Discussion on:

World health threat from antibiotic resistant bacteria

Essential oils were used in biblical times throughout Europe and the middle east for fighting all kinds of different infections. Their natural compounds make them effective against resistant bacteria too. check it out here: http://www.essentialoilseeker.com/?p=51

Doesn't matter if its Essential oils, antibiotics. whatever if just 0.0001% survive and reproduce in no time at all the desendents of the survivors will be immune

Doctors need to grow a set, and stop prescribing anti-biotics like sweets for colds/flu etc. to any whiny patient.

Antibiotics work on Bacterial, not Viral infections. Period.

In lots of countries, antibiotics are provided without a prescription or education. Add in the number of antibiotics routinely provided to livestock.

A major contributing factor to the spread of resistant drugs is the widespread use of antibiotics in the animal food industry. To maximize profit we feed drugs to animals as a preventative measure, "just in case". We have no one to blame but ourselves for this mess, and the bugs keep getting smarter and smarter faster than we can learn how to fight them off. And then there is swine flu and bird flu, both viral, and the antibiotics don't do a thing against them.

Being vegan, I do my small part not to contribute to the problem. The side benefit is that I rarely get sick, and when I do, my body seems to make the illness rather mild.

dcr100 wrote "Being vegan, I do my small part not to contribute to the problem. The side benefit is that I rarely get sick, and when I do, my body seems to make the illness rather mild."

But anitbiotics are used on plant life, too. Back in the late 1970s I bought a pound of streptomycin to treat an apple tree suffering from fireblight, a bacterial infection. I sprayed the entire tree regularly and held the disease at bay until I ran out of streptomycin.

I bought it at the local pharmacy for $6.00 for the pound, no prescription needed.

Are you ready to give up apples?

Not a problem. I grow my veggies veganic and buy my veggies organic. When possible I talk with the farmer.

I can remember medical student friends discussing this in the 60's. Spineless professional bodies, politicians and the farming lobby have increasing amounts of blood on their hands ...

is the old time family remedy, from my grandparents, who were farmers and ranchers as my cousins now are. If someone does not like FARMERS they should stop eating vegetables and fruits. If they do not like RANCHERS they should stop eating meat. If they hate ALL of those who make their life from the soil then they should never eat anything that is not heavily processed and had all the goodness sucked right out of it. They, in order to not be publicly-exposed hypocrites, should always eat only artificially produced "pasteurized process fortified simulated food product" with all the chemical vitamins in it. That way they can make sure not to support those hated, evil agrarians any more than necessary, as well as not being utter hypocrites. Don't complain with your mouth full.

Many are frustrated with agribusiness because of their refusal to adopt better practices as they are developed. They intimidate farmers to by their over priced chemicals by convincing them they won't be profitable if they grow their crops and live stock naturally. If that doesn't work they attack them. Monsanto for example successfully sued a Saskatchewan farmer for not using their products.

We don't like it when people knowingly threaten the well being of everyone for their own profit.

I don't know what case you are referring to. The only case I found involved Percy Schmeiser of Saskatchewan, Canada (see http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/12/25/percy-schmeiser-farmer-who-beat-monsanto.aspx ). His fields were contaminated by pollen from outside his fields by Monsanto GM crops. Monsanto then sued him because he didn't license the GM crops from Monsanto.

He eventually won the lawsuit, although the courts there did say farmers don't have a right to use patent protected genes in their crops even when they are unwanted but inadvertently added from outside.

There is a real problem with GM crops is that the genes can spread to crops that are not licensed to have them. Patent law is not well-developed in this area because the patent can be unintentionally violated by farmers who would never want the genes in their crops in the first place. For example, it's not clear whether or not a grain elevator operator who buys grain with GM genes can't turn around and sell it as seeds to other farmers, even though the farmers themselves cannot.

Most farmers have to deal with Monsanto even when they don't use GM crops. Few farmers actually grown their own seeds, and Monsanto has a big market share in the market for non-GM seeds.

Schmeiser was actually a rapeseed (canola) grower and had spent years developing his own line of seed that he sold to others. When Monsanto's GM pollen contaminated his crop it essentially ran him out of the seed business because he couldn't separate the contaminate from his original seed stock and intellectual property laws gave Monsanto the right to shut him down regardless of whether he intentionally used their IP or not. So several decades of work by Schmeiser developing his own line of rapeseed were down the drain.

75% of the antibiotics are going to farm animals and pets. Think veterinarians and agribusiness. Hard to buy meat or processed food items with meat at the supermarket that the animal hasn't been fed antibiotics in their feed and for some animals hormones to increase production. Don't blame all the sick people, they were the reason most of these antibiotics were discovered in the first place.

Absolute proof of evolution in action. Survival of the fittest for all those creationists out there that deny evolution. Here is a prime example of exactly how evolution works. Kill off the weak and the stronger take over.

Charles Darwin never said that, it was coined my Herbert Spencer for his race and class based theory of "Social Darwinism". Charles Darwin disagreed with is wholeheartedly.

Aside from that it does show evolution in action but don't shove it in the face of creationists because evolution has left them behind. They're failing to adapt.

Antibiotic resistance was recognized shortly after penicillin was developed. Disease has always ruled and now we see emergent and re-emergent diseases. Really it's only part of a bigger problem. Think of Eugenics. It's a big issue that points to a huge problem regardless of if it is considered morally unacceptable. It too is a part of that bigger problem (and there happens to be a morally acceptable alternative). The only way to understand either is to describe it as a change in ecology, then you can solve both problems and a number of others you aren't aware of yet. Now does anyone want to publish a book on it? Humanity must transition from the PastToTheFuture