILL. THAT is the original WAR. Instead of understanding that good health will protect you, learning how to acquire good health (which is what you and Marjorie are trying to do) they waged WAR on “Germs”. Now we know that the microbiome (most of which are GOOD “germs”) actually fight the good fight for us. We just have to keep the GOOD “germs” healthy. After all, some of the articles showed that healthy people were walking around with these “super bugs” with no effect. Subtlety often works better than confrontation.
My apologies for any implied insult or “obfuscation” (language) I may have caused, I won’t make the same mistake again……….and I DO appreciate the fantastic work you and Marjorie are doing.
I have had antibiotics once in my 72 years of life.
I have also found colloidal silver and gel to be
effective in treating infection.
Once I had a terrible infection on my ancle for which
my doctor gave me a prescription. Instead I bought
silver gel, and took the colloidal silver every few hours.
In a week I was clear of the infection.
Good on ya, Adam. I too have only taken antibiotics once in my 61 years of life. I was bitten by a deer tick and contracted Lyme disease. I took antibiotics for two weeks and then it took me two months to rebuild my gut’s biome. I’ve never had a tetanus shot either; and though I live and work on a farm and have had nails and pitchforks penetrate all parts of my body – I’ve never got an infection. Also, I’ve never had a flu shot in my life – and probably only had a flu twice in my life (down for 24 hours each). And I’m not unique – my 8 siblings, all my children, and now my wife all refrain from these allopathic practices and all have experienced similar results.
Now we need to educate people on how to take care of themselves, especially their diets! They need to know the nutrients their bodies need to stay healthy ( and they need to know how their bodies actually function and why organic foods and the right diet for each person is so necessary for health.) EDUCATION1 EDUCATION1 EDUCATION1 Young Living essential oils (nature’s gold) are wonderful to include in your daily routines! Let’s be POSITIVE! and give suggestions on how to stay healthy. Each person can then figure out for themselves what is best for their future!
EDUCATION ? It will never work. My dad spent his entire life as a doctor of Chiropractic trying to educate his patients and the public in general. From 1945 to 2005 he carried this holistic, organic, non-processed, natural-antibiotics-only banner that this site (and a few others) now carry forward. And yet, for those 50 years, the health of this nation deteriorated substantially. Even now, with the amazing information and educational tool called “the internet” — America continues to become more & more obese, more & more sedentary, more & more unhealthy, more & more poisoned by technological advancements, and more & more misinformed by our own government and corrupt corporations and institutions like Monsanto, the entire agriculture and food industry, Big Pharma, the AMA, the ADA, the FDA, the EPA, etc. etc.
I wish we could change the world – we can’t. I wish we could educate the ignorant – we can’t. I wish we could feed the starving – we can’t. I wish we could heal the sick and suffering – we can’t. Just looking out for ourselves and those close to us is an up-hill challenge, a full-time job and a loosing battle against City Hall and the government officials that are constantly attempting to force me into life-threatening situations.
PS – Mary, Essential Oils are wonderful, but perhaps we can do without the commercial plug for Young Living.
Such a downer reply! Of course, we CAN, and we do, each in our own way and ability. Being an example, spreading the word about options, healthy choices, talking positives about choices. No, we won’t fix everything, but we can influence our own spheres and be the ripple in the pond. We need to vote with our shopping dollars (no market, no product), as well as being very aware of what our politicians truly intend. It works: several of my friends have told me of changed shopping habits since I started asking them what was on the label, did they know what the ingredient list contained, etc. Today one more is changing from store-bought laundry detergent to a safer home made formula. Live it, share it.
Of course, we all do what we can: sharing, suggesting, advising, teaching … I’m sorry if my response seemed a “downer”. But it’s not pessimism, it’s realism. It’s not burring my head in the sand — it’s looking at nationwide and worldwide trends. And Yes, we vote with our shopping dollars – that is exactly why Walmart and Amazon close down hundreds of family owned, neighborhood stores every year.
The state of the world has little to do with a friend or two that you or I can persuade to read ingredient labels (come on, they’re educated grownups – they shouldn’t need persuasion). Rather, the state of the world is more accurately reflected in the massive trends of increased obesity, toxicity, malnutrition, corporate greed, government intrusion; and decreases in freedoms & rights, food & top soil quality, our immune & digestive systems and our overall general health — even though healthcare costs continue to skyrocket. You would think that a nation and a world that spends SO much on healthcare would have more to show for that investment than the pharmaceutical giants that focus only on prolonged symptom management and never on cures or prevention.
PLEASE stop pushing that Young Living pyramid scheme. It gets rather tiring. They totally overcharge and then have the nerve to trademark “Thieves” when the whole concept has been around for hundreds of years. Really, how do you feel good about promoting such a company? I guess they duped you also with all their marketing jargon. Wake up, that company is part of the problem rather than being a part of the truthful, soulful solution. Be discerning in who you promote – Living Young is not one of the ones that are promotion worthy, by any means.
I will say, however,my attitude at the moment is not helping any either. I suppose I am just a little tired of companies like this. There are so many.
Did I miss it somewhere along the way or were there articles related to the #1 cause of the problem…the 80% of antibiotics that get fed to CAFO animals to force growth and keep them alive eating unnatural diets and held in deplorable conditions? Or is this one of those meat promoting websites?
