The destruction of the human microbiome with antibiotics is the precursor to future infections. Because commensal bacteria protect the gut wall, assist in antibody response, and aid in digestion, the loss of their kind promotes disease. As antibiotics are applied, infectious bacteria have no choice but to evolve, garnering new antibiotic-resistant traits that enhance their survival and potential lethality. The ongoing evolution of drug resistant HIV, TB, malaria, MRSA, E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, and carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) poses a grave threat to the world, with superbug infections having claimed the lives of 50,000 people in the U.S. and Europe alone.
The side effects of antibiotics do not end with the slow death of the human microbiome and the threat of antibiotic resistance. One man almost lost his life from an internal burning reaction after taking a two week round of antibiotics to treat a staph infection. Thirty-eight year-old Josh Dennis from Colorado suffered severe blisters and burns over 90 percent of his body and was temporarily blinded. He suffered from a side effect called toxic epidermal necrolysis, a debilitating condition where the skin cells, mucus membranes, eyes, and genitals begin to burn and blister indiscriminately.
There’s also the story of 41-year-old Chris Dannelly, who was prescribed a brand name antibiotic called levofloxacin for the flu. After a second dose of the antibiotic, he began to suffer from a syndrome that causes the death of muscle fibers and the release of myoglobin into his bloodstream. He didn’t survive.
Researchers uncover new side effects from commonly prescribed antibiotics: brain disorders, delirium, and hallucinations
Now researchers at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have found 391 case studies where patients suffered seizures, hallucinations, delirium and other brain problems after taking properly prescribed antibiotics. The problem was not isolated to one type of antibiotic drug. The neurological side effects were reported among 54 kinds of antibiotics from twelve different classes. The delirium-inducing antibiotics included oral forms such as sulfonamides and ciprofloxacin and intravenous types such as penicillin. Symptoms of psychosis were associated with procaine, penicillin, sulfonamides, macrolides, and fluoroquinolones.
About half of the reactions (47 percent) included hallucinations or delusions. Fourteen percent of the reactions were seizures. Fifteen percent of the injured patients showed muscle twitching and five percent lost some degree of motor control, primarily from metronidazole. The antibiotics negatively impacted their brain wave activity, with 70 percent showing abnormal EEG (electroencephalogram) readings. Their brain disorder symptoms came to a halt when the antibiotic treatments were stopped.
When it comes to the elderly, delirium can be a serious issue, especially if the old person is stubborn. The brain confusion brought on by antibiotics causes conflict with the person’s strong will, making them agitated, angry, and verbally or physically violent. Cognitive decline doesn’t automatically come with old age. It can be brought on by properly prescribed antibiotics that elicit brain disorders or the accumulation of neuro-toxic mercury and aluminum from flu shots. If they have persistently used antibiotics throughout their lifetime, the damage is multiplied, with nutrient absorption loss, poor digestion, mineral deficiencies, and weakened immune response.
The number one health goal of any adult should be to avoid antibiotics, unless there is a life threatening infection. There are a variety of plant-based anti-microbials, anti-virals, and anti-fungal compounds that can help prevent and ease the symptoms of illness. The Western medical system has not evolved quickly enough to know how to produce and administer these medicines. Healing herbal foods such as garlic, clove, ginger, goldenseal, licorice root, tea tree, lavender, mullein, black cumin seed, astragalus, elderberry, echinacea, raw honey, turmeric, cinnamon, etc., support the body’s natural immune defenses, instead of destroying them. Herbal medicine is generally supportive of the human microbiome and strengthens the mucosal, gastrointestinal, and overall humoral response of the immune system.
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