The Antibiotic Paradox by Dr. Stuart Levy

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Recommended: Risks of continual overuse of antibiotics

Around every corner in this life lurks some kind of danger. Some are hidden and some are exposed. Others are threatening to our safety, while some threaten our livelihood. The average person in today’s world is vulnerable to many threats, but humanity has come to be a resilient species. We are not indestructible however, with the death toll at a staggering amount each day for various reasons, especially in terms of health. Out of the many illnesses that have claimed many lives over the years, like cancer and heart disease, the focus will be on a much more daunting subject.
Modern medicine claims to have their foot on the throat of the vast majority of bacterial infections, boasting a large arsenal of treatments for the infected patient. Antibiotic drugs have been the answer for the past century in combating once threatening bacterial illnesses. According to Dr. Stuart Levy, “an antibiotic, as we now know it, is a natural substance made by one microorganism that inhibits [or kills] growth of another microorganism” (33). When Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, the world between the world wars thought they were forever saved with the newfound defense against formerly deadly bacteria. The bliss would not last long however, because new strains of bacteria were forming against penicillin and other drugs that scientists and microbiologists were developing since the people consumed the newfound drugs feverishly. Doctors and people ignorantly and ineffectively use these drugs against viral infections and bacterial infections that cannot be treated. Today, with our most diverse cache of antibiotic drugs, it seems like bacteria is growing stronger against anything we throw at it. Why? Due to the overuse of antibiotics and ...

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...n Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance. N.p., 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
"Antimicrobial Resistance: No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 07 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
"Antimicrobial Resistance Posing Growing Health Threat." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 07 Apr. 2011. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
"Antimicrobial Resistance." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
Levy, Stuart B. The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Pub., 2002. Print.
Spellberg, Brad. Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and Our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2009. Print.
Thompson, Kimberly, and Debra Fulghum. Overkill. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2002. Print.

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