Humans Are At Grave Risk Due To Antibiotic-Resistant Diseases
Many articles have explained the risks of using too many antibiotics. The very medicines designed to kill bacteria have been the cause of evolution of the most dangerous bacteria. The result is the explosion of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that now is threatening pandemic health risk. Antibiotic-resistant disease is a major man-made problem.
For a somewhat unknown example, Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) is killing both people and swine in Denmark. The bacteria have been implicated in the deaths of a number of cancer and liver disease patients. To make matters worse, the number of infected patients jumped 50 percent last year.
While the most recent outbreak of influenza H1N1 Flu A was not directly related to swine, health officials said the ESBL bacteria is being transmitted to humans through pigs in the Denmark ESBL outbreak. The increased use of antibiotics in agriculture may be behind the spread of the resistant strain. It is therefore evident that the reduction of use of antibiotics in humans may be a very ineffective answer. What are ESBLs?
They were first discovered in the mid-1980s when they were mostly found in the Klebsiella species of bacteria, in hospital intensive care units. Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamases (ESBLs) are actually enzymes produced by certain types of bacteria, which renders the bacteria resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat them.
Until recently, few people were affected by these mutated bacteria and it didn't appear to be a major growing concern. That has changed, however. According to the British Health Protection Agency (HPA), a new class of ESBL (called CTX-M enzymes) has emerged, which are now being widely detected among E. Coli bacteria.
These ESBL-producing E. Coli are resistant to penicillin and cephalosporin, and are becoming more frequent in urinary tract infections. Other species of bacteria that can now produce ESBLs include:
Salmonella
K. pneumoniae
K. oxytoca
Proteus mirabilis
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
You probably recognize the increase in outbreaks of Salmonella and E. Coli in our food supply but the problem is worse than you think! How many people know that the new bacteria are more dangerous than AIDS?
According to a study published October 2007 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), there were close to 100,000 cases of invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in the United States in 2005, which lead to more than 18,600 deaths. To put that number into perspective, HIV/AIDS killed 17,000 people that year.
What Can We Do?
The JAMA 2007 study propelled MRSA into the news last year, combined with a number of school outbreaks that took place around the same time. Discussions focused largely on reducing medical over-use of antibiotics, and proper hygiene such as washing your hands with soap and water to reduce the spread of infectious disease. These are obviously valuable warnings but little has been said about the rampant over-use of antibiotics in agriculture which is a MAJOR source of human antibiotic consumption, and hence increased antibiotic resistance.
The Major Source of Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria
Both MRSA and ESBL are being traced back to animals raised for food production, especially pigs.
These animals are often fed antibiotics at low doses for disease prevention and growth promotion. Animals receiving antibiotics in their feed gain 4 to 5 percent more body weight than animals that do not receive antibiotics. A low cost method of increasing body weight is a profitable decision. However, the price is high for you, the end consumer, because this practice also creates the perfect conditions for antibiotic resistance to flourish.
Denmark's health officials claim they're unsure of how farmers and veterinarians, who have not consumed infected meat, are becoming infected. However, according to research cited on Johns Hopkins website, the main reservoir of these organisms is in the lower digestive tract, and they can persist within the gastrointestinal tract for months. So perhaps the answer doesn't have to
be all that complicated.
The meat industry practice of using antibiotics is indeed a driving force behind the development of antibiotic resistance in a now wide variety of bacteria that cause human disease.
The long stalemate on this issue constitutes a struggle between strong science and bad politics. The FDA finally banned the use of fluoroquinolones - a widely used class of antimicrobials – from agricultural use August 1997, but not without the Bayer Corporation kicking and screaming in vehement opposition. After all, antibiotics for livestock use is big business. It constitutes about 70 percent of ALL antibiotic use! They couldn't replace that market with human consumers even if they tried.
Other Agricultural Sources of Antibiotics
Another heavily tainted meat product you may want to stay away from is conventionally raised chicken. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases found that bacteria from conventional chicken and from people who ate the chicken became resistant to Synercid, a strong antibiotic used to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It also found that it was rare to find resistant bacteria among antibiotic-free chicken, while the majority of bacterial isolates from conventional poultry were resistant.
In essence, it can cause resistance to the last lines of defense currently available in the modern medicine cabinet. Apparently the bacteria are winning in the battle against man and his medicines. The current H1N1 flu virus is fortunately not too potent but every flu virus is a powerhouse of evolution, mutating at the maximum speed nature allows. A mild virus can morph into a killer and vice versa. We do not know what the virus will mean when we experience it this winter.
But, the ramifications of using antibiotics in agriculture don't end there. Antibiotics filter down through the food chain in sometimes non-suspecting ways.
Antibiotics are also being transferred, via manure, into your food supply. A 2007 study in the Journal of Environmental Quality looked at whether food crops will accumulate antibiotics from soil covered with
antibiotic-containing manure.
In a greenhouse setting, corn, lettuce and potatoes were grown on soil that contained hog manure from hogs treated with a commonly used veterinary antibiotic.
The antibiotics were absorbed by all three crops, into both their leaves and tissue. Meanwhile, the antibiotics also transferred to the potato tubers, suggesting that root crops like carrots, radishes and potatoes may be particularly at risk of antibiotic accumulation.
These findings unfortunately also have implications for organic farmers, who often use manure as their main source of fertilizer. And, as it stands, manure that contains antibiotics is still allowed under the organic label. Watch the labels because "natural" is the best organic choice.
How You Can Avoid Excessive Antibiotic Exposure
So how can you ensure that the food you feed to yourself and your family is pure and healthy? Apart from growing it yourself, your best option is to get to know a local farmer near you – one who uses non-toxic farming methods.
If you live in an urban area, there are increasing numbers of community-supported agriculture programs available that give you access to healthy, locally grown foods even if you live in the heart of the city.
If you are looking for a safer alternative to commercially raised beef be sure to check out grass-fed beef. Grass-fed cattle are not routinely fed antibiotics. They may occasionally receive them for an infection, but that would be the rare exception, and even then they are only used for a few days.
You Can Fight Back!
Even when you are very careful you may still be contaminated because of soils, treated animal and plants that contain traces of antibiotics. If, as we have just read, our soils and our animals and plants are often contaminated then what do you suppose has already happened to your body?
One way to look at the problem and possible solutions is to see what is called the environment for disease. Our physical environment is contaminated as we have just seen. Our physical bodies are also contaminated. If you attempt to raise a garden and you plant in good soil the healthy plants do not attract as many bugs and diseases. If you over use the soil and deplete it the plants will be weak and attract insects and plant diseases. The same is true with your physical body. Most diseases get a foothold when your health and auto-immune system are depleted. Rebuilding your body will improve your personal individual health.
Fine tuning your own body is your best defense against disease and death. As we have seen, bacterial and viral infections are less apt to get a hold in you own system if you are healthy. Many of the risks of antibiotic contamination cannot be totally avoided, but you can control what you do to improve your personal health. To investigate some very effective ways to undo the negative effects already suffered in your own body you should visit: http://tom1tom.allinonehealth.com/
Theron Messer, M.Litt.