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2011/02/fda-confirms-80-percent-of-antibiotics-used-in-animal-ag/
We raise all grass-fed, non-GMO, organic supplemented beef and chicken. Antibiotics are unnecessary because their living area is clean and fresh everyday. There are many farmers like us who provide safe, nutritious, healthy protein to our families and customers. Please take care when lumping all meat into the CAFO swamp.
The plague we face is definitely brainwashing and ignorance making most of the population ostriches. Minds and bodies are held hostages by the Pharma, Food and Agriculture terrorists..! It is good to keep positive but much more important realistic and be able to see the bigger picture. The Saviour warned us that in the end of this terminally ill planet that there would be wars, famines and pestilences. All are signs of deliverance before true Healing in the earth made new. In the meantime we need education about the whole Truth and divine protection from evil supernatural forces working behind the scenes.
This is where the chaff is separated from the wheat. He that hath an ear, let him hear.
Wow!!! I just finished reading all of the excerpts, and I’m completely alarmed. I have a granddaughter getting ready to give birth via a C Section in May, and my fears for her safety are on red alert. I can only hope that her delivery team practices the safety measures alluded to in the newspaper bits and pieces and that she experiences no errant microbes on this birthing experience.
Hi Anita, yikes, I too can’t believe this compilation! And I work here.
Thank you Marjory for painstakingly collating all this info on the hazards & dangers of antibiotics plus sharing useful advice on homegrown food.
God Bless
Zulaiha Ismail
The shock-and-awe format of this article certainly hammers home the critical aspect of this emerging situation, doesn’t it? But whats to be DONE to combat it? Stop taking antibiotics? Not likely in our global society addicted to the easy and quick fix. Feel a cold coming on? Why bother sweating it out and feeling less-than-idea for a weekend? Just pop a couple of Aunt Marie’s leftover amoxycillin, then the cold heals itself in a couple days so we stop taking the drugs which weren’t effective against a virus anyway….and we have just contributed to the resistance problem. Education is the key, and thats why we’re doomed.
Intravenous vitamin C is a simple, cheap, effective alternative to antibiotic use and would be effective even against ‘Super Bugs’.
Liposomal encapsulated vitamin C is a practical alternative for home use. Make sure that the quality is good before buying.
Five years ago, we purchased a little trailer house in Durango, Colorado. Being retired, it was what we could afford and live without a house payment, eventually. So for those five years we faithfully made our house payment. But we didn’t count on the outrageously expensive community. It ate up our savings. We couldn’t afford gas to get into town, couldn’t afford to see our doctor, couldn’t afford our meds.
But I’m not that easily discouraged. I looked up everything I could find on how to stay healthy without meds, and succeeded. As I learned, I wrote books on the subject and made a small income.
Then I came down with a very serious inner ear infection. The right side of my face swelled up. I had a headache, ran a fever and had trouble chewing and swallowing. I couldn’t afford an emergency room visit, but that was where I was headed unless I learned to do something.
I found out about garlic. I wish I’d had your book then, but the research helped me considerably.
I took raw garlic like pills every two hours at first. The very next day I felt much better. I continued taking the garlic, about four times a day, for the next two weeks.
I now use garlic as my primary antibiotic. We haven’t been sick during this time. I’m now sold on herbal remedies.
Just so you know, you are one of my go-to people on herbs and gardening.
Thank you,
Patricia Renard Scholes
Great Story, Patricia. My wife and I are in a similar situation (retire in 4 yrs, homesteading 5 acres). I’ve read the garlic book you referenced; I’m a huge advocate of garlic and agree with everything you and Marjory have said. In addition to the amazing benefits of garlic, I’m also a huge fan of Apple Cider Vinegar, pulling Coconut Oil, and brushing my teeth with coconut oil, baking soda and half a dozen Essential Oils (antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal …). I started this regimen 10 years ago and haven’t been sick since: no colds, no flues, no coughs … soar throats … or infections of any kind. Also, all blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, digestion, and arthritis problems are GONE. No cavities for 10 years. I’m a 62 year old homesteader that has NEVER had a flu shot, tetanus shot, ANY kind of shot, or Rx antibiotic. And my parents ensured that I caught measles, mumps, and chicken-pox as a child (no shots then or since).
Something worked pretty damn well for 10,000 years. Now with modern science, technology, pharmaceutics . . . things aren’t working so well. Our immune systems have been destroyed by several factors: antibiotics, vaccines, environmental toxins, sugar, junk/processed/fast food, preservatives, artificial additives, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, GMOs … and a completely destroyed gut flora. As a nation, we’ve become such immunological cripples that we can’t even fight off a seasonal influenza; we think healthcare comes from a insurance company (or worse – our government); and we’re convinced that there is a “magic pill or knife” for everything – that preventative measures like diet and exercise are an unnecessary inconvenience. We are more concerned about our premiums, co-pays and deductibles than we are about clean water, fresh vegetables, and our topsoil having been depleted by 50% of its vitamins and minerals in just the last 50 years.
Because of this, our food is increasingly less nutritious. Then we process, refine, radiate and cook off most of those nutrients. Then our compromised digestive systems fail to absorb and distribute what little nutrients get through. Then we line up at the hospitals waiting to pay exorbitant amounts for a pill or a shot or operation that will pacify or coverup the symptoms of the underlying problems — temporarily. It’s not fixed … you will be back.