Treating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
How to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally?
Nowadays, treating antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally has become a forgotten thing. Because going to the doctor is like taking a trolley and shopping. Say AAAA and Add to cart.
But bacteria are competent.
They have a nasty habit of sharing advantageous genes.
However, antibiotic resistance isn’t a spontaneous “bam, and you have MRSA, let’s treat your problem. “
Each antibiotic resistance infection has several steps (development of resistance, transfer of resistance, colonization of individual – sometimes via biofilm, transfer of disease to a new individual, repeat).
The healthy conclusion is that we are using it too much.
Alexander Fleming invented the first antibiotic in 1928 – penicillin. It is one of the most significant discoveries in the field of medicine.
Since then, over 1000 natural antibiotics have been discovered. Somehow, we turned to synthetic ones.
And top of all, people frequently take antibiotics for colds and influenza, a virus infection that is not treatable with antibiotics.
Yes, Antibiotics do not work for viral infections. (0)
So the antibiotic is wasted on viral infection, but it leads to the destruction of the normal bacterial flora in the body, which opens the possibility of developing pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
After all, it’s their planet. We just live here.
How do you develop antibiotic resistance?
As I mentioned, we are misusing antibiotics.
The problem is that for each individual who takes antibiotics, the bacteria that are part of their normal flora can transfer the antibiotic resistance gene to pathogenic bacteria. The probability is very, very low.
But here is a kicker!
When you add the billions of bacteria on each individual by the number of people misusing antibiotics, the probability becomes high enough to be a real threat.
Many antibiotics are designed to single out and destroy specific parts of a bacteria. So, the bacteria change the antibiotic’s target so the drug can no longer do its job.
A good example would be Escherichia coli which can add a compound to the cell wall so that the drug Colistin cannot fasten to it.
That is why we have to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally. (1)
Consequences of irrational use of antibiotics
According to the World Health Organization, 25,000 people a year in Europe die from some of the infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Inadequate use of antibiotics has shown that:
63% of respondents have home reserves of antibiotics
20% use antibiotics on their own initiative
Of the 28,000 people with cold and flu symptoms, 50% used antibiotics
18% discontinue therapy when they feel better
If the therapy is appropriate for an isolated type of bacteria, then the improvement of the symptoms must be felt after 48-72 hours from the beginning of the treatment; otherwise, the treatment must be corrected.
But that does not mean that with the improvement (after 72 hours), the infection is completely healed.
Suppose you stop a prescribed therapy after this time interval, and the treatment time limit is not observed. In that case, the small number of remaining bacteria gets the opportunity to create resistance to the applied antibiotic.
The bacterium adapts to the reduced amount of antibiotics and manages to survive, becoming resistant. They then transmit this acquired resistance to their offspring through DNA.
What is bacterial resistance?
Bacterial resistance is the resistance of bacteria to the action of an antibiotic so that they survive or even multiply in its presence.
With the beginning of antibiotics, there was hope that many diseases that cause bacteria would be eradicated, but that did not happen.
Only a few years after the beginning of antibiotic therapy, the first penicillin-resistant strains of staphylococci appeared, and with the discovery of new antibiotics, resistance increased.
In 2010 a bacterium resistant to all known antibiotics – NDM-1 – was discovered in the UK.
HOW TO PREVENT THE DEVELOPMENT OF BACTERIAL RESISTANCE?
No matter how rationally you use antibiotics, bacteria will naturally develop resistance to them over time due to gene mutations. Unfortunately, this indicates that it is impossible to prevent the development of resistance.
However, excessive, unjustified, and improper use of antibiotics accelerates bacterial resistance.
The latest data show that the number of people with infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria increases, posing a real danger to public health and becoming a global problem.
Without new, effective antibiotics on the one hand, and with an increase in bacterial resistance on the other, we could find ourselves in a situation like before the antibiotic era, but much more unfavorable because bacteria will become multi-resistant.
That is why we have to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally
Can you reverse antibiotic resistance?
With synthetic antibiotics, the short answer is no.
We will never beat those nasty bugs. Instead, we may only contain them for a while until they develop resistance or something new comes along.
We have an arsenal of antibiotics to use, but unfortunately, they are running out fast, and we have nothing new to replace them.
So it is a cat and mouse game, and we are the slower mice.
Drug companies will spend millions evolving a new antibiotic. However, sometimes it only takes a year or two before we start seeing resistant strains popping up. So our only chance is to keep producing a constant stream of drugs.
But since the bugs will keep evolving, it’s really sort of a futile struggle.
Health issues like MRSA are a real pain in the a** and are unfortunately becoming more present in hospice these days. But, at the rate we’re prescribed antibiotics for ‘colds,’ it was only a matter of time.
This isn’t a new condition for humanity. We just had a honeymoon period for 30-40 years before antibiotic abuse and the desire to make health care for profit at all costs.
Since we certainly can’t out-evolve them, our one chance is to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally.
HOW CAN YOU REVERSE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE NATURALLY?
Antibiotic resistance can slow down or diminish completely, but this reverse process occurs more slowly. If you take off the pressure accumulated by the presence of an antibiotic, the bacteria can revert and start to respond to the same antibiotics again.
But what to do meanwhile? How to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally? (2)
Treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally
Natural antibiotics work smart. They disrupt the synthesis of proteins, folic acid, and transpeptidase so that bacteria can no longer multiply.
You can treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally by using one, or you can mix them into your daily routine. For example, honey, milk, or both may reduce the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.
Did you know that honey was the most famous Egyptian drug mentioned 500 times in 900 remedies? (Zumla and Lulat, 1989)
While Hippocrates (4th century BC) made just tiny use of drugs in treatment, he prescribed an essential diet, advising honey given as oxymel (vinegar and honey) for pain, hydromel (water and honey) for thirst.
And for acute fevers, a mixture of honey, water, and various medicinal substances.
The antimicrobial activity of honey is essential therapeutically, especially in situations where the body’s immune response is insufficient to clear the infection.
Bacteria often produce protein-digesting enzymes, which are very destructive to tissues. They can destroy the protein growth factors produced by the body to stimulate the regeneration of damaged tissues in the healing process.
However, the low pH of honey prevents the action of many pathogens. I.e., Hydrogen peroxide, a component of honey, is well known as an antibacterial agent, although it is mainly used as an antiseptic rather than an antibacterial agent.
Bacteria in wounds can also consume oxygen, thus making the oxygen level in wound tissues drop to a point where tissue growth is weakened.
All these can be omitted by administering honey to clear the infection.
It has been reported that honey stimulates T lymphocytes in cell culture to multiply and activate neutrophils (white blood cells). In addition, they kill and digest bacteria and fungi to help your body fight infections. (3)
Manuka honey treats antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally
Manuka honey’s antibacterial activity is overwhelming for antibiotic-resistant superbugs. These properties derive from the honey’s complex mix of naturally occurring bacterial toxins—most notably methylglyoxal (MGO), unique to manuka honey, and glucose oxidase.
Hydrogen peroxide isn’t the only tool manuka honey kills bacteria with.
It is also highly acidic. Most bacteria prefer a pH of between 7.2 to 7.4 for optimum growth, whereas the normal range in any honey is 3.2 to 4.5.
Manuka honey is fascinating because not only does it have healing qualities due to its antibiotic content, but when exposed to oxygen or microbes (bacteria), honey begins drawing these substances into itself as a sponge would water. As a result, it sucks the life out from nearby organisms within seconds!
It has also been reported that it stimulates monocytes in cell cultures to release the cytokines TNF-alpha – The protein is also vital for resistance to infection and cancers.
Furthermore, manuka honey provides a coating for glycolysis, which is the central mechanism for energy production in the macrophages ( A type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms).
It thus allows them to function in damaged tissue and exudates where the oxygen supply is often poor.
Milk also treats antibiotic-resistant bacteria naturally
Let’s take cow’s milk, for example.
Like all other types of milk, it contains a little ‘thingy’ called immunoglobulin.
Immunoglobulins are protein fractions that contain many antibodies needed to defend the body against various infections. It is a source of multiple antibodies against bacteria, viruses, parasites, and mycoplasma antigens.
In addition to the immunoglobulins, other defensive proteins found in milk have anti-microbial activities. One of them is Lactoferrin.
Lactoferrin, has many proposed biological functions, including antibacterial defense against gastrointestinal infections. It also participates in local secretory immune systems synergizing with other immunoglobulins and other protective proteins, protecting you.
The funny thing is that most microorganisms need iron for growth. And, Lactoferrin kills them by depriving them of iron.
It has been shown that ‘natural’ Lactoferrin prevents the growth of bacteria, including Gram-negative bacteria with high iron requirements, and against many Gram-positive organisms.
And the combination of Lactoferrin with penicillin increases the restraining activity of penicillin by 2 to 4 fold.
Can bacteria become resistant to natural antibiotics?
The jury is still out regarding that, but for now, science says no!
Bacteria may develop resistance to at least one experimental drug built on naturally occurring antibiotics in sweat and mucus.
Our defense system starts with antimicrobial peptides, part of our natural defense system. It is host defense peptides that are part of the innate immune response.
Scientists found a way to incorporate it into a new type of synthetic antibiotics to fight superbugs. These antibiotics are good at suppressing bacteria, but it was proven in lab tests that bacteria develop resistance on them after 600-700 cycles. (4)
“If something can happen in a test tube, it can likely happen in the real world” Michael Zasloff, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington DC.
Over the millenniums, honey has been used on open wounds and eyes. However, it has not gained any reputation for adverse effects, borne out by histological examination of wound tissues treated with honey (Postmes et al., 1997; Gupta et al., 1992).
Honey is soothing, relieves pain, is non-irritating, and gives no secondary reactions.
Although allergy to antibiotics is reasonably common, allergy to honey is rare, almost non-existing. There is only a reaction to either the pollen or the bee proteins in honey.
ARE WE DOOMED, OR CAN WE INDEED TREAT ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA NATURALLY?
The FDA is being criticized, by many, for setting the bar too high for new antibiotics. Consequently, many effective drugs don’t meet the FDA’s standards.
And they are denied.
It is unlikely that we will lose the race with bacteria and enter a Z movie -world. That is sensationalist BS. What we may encounter is a world where bacterial infections, while treatable, become substantial financial burdens as MDs’ have to turn to more expensive drugs.
But why would we? Cause only we have to treat our immune system nicely and with respect.
In the end …
As an average, healthy adult, you have little to fear from even the most antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The fact they are resistant to our efforts doesn’t make them any more resistant to your immune system. If I recall right, roughly 30% of health care workers have MRSA, with the rest of the population at something like 10%.
Yet those boys and girls feel fine.
The problem lies if you are not a healthy young adult. Whether following surgery or an injury or immunosuppressed, you have a risk of infection.
Usually, any infections that arise are treatable with a short course of antibiotics. Unfortunately, cheap antibiotics do not work.
Then doctors must turn to more expensive and often more toxic drugs to clear the infection.
But you know where you can turn to…
Yours truly Manuka Natural.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED on blog.manukanatural.com