{"id":47885,"date":"2013-07-05T04:45:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-05T03:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/slaying-the-deadly-superbugs\/47885\/"},"modified":"2013-07-05T04:45:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-05T03:45:20","slug":"slaying-the-deadly-superbugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/slaying-the-deadly-superbugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Slaying the Deadly Superbugs"},"content":{"rendered":"

by
\n Joseph Mercola<\/a><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Recently
\n by Joseph Mercola: Sensible
\n Sun Exposure Can Help Prevent Melanoma, Breast Cancer, and Hundreds
\n of Other Health Problems<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n \"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

The frivolous
\n use of antibiotics, not just in medicine but also in food production,
\n is the root cause of skyrocketing antibiotic resistance. <\/span><\/p>\n

Data from
\n the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control1<\/a><\/sup>
\n (ECDC) shows a significant rise of resistance to multiple antibiotics
\n in Klebsiella pneumoniae<\/em> and E. coli<\/em> in just
\n the last four years alone, affecting more than one-third of
\n the EU, and the primary cause for this man-made epidemic is
\n the widespread misuse of antibiotics. <\/span><\/p>\n

Between
\n the years of 1993 and 2005, the number of Americans hospitalized
\n due to the antibiotic-resistant \u201csuperbug\u201d MRSA
\n (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) <\/em>skyrocketed
\n from about 2,000 to 370,000. <\/span><\/p>\n

Currently,
\n MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections kill about 60,000
\n Americans annually, and account for billions of dollars in health
\n care costs.2<\/a><\/sup>
\n Antibiotic-resistant disease is not the only danger associated
\n with the misuse of these drugs. Excessive exposure to antibiotics
\n also takes a heavy toll on your gastrointestinal health, which
\n can predispose you to virtually any <\/em>disease. <\/span><\/p>\n

Abnormal
\n gut flora may actually be a major contributing factor to the
\n rise in a wide variety of childhood diseases and ailments, from
\n bowel disorders and allergies<\/a>
\n to autism<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Agricultural
\n uses of antibiotics account for about 80 percent of all
\n antibiotic use<\/strong> in the US,3<\/a><\/sup>
\n so it’s a MAJOR source of human antibiotic consumption. Animals
\n are often fed antibiotics at low doses for disease prevention and
\n growth promotion, and those antibiotics are transferred to you via
\n meat, and even via the manure used as crop fertilizer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Protecting
\n your gut health and reducing the spread of antibiotic-resistant
\n bacteria are significant reasons for making sure you’re only eating
\n grass-fed, organically-raised meats and animal products.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gut Viruses
\n Confer Antibiotic-Resistance to Bacteria, New Research Shows<\/span><\/h2>\n

When used
\n properly, in the correct contexts and with responsibility, antibiotics
\n can and do save lives that are threatened by bacterial infections.
\n But there is one important variable that wasn’t considered when
\n the widespread use of these “miracle medicines” began, and that
\n is that bacteria are highly adaptable. <\/span><\/p>\n

They are
\n clearly capable of outsmarting antibiotics, and they are doing
\n so with a vengeance. According to the CDC’s National Antimicrobial
\n Resistance Monitoring System:4<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

“Antibiotics
\n kill or inhibit the growth of susceptible bacteria. Sometimes
\n one of the bacteria survives because it has the ability to neutralize
\n or evade the effect of the antibiotic; that one bacteria can
\n then multiply and replace all the bacteria that were killed
\n off. <\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Exposure
\n to antibiotics therefore provides selective pressure, which
\n makes the surviving bacteria more likely to be resistant. In
\n addition, bacteria that were at one time susceptible to an antibiotic
\n can acquire resistance through mutation of their genetic material
\n or by acquiring pieces of DNA that code for the resistance properties
\n from other bacteria. <\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

The DNA
\n that codes for resistance can be grouped in a single easily transferable
\n package. This means that bacteria can become resistant to many antimicrobial
\n agents because of the transfer of one piece of DNA.”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Interestingly,
\n these bacteria have previously unknown allies that supply them with
\n the antibiotic-resistant genes necessary for their survival. Researchers
\n at the Wyss Institute have discovered that gut viruses known as
\n bacteriophages, a.k.a. \u201cphages\u201d are actually instrumental
\n in conferring antibacterial resistance to bacteria.5<\/a>,
\n 6<\/a><\/sup> Most importantly: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Phage]
\n deliver genes that help the bacteria to survive not just the
\n antibiotic they’ve been exposed to, but other types of antibiotics
\n as well… <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

That suggests that phages in the gut may be partly responsible
\n for the emergence of dangerous superbugs that withstand multiple
\n antibiotics, and that drug targeting of phages could offer a
\n potential new path to mitigate development of antibiotic resistance,\u201d
\n the Institute\u2019s press release7<\/a><\/sup>
\n states.<\/p>\n

