Dealing With the Problem of Antibiotic Resistance

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by: matthewmcclifford
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Word Count: 422
Date: Thu, 5 Jan 2012 Time: 10:13 PM

When antibiotics were discovered, many years ago, they transformed the world of medicine. Infections that used to take lives on a regular basis could swiftly be conquered with a pill. Slowly, people began to discover more and more uses for antibiotics. Over time, people began to use the drugs in ways the original founders never intended.

For example, ranchers and fish farmers often raise a large numbers of animals in a very confined space. These animals breathe the same air, eat out of the same troughs, drink the same water, and brush up against one another on a regular basis. When one animal falls ill, it's likely that all of the other animals will become ill as well. It's just too easy for disease to spread quickly in this environment. In order to prevent animals from getting sick, and to help treat animals that were sick, producers began giving the animals large doses of antibiotics. The animals wouldn't get sick, the producers thought, and the antibiotics were harmless enough to give every day. Moreover, the producers discovered that animals fed antibiotics exhibited a faster growth rate and were more economical to produce.

As it turns out, antibiotics aren't harmless. When they're present in the body for long periods of time, small germs that live in the body become accustomed to their presence and they begin to mutate to stay alive. Suddenly, these new forms have become completely resistant to antibiotics and they grow and divide unimpeded. Animals can quickly die from these super bugs, and the antibiotics can no longer prevent those deaths.

Sick animals can also cause humans to grow sick. People can eat infected meat and grow ill, or some infections can jump from animals to people and infect humans directly. These infections might also be resistant to antibiotics. In a similar vein, the residual antibiotics in the meat might enter the person's bloodstream when that meat is eaten. The same antibiotic resistance process can then begin in the humans.

Advanced BioNutrition Corporation is working on solutions to this problem. They are working with manufacturers to develop vaccines, particularly in the aquaculture sector, so fish can build a natural resistance to an infection and producers won't need to give the fish large quantities of antibiotics. Advanced BioNutrition is also working with companies to develop nutrients to give to fish and other animals that could boost natural immunity, making antibiotics unnecessary. These are important steps to take in the field of antibiotic resistance.

About the Author

Advanced BioNutrition Corp. was founded in 2001 and is located in Columbia, Maryland. At the Advanced BioNutrition Corp., scientists, engineers and researchers work hard every day to come up with solutions that deliver, for clients and for the world as a whole.