ANTIBIOTICS, DYSBIOSIS, AND PROBIOTICS
“Dys” means not or poorly —- think “Dysfunctional” here. So “Dysbiosis” means that bacteria are doing something poorly (we will determine what that “something” in a later part of the series). To most of us raised on the idea that bacteria are the enemy, this sounds like a good thing. It’s not. Not only is Dysbiosis bad news, it is at the root of numerous health problems, including a couple that the medical community either refuses to acknowledge (LEAKY GUT SYNDROME or in some cases FIBROMYALGIA), or simply blames on other things (MIGRAINE HEADACHES or AUTOIMMUNITY couple of common examples). Why is this? Why don’t doctors recognize the role that science has proved Dysbiosis plays in such a wide variety of health problems? The answer is the first word in this Blog Article —– antibiotics. If doctors were to admit that numerous health problems facing Americans are ultimately being caused by antibiotics, they would have to actually start doing things differently as far as clinical practice.
Listen to what Dr. Miriam Rabkin (M.D. M.P.H.) writes as part of the curriculum for training physicians in an Ivy League Medical School — The Medical House Staff Training Program in Internal Medicine for the Department of Medicine – Columbia University Medical Center.
There is no role for antibiotics in the treatment of the common cold – or, in fact, for most upper respiratory infections. This should be an uncontroversial statement, as the common cold is caused by viruses, against which antibiotics are, obviously, useless. Despite this fact, more than 50 percent of patients presenting with URI [Upper Respiratory Infection] symptoms are given antibiotics…….
It is clear that there is no role for antibiotics in the management of simple upper respiratory infection and bronchitis. This statement is data-based, uncontroversial, and supported by every expert panel and management guideline. Why then do physicians continue to prescribe antibiotics – of wider and wider spectrum – for these syndromes? The scope of the problem is immense. A large 1997 survey indicated that antibiotics were prescribed for 52 percent of patients with URIs and 66 percent of patients with bronchitis. This practice did not vary by geographical area, physician specialty or patient sociodemographic or insurance status. These data are consistent with other U.S. surveys and with data collected in other industrialized countries. Antibiotics unnecessarily prescribed for URIs and bronchitis represent 31 percent of total antibiotic prescriptions in the U.S.
