www.womanthismonth.com 43 November 2015 antibiotics has harmful effects. “Since these are chemical compounds, they will cause changes in the body – gastrointestinal problems, allergic reactions, and prolonged use may cause liver or kidney problems,” warns our expert. But besides the odd upset stomach, the repeated, indiscreet use of antibiotics has other serious repercussions. “They also kill the good bacteria in the body as they cannot distinguish between good and bad bacteria. Injudicious use of antibiotics causes the bad bacteria to become more powerful and dangerous and hence, difficult to treat with antibiotics.” In other words, bacteria become ‘resistant to antibiotics’. They can survive the affects of an antibiotic, refusing to leave the human body. This has earned them the moniker ‘Superbugs’, which is really as scary as it sounds. The World Health Organisation and Not many new types of antibiotics have been developed in the past decades, so we have to make do with whatever we have available knowledgeable healthcare workers are trying to educate medical professionals and the general public that the more we use antibiotics, the greater the chance that bacteria will become resistant to them so that they no longer work on our infections. Superbugs don’t just affect you; they can spread to other living beings in close contact with you and are very difficult to treat. As the primary initiator and chairman of the Antibiotics Stewardship Programme, Dr Krishna notes that some doctors do not think twice before prescribing antibiotics for cases where they may not be needed in the first place. “Also, patients, especially parents of sick children, pressurise doctors to unnecessarily prescribe antibiotics,” he says. “Obviously they want the child to get better in the shortest possible time.” But unfortunately, antibiotics are not the wonder drug laymen think them to be. Bacteria are smarter than humans and can learn how to break down chemical compounds in antibiotics. Dr Krishna exhorts people and medical practitioners to be more judicious in their use. “Not many new types of antibiotics have been developed in the past decades, so we have to make do with whatever we have available. If bacteria become resistant to the antibiotics that we currently use, it is going to pose a very grave situation worldwide,” he says. He even cites about several cases, wherein patients’ lives have been lost due to doctors being unable to effectively treat their antibioticresistant infections. By using antibiotics less often we can slow down the development of resistance to them, which buys time for pharmaceutical companies to develop new antibiotics. Consider alternative remedies that can help your sickness. In case an antibiotic is absolutely essential, make sure you take them exactly as prescribed and for the entire duration they are prescribed for. In the fight against Superbugs, a little prudence goes a long way. g
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==