You have a fever, you have a sore throat and you are ready to do anything to feel better, but what to choose?
In Canada, during the winter season, there is an excessive and unjustified increase of antibiotics prescriptions. Indeed, a lot of epidemic respiratory diseases such as influenza, colds and common coughs emerge during winter. The majority of these diseases is from viral origin, so this is why antibiotics are useless, because they are only effective on bacterial diseases. In summary, antibiotics eliminate and kill bacteria, but can absolutely nothing against viruses.
However, a single treatment with antibiotics could cause the emergence of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Once installed into someone, these resistant bacteria can be transmitted from human to human.
By dint of having been prescribed indiscriminately, many antibiotics have lost their effectiveness. But also because too many people (for whom the prescription of antibiotics was justified) stop their treatment too early on the pretext that they feel better, having no more symptoms when they are not necessarily cured.
Another factor worsening the resistance to antibiotics is their use to accelerate the growth of animals for slaughter. In fact, during the last fifty years, producers have realized that antibiotics, in addition to preventing the spread of infections, could promote growth of animals. So they are found, on a regular basis in the animals’ food. It becomes increasingly difficult, both for humans than for animals, to treat infections that are cared very well before, with these same antibiotics.
Also, be aware that research to develop new antibiotic molecules is down. The reason: antibiotics are victims of the economic and financial system of the pharmaceutical industry (they are prescribed only for a few days), while other niches are much more lucrative (as antidepressants, anxiolytics, anti-cancer, drugs to fight against cholesterol or cardiovascular diseases).
That said, when bacteria become resistant to existing antibiotics and the number of new antibiotic molecules in development continues to fall, herbal medicine can be a useful alternative. Indeed, several plants have antibiotic properties.
Synthetic and natural antibiotics have one thing in common: a more or less powerful action against bacteria. But the comparison stops there, because natural antibiotics have characteristics that completely distinguish them from conventional antibiotics.
In fact, most of them are, as an example, very powerful antivirals, which is never the case with conventional antibiotics. This is a major advantage in the treatment of many diseases such as flu, influenza, gastroenteritis, herpes, zoster... which escape to traditional antibiotics.
The natural antibiotics are composed of many constituents. Echinacea, for example, contains echinacoside, a component similar to penicillin regarding the extent of its therapeutic action. Echinacea also contains echinaceine, a substance that neutralizes the hyaluronidase enzyme (many microbes produce hyaluronidase which is used to destroy the kind of shield that protects tissues against the infestation of micro-organism, which succeeding to infiltrate, will cause infection). Echinacea may also prevent infection by stimulating the immune system. It also appears to act as interferon (a protein that inhibits viruses).
So, Echinacea kills a wide range of viruses, bacteria and protozoa. It is useful for treating colds, flu, ear infections, bronchitis, tonsillitis, urinary infections, abscesses, psoriasis, etc.
Another example: the Goldenseal, which contains berberine, an antibiotic substance, sometimes more important than the one of conventional antibiotics against a lot of bacteria responsible for many common infections (otitis, E.coli, staphylococcus, streptococcus, Chlamydia, salmonella, cholera, pneumonia, candidiasis, etc.).
Other alkaloids of the plant also have similar properties. Research shows that these alkaloids inhibit bacterial adhