Monday, December 6, 2010

A World Without Antibiotics

ht Infectious Greed

From a World Health Organization  interview with a top immunologist on the subject of super-bugs, NDM1, & antimicrobial resistance: [-]
Q: What’s special about this new type of resistance labelled as NDM1?
A: NDM1 is an enzyme that confers resistance to one of the most potent classes of antibiotics, known as carbapenems, but what has been observed is different in many ways to what we have seen to date. This new resistance pattern has been reported in many different types of bacteria compared to previously and at least one in 10 of these NDM1-containing strains appears to be pan-resistant, which means that there is no known antibiotic that can treat it. A second concern is that there is no significant new drug development for antimicrobials. Third, this particular resistance pattern is governed by a set of genes that can move easily from one bacterium to another. Fourth, NDM1 has been found in the most commonly encountered bacterium in the human population, E. coli, which is the most common cause of bladder and kidney infections. A further concern is that of the two drugs potentially capable of treating an infection due to one of these new multiresistant strains, one of them, colistin, causes toxic effects to the kidney in about a third of people.
Q: Is this the doomsday scenario of a world without antibiotics?
A: Unfortunately yes, with these new multiresistant NDM1-containing strains and their potential for worldwide spread. Doctors will face a terrible dilemma when a pregnant woman develops a kidney infection that spills over into the bloodstream with a pan-resistant strain containing NDM1 and there are no treatment options. We are essentially back to an era with no antibiotics [Emphasis added].

4 comments:

Waldow said...

Anecdote time kiddies. Boring grandmother type story about bodily ailments. You are pre-warned.

A STORY OF A STAFF INFECTION
I know a boxer who got a cut above his left eye in practice and then went to a wrestling practice and then went home and drank a six pack, showered and slept. He woke up in the middle of the night with a little weird itching on the cut and considered perhaps getting up and wiping antibiotic on the wound but decided to go back to sleep instead. He woke up the next morning with a giant red lump on his head that turned out to be STAFF! No money, the fellow waited almost a week to be seen by a medical professional. The lump got bigger and very sore and was causing dizziness. It so happened another pugilist at his gym is an N.D. which you might think are quacks. Some may be, but not this one. For $93 ($20 dollars of which had to be loaned to the patient) he confirmed the infection was staff and provided herbal remedies (1 vial mystery placebo potion, two weeks of Thymus, a small jar of RAW honey.) Also the infected man was told to eat a purely Paleo Diet. The honey was applied topically and relieved much of the itching and soreness immediately. The infection cleared up in a week. Almost. The patient overate ridiculously Xmas Eve, day, and day after and the infection began to return, but subsided again when dietary restrictions re-adhered to.

So to fight a Staff Infection without petroleum-based medical technology you want:

1) A high level of awareness of your body to know incidental aches from real trouble signs, and jump on the troublesome ones immediate with good diet and rest ect.

2)An established relationship with a COMPETENT ND or equivalent.

3)RAW honey on hand for a topical antiseptic.

4)Knowledge about the effects of sugar, and of dairy, grains, and beans on the physiology of most people. They are inexpensive foods, but at least when you are sick, they should be avoided in favor of only non-processed vegetables, meat stew, some nuts, and fruit.

russell1200 said...

There are a few herbal remedies you need to be careful with, but in general there is nothing to keep you from taking antibiotics and the herbal remedies. But blood poisoning can wipe you out pretty quick, it is not the case that you would want to wait for treatment.

The problem with anecdotal success stories is that we are not hearing from the person who tried the remedy and died.

Waldow said...

Yes, anecdotes are insufficient. That is the reason for bullet: 2)An established relationship with a competent ND.

They have full Rx authority here in Oregon and will stay on call round the clock if you have a good one.

In many survival/prepper matters, in these relatively fat times, now's when to make mistakes. For instance trying an ND or two to see who knows their business. In this case the antibiotics where refused by the patient for a foolish lack of funds.

russell1200 said...

I am probably the worst person at this type of thing myself, since I am somewhat phobic about medical matters.