Originally published April 28 2015
Another reason to quit smoking: Cigarettes make deadly superbugs more powerful while degrading immunity
by S. D. Wells
(NaturalNews) It has now been proven in laboratory testing that drug-resistant bacteria beat down your immune system if you smoke cigarettes, meaning the bacteria that are exposed to cigarette smoke are MORE resistant to your immune system, including MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the antibiotic-resistant superbug that causes pneumonia, life-threatening infections in the bloodstream and surgical site infections. Methicillin is an antibiotic of the penicillin class, in case you are wondering. So, if you're a smoker and you end up in the hospital getting surgery for just about anything, in those U.S. hospitals where superbugs are running rampant, you're in "double jeopardy," because research reveals cigarette smoke makes these deadly superbugs even MORE aggressive. It's like waving a hand towel at a pack of swarming wasps.
Researchers at the San Diego School of Medicine are saying that besides cigarettes harming the respiratory and immune cells, the smoke is also stressing out the invasive bacteria, making it even more aggressive. And you thought the cigarettes were only stressing "you" out! Now you've gone and made the bacteria more aggressive. This is no joke. After growing bacteria in cigarette smoke extract, a pulmonologist, who sees these smokers and their MRSA infections regularly, saw her hypothesis verified and confirmed as true. Certain immune cells, called macrophages (the ones that engulf pathogens) had a hard time killing the MRSA that was exposed to some cigarette smoke EXTRACT. Plus, the effect was "dose-dependent," meaning the MORE smoke extract they used, the STRONGER the MRSA became. Sounds like some horror movie where the superbugs are taking over human bodies while the people unknowingly stand around smoking exactly what makes the bugs stronger. Wait a second, that is what's happening.
Smokers are feeding superbugs as bacteria invades human cells and degrades immunity
MRSA is caused by a strain of staph bacteria that has become resistant to the antibiotics so commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections. It gets worse. MRSA, nicknamed "staph," is one of the leading causes of invasive bacterial infections. Other startling research revealed that the MRSA that was exposed to cigarette smoke caused pneumonia with higher mortality rate. Researchers suspect that cigarette smoke strengthens MRSA cell walls so they can easily repel antimicrobial peptides. This makes the chronic smoker more susceptible to infectious diseases. Should smokers be more concerned now about Ebola? That's a big question that warrants an answer.
This MRSA and cigarette research was funded partly by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the results published recently under the topic: "Infection and Immunity." American Society for Microbiology - ASM - Education Postdoctoral Fellowships entitled the article: "Analysis of the Effects of Cigarette Smoke on Staphylococcal Virulence Phenotypes." The manuscript was posted online on March 30th, 2015 and published in the current April, 2015 issue of ASM: http://iai.asm.org/content/early/2015/03/24/IAI.00303-15.
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death worldwide. It's a simple, well-known fact that cigarette smoke provokes inflammation. Now we're understanding that this impairs antimicrobial functions of the cells. This ground-breaking study affords smokers a new understanding of what is happening to their physiology. Knowledge is power. Once you acquire it, you feel compelled to do something with that knowledge -- to take action. Are you dose-dependent on nicotine now? You're bacteria is hoping so. The more you smoke, the stronger the bad guys get. Time to make some serious "staff" changes where your body is hard at work.
If you, a friend or family member needs and wants to escape the cigarette fix for good, there's an organic method the Health Ranger recommends that affords smokers an opportunity they otherwise wouldn't have, and that is to quit smoking naturally in fourteen days or less using simple behavior modification and nutrition strategies. There is a free preview/trailer hosted by Mike Adams at NaturalNewsTV: (http://programs.naturalnews.com/14AndOut__TV.htm).
It's time to quit smoking, reclaim your natural immunity and avoid those superbugs at all times!
Sources:
http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu
http://iai.asm.org
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
https://stopsmokingking.wordpress.com
http://www.14andout.com
http://www.14andout.com
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