Anti-biotics, will the life-line last forever?- Hannah Sterling LPGS
You’ve got an earache. You’ve been through this process before. What do you need? Surely, of course, anti-biotics can save me. I’m awfully sorry to have to tell you, maybe just this once, however by taking the drugs for minor issues that our body’s immune system can take care of itself you are harming others around you and here’s why:
Let’s dig a little deeper into the magnificent machine of the human body and discover the reasons why anti-biotics could potentially become useless in years to come. We have blood which thrives and flows through our body; pumped around by the heart. Within blood there are super-intelligent white blood cells which shape the body’s immune system. This means when an invading pathogen attempts to infect our body the white blood cells send phagocytes to ingest it. However, it’s not all that simple, there are two main types of pathogen which affect us humans: Bacterial Diseases and Viral Diseases; and there’s a big difference in how they can harm us. Viruses reproduce inside our cells until the cells burst and then infect other cells around it. Due to the fact they take over our cells this makes it incredibly difficult and most of the time unachievable for the anti-biotic to get rid of a virus. Anti-biotics only tend to work for bacterial diseases such as boils, STIs, and food poisoning etc. It is vital anti-biotics are usable. We not only have anti-biotics for treating serious diseases like sepsis and pneumonia, but they also help to ward off infections during surgical activity.
Recently, scientists have found that anti-biotic resistant diseases are beginning to arise. Bacteria, like any other microorganism adapts to its surroundings, and because anti-biotics are being taken too frequently the bacteria has been enabled to bypass our white blood cells. In 2018, Public Health England stated there were an estimated 61,000 anti-biotic resistant diseases in England and by 2050 diseases from our history which over time have become easily curable will make a return to haunt on the mortalities of an approximate 390,000 people living In Europe and around 10million people worldwide.
On that note. What can you do to help stop this from happening in our country? Plain and straightforward instructions: allow your body to remove miniscule infections like a cough or sore throat itself, educate others around you and always ask for a doctor or nurses advice.
Hannah Sterling LPGS.