Phages
\n Are Actually an Important Part of Your Body\u2019s Defense
\n System<\/span><\/h2>\n

More than
\n 90 percent of the DNA in your body is not yours, but actually belongs
\n to a wide variety of microbes, and these findings just go to show
\n how intricately tied your health is to the microorganisms that live
\n inside you. And, while the word \u201cvirus\u201d brings to mind
\n all things \u201cbad\u201d for you, this is not necessarily true.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Another recent study published in the Proceedings of the National
\n Academy of Sciences8<\/a><\/sup><\/em>
\n found that many of these viruses (phages) actually serve as immune
\n helpers<\/em> \u2013 not enemies \u2013 and form an important part
\n of your body\u2019s defense system.9<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Wherever bacteria
\n reside, you will also find phages, because phages depend on bacteria
\n for their survival. Phages specialize in breaking open and killing
\n certain kinds of bacteria, hijacking them in order to replicate.
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

Most phages have hollow heads, which store their DNA and RNA, and
\n tunnel tails designed for binding to the surface of their bacterial
\n targets. According to phages.org, once a phage has attached itself
\n to a bacterium:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe
\n viral DNA is then injected through the tail into the host cell,
\n where it directs the production of progeny phages, often over
\n a hundred in half an hour. These ‘young’ phages burst from the
\n host cell (killing it) and infect more bacteria.\u201d<\/em>
\n <\/span><\/p>\n

The researchers
\n found evidence that these phages partner with animals and humans
\n to stave off bacterial infections and control the composition
\n of friendly
\n microbes<\/a> in your body. The researchers speculate that some
\n phages might protect bacteria that benefit their hosts (i.e.
\n you), while destroying those that cause harm. <\/span><\/p>\n

Which
\n brings us back to the featured research, which suggests that
\n these phages may also play a significant role in the rapid rise
\n of antibiotic resistance… In essence, it would appear our
\n zealous overuse of antibiotic drugs is causing these helpful
\n viruses to boost the survivability of bacteria during the onslaught
\n of a deadly foe \u2013 the antibiotic \u2013 only in this case,
\n the end result is disastrous rather than helpful for the host…
\n On the upside, these findings may confer new hope for effective
\n treatments. According to Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Founding Director
\n of the Wyss Institute:10<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

“Antibiotic
\n resistance is as pressing a global health problem as they come,
\n and to fight it, it’s critical to understand it. [These] novel findings
\n offer a previously unknown way to approach this problem \u2013 by
\n targeting the phage that live in our intestine, rather than the
\n pathogens themselves.”<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

Colloidal
\n Silver Dramatically Boosts Effectiveness of Antibiotics<\/span><\/h2>\n

The use
\n of silver in the battle against pathogenic bacteria goes way
\n back into antiquity. Hippocrates was one of the first to describe
\n its antimicrobial properties in 400 B.C. Over the past few years,
\n several studies<\/a>
\n have demonstrated the fact that silver<\/a>
\n is indeed one of the most effective agents in the battle against
\n antibiotic-resistant super pathogens. Yet conventional medicine
\n has largely dismissed such claims, relegating colloidal silver
\n to the \u201cwoo-woo\u201d section of medical myth. <\/span><\/p>\n

They may
\n be inclined to change their tune however, in light of the latest
\n research11<\/a>,
\n 12<\/a><\/sup> which shows
\n that low doses of silver can make antibiotics up to 1,000 times
\n more effective, and may even allow an antibiotic to successfully
\n combat otherwise antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As reported
\n by Medical News Today<\/em>:13<\/a><\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c…[N]ot
\n only did silver boost the ability of a broad range of commonly used
\n antibiotics so as to stop mice dying of otherwise lethal infections,
\n but it made at least one resistant bacterium succumb to antibiotics
\n again. The addition of silver also broadened the effect of vancomycin,
\n an antibiotic that is usually only effective at killing Gram-positive
\n bacteria like Staph and Strep; aided by silver it killed Gram-negative
\n bacteria such as those that cause food poisoning and dangerous hospital-acquired
\n infections.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

For example,
\n by adding a small amount of silver to the antibiotic, a powerful
\n synergism occurred, and a urinary tract infection caused by tetracycline-resistant
\n E. coli was successfully eradicated. Silver also helped save the
\n lives of 90 percent of mice suffering with a life-threatening abdominal
\n inflammation by adding it to the antibiotic vanomycin. In the group
\n receiving vanomycin only, a mere 10 percent survived. The researchers
\n discovered two mechanisms that help explain how silver can boost
\n the effectiveness of an antibiotic:<\/span><\/p>\n