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Kaleo Regalmuto
Mrs. Meyer
May 9, 2013
Research paper
Antibiotics
There were only a ew moments in my lie where ! ha"e been "ery sic#, an$
e"ery time ! caught one o these %$ea$ly sic#nesses& ! woul$ be prescribe$
an antibiotic imme$iately. 'y the thir$ time ! ha$ been prescribe$ an
antibiotic, ! #new that it taste$ li#e baby oo$ mi(e$ with poison, an$ it ma$e
me eel terrible. )espite this, ! ha"e always been able to ta#e the antibiotic
because it #ille$ the microorganisms that cause$ me to be sic# an$
e"entually cure$ me. *nortunately antibiotics aren+t all they seem to be. !+m
here to tell you that antibiotics shoul$n+t be use$, or they wea#en our
health.
Antibiotics ha"e been sought ater since the %germ theory o $isease,&
was in"ente$ in the 1,
th
century. The %germ theory o $isease,& sai$ that
bacteria cause $iseases -'ellis.. Two hun$re$ years later, the /rst antibiotic
was in"ente$ in 1920 by Ale(an$er 1leming. !t was penicillin, a type o
antibacterial mol$. !n 1923 penicillin was mass pro$uce$ an$ gi"en out to
eager bo$ies. *nortunately this me$ical "ictory $i$n+t last, an$ our years
later the bacteria calle$ staphylococcus aureus became the /rst o many to
resist penicillin. 3 course, there are other types o antibiotics, but they all
ha"e one thing in common4 they #ill bacteria.
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5hen they /rst came out people in 55!! people thought antibiotics
coul$ sa"e li"es an$ they $i$. 5hat was sai$ by 6erri Klass, M.) sums up
what antibiotics represent4 %Antibiotics represent a huge git in the struggle
against inant an$ chil$ mortality, a triumph -or actually, many triumphs. o
human ingenuity an$ science o"er $isease an$ $eath, since the antibiotic era
began bac# in the ourth an$ /th $eca$es o the 20th century.&-Klass.
Antibiotics are a git to man#in$ an$ we shoul$ bene/t rom it.
There are many types o microorganisms in your stomach. They all li"e
there in harmony. There are helpul #in$s, not so helpul #in$s an$ #in$s that
$o nothing to you. The healthy #in$s are necessary to $igest oo$ an$ to
maintain a healthy immune system. The ba$ bacteria are what ma#e you
sic#. 7et+s say all the su$$en you $rop a microorganism %nu#e& -antibiotic. in
your stomach an$ e"erything $ies. 5ell, now you ha"e a wea#er immune
system an$ ba$ $ietary problems. This ma#es you prone to more $iseases in
the uture while you wait or the goo$ microorganisms to buil$ up again
%5hy&.
A big problem is that we $on+t only ta#e in antibiotics that we are
prescribe$ to. Antibiotics can also get in our bo$ies when we eat meat, when
we ha"e $airy pro$ucts an$ when we eat high pro$uce$ grains such as corn.
!t+s easy to acci$entally recei"e antibiotics when many armers gi"e animals
antibiotics to ease their li"ing con$itions an$ to ma#e them grow aster.%!n
2011, $rug ma#ers sol$ nearly 30 million poun$s o antibiotics or li"estoc#
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8 the largest amount yet recor$e$ an$ about 00 percent o all reporte$
antibiotic sales that year,& says the 9ew :or# Times -Kessler..
'y ar the scariest thing about antibiotics is antibiotic resistance.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria are bacteria that aren+t a;ecte$ by antibiotics.
<o i you are inecte$ with antibiotic resistant bacteria you can+t be by cure$
by antibiotics. This is ba$ i you your immune system is wea#. There are
se"eral ways bacteria can be resistant to antibiotics. 3ne way is that the
bacteria are naturally resistant. 1or e(ample i a cell wall is co"ere$ with an
outer membrane that protects the cell. The other ways are "ertical gene
transers an$ hori=ontal gene transer. These are basically mutations an$
bree$ing. <ince antibiotics are the only way we #now o combating certain
$iseases, we are in trouble when antibiotic resistant bacteria come along.
*nortunately antibiotic resistance is on the rise e"er since the
intro$uction o antibiotics there has been antibiotic resistance. At /rst there
weren+t many antibiotic resistant bacteria but that soon change$. >"er since
we ha"e been misusing antibiotics antibiotic resistance has s#yroc#ete$. 9ow
,0? o bacteria that cause inections in hospitals are at least resistant to one
type o antibiotic that was once commonly use$ to treat the $isease -To$ar..
As a species we ha"e let oursel"es become way to $epen$ent on
antibiotics. 1irst o all we gi"e low $oses o antibiotics to our animal an$
agriculture. This means we gi"e a place in were we #ill o; the wea# bacteria
while the strong bacteria can $e"elop resistance. 5e also o"eruse antibiotics
casually when they are gi"en to sic# people when they aren+t nee$e$. 5e as
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a species nee$ to only use antibiotics in lie threatening situations so we can
minimi=e antibiotic resistance.
The more we use antibiotics the more useless they become. *ntil we
can completely control a bacteria+s e"olution then we will ha"e to be as
sparing as possible with how we use antibiotics. 1or now the bacteria is
winning but one $ay we will ri$ the worl$ o $isease, but antibiotics won+t be
how we $o it. The more we use antibiotics the wea#er we as a human race
become.