How You Can Help Stop Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics are some of modern medicine's better inventions right up there with other trauma medicine such as setting bones. Penicillin was the first antibiotic invented by Alexander Fleming in 1928 that went on to be used to treat injured soldiers in WW2 and other bacterial infections at the time like staph. Unfortunately, these miraculous saviors of modern medicine are being so overused in both hospitals and agriculture that previously controlled bacterial infections are being turned into resistant "superbugs". The increasing occurrence of these superbugs like MRSA, UTI, C. difficile, pneumonia, gonorrhea, malaria, and tuberculosis can all be linked to their resistance to antibiotics. In most first world countries we don't have to worry about the last three, but MRSA has emerged as a serious threat in recent years.

But why is antibiotic resistance happening to begin with? People misusing the antibiotic drugs prescribed to them by not finishing the dose, improperly prescribed drugs (viruses cannot be treated with antibiotics!), some bacteria survives despite antibiotic treatment, overuse in both medicine and agriculture, lack of good bacteria (our modern world is way too sterile), poor prevention of bacterial infection, and trace antibiotics being leeched into bodies of water where it seeps into our soil and drinking water (then we drink the antibiotics in there or they got onto our produce).

So what can we do about the emerging antibiotic resistance? Are there any natural or alternative therapies that can help alleviate this serious problem? Now I'm not necessarily advocating that you try to self-treat yourself for a serious infection by using alternative practices, but perhaps theres a way to prevent an infection in the first place or not to confuse a virus for a bacteria. Thankfully, there are ways to treat a bacterial infection and even prevent one in the first place by utilizing some of the below therapies and practices:

• Always wash your hands. Yes, prevention can be that simple.
• However, you want to avoid anti-bacterial soap as it can kill off the good bacteria making room for the bad bacteria to take over. You need both good and bad bacteria in your body to keep a balance
• Antibacterial soap contains the polluting and endocrine-disrupting chemical called triclosan along with contributing to antibiotic resistance. A good alternative, natural soap is vinegar mixed with essential oils like lemon, castille oil, alcohol, or lye or coconut soap bar.
• When cleaning around your house or anywhere else don't use antibacterials either. Use one of the above natural cleaners. An overly sterile environment can create an imbalance of good and bad bacteria allowing the bad to colonize when the good is unintentionally wiped out.
• Buy grass-fed meat from small, organic, and pasture-based farms so you won't be consuming the antibiotics present in typical factory farm meat. In fact, the agricultural use of antibiotics is one of the biggest contributors to the problem of resistance with 70% antibiotics used in factory farming. Animals on factory farms are raised in cramped, dirt conditions that make them susceptible to disease, which is combated by feeding them a study diet of antibiotics, but this only covers up the symptoms of a larger problem. These animals are being raised in unnatural conditions and diet that make them ill. And thats where much of our food-borne illnesses originate. Instead of trying to cover-up the symptoms of this problem by feeding the animals antibiotics we should allow them to be raised on pasture.
• Antibiotics do not treat viruses! A bacterial infection is not a virus! If you have a virus such as flu or common cold then try to supplement with vitamin D, drink tea, get some rest, and eat your grass-fed broth.
• Essential oils that have anti-bacterial properties are rosemary, thyme, tea tree, mint, oregano, clove, and cinnamon.
• Herbs to help treat bacterial infection are goldenseal, eucalyptus, garlic, bayberry, myrrh, and turmeric.