Re: Antibiotics/Antibacterial/Resistance
From: Genny (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon, 18 Mar 2002 09:37:33 -0600
Renee-
I agree that *some* regulation is needed. But what I don't like is the
government has taken over our health care system and has left us with little
choice.
I also agree with you in terms of antibiotic abuse. I don't believe we
should give out medications willy-nilly. But somewhere between the free
market in Mexico and the "nanny state" we have here, there is a happy
medium.
Unfortunately, even with the onerous regulations we have, it does not
protect us always. The FDA could not prevent the pharmacist who was
watering down medication. They could only stop him after his crime.
I rely on several supplements for my PCOS. I pray every day that they are
not pulled off the market, or regulated out of existence.
I also agree that this is a hot button issue with me too. I wish that our
regulations did what they were intended to do.
Genny
>Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 09:47:50 -0800
>From: Renee <anonymous@obgyn.net>
>To: PCOS <anonymous@obgyn.net>
>Subject: Antibiotics/Antibacterial/Resistance (was: Re: Generic
>Metformin)
>Message-ID: <anonymous@obgyn.net>
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
>I think some regulation is needed. In Mexico, there is no guarantee of
>quality
>control in the manufacturing process, making the drugs potentially
>dangerous
>through varying concentrations and potential ingredient variances. Also,
>being able to walk into a pharmacy and buy just about anything without a
>prescription is dangerous. While many prescription drugs would do fine as
>OTCs, others do need that regulation to protect the person and the general
>population. What I mean by the "general population" is targeted at
>anti-biotics. Being able to walk in and pick up any antibiotics can be
>harmful. First, it might not be the one that is effective on the bacteria
>present. Secondly, not using them for the appropriate duration and
>schedule
>(which varies by drug) might make the person feel better for a little
>while,
>until the stronger bugs survive while the weak die, and the strong ones
>become
>dominant. You then get sick again, and the same drug won't work. You have
>to
>get something stronger. And, you pass the strong one to other people, so
>we
>get broadening antibiotic resistance.
>
>Resistance is an area of great concern to me, as I see the worsening
>problem
>every day. I work with patients who have resistant organisms. They take
>stronger antibiotics, more at one time, and for a longer time. Then, the
>antibiotics sometimes have side effects in that volume. People have to
>stay
>in the hospital for weeks for it. And, I'm seeing resistance in new
>organisms
>lately. There have been a few cases in the world where a very common
>bacteria
>has been resistant to our top-rung antibiotic. The thought of that
>spreading
>and becomes common scares the bejeebies out of me. Taking antibiotics
>incorrectly only makes that worse.
>
>Something else that contributes to the problem is the proliferation of
>antibacterial products out there. Washing your hands with regular soap,
>with
>lots of friction, is all that is needed. You don't need antibacterial soap,
>cutting boards, sponges (get rid of the sponges all together), etc. The
>exception would be if there is someone in the household who is
>immunocompromised, as in AIDS or because of an organ transplant. For
>others,
>it just ends up killing the weak germs while the strong ones survive and
>get
>resistant. APIC, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control
>(it's something like that--my apologies if it's not exact), has recommended
>against using antibacterial products with the above exceptions. There has
>been some research showing that we need bacterial exposure to be healthy,
>and
>to develop children's immune systems. Some of the research has been done
>in
>Japan, where extremely cleanliness is the common goal, to explain the
>rising
>rates of asthma and other problems. If we don't have germ exposure when
>young, we don't develop our T4 cells properly. Those are important in the
>immune system. That leads to asthma and other problems. (Of course,
>asthma
>has other causes as well.) You may have seen this in the children around
>you.
> We had two friends who had kids around the same time. One was very
>protective, and the kid always sat on a blanket on the carpet, and was very
>protected from germs. The other one let the kid play around in the dirt
>outside. The "dirty" kid was much more robust, and the protected kid was
>much
>more "sickly." This is just one example, which never proves anything since
>there are so many other factors at work, but was intended as an example of
>a
>trend you may have seen.
>
>I got off track with this, but it is a "hot button" issue for me.
>
>Renee
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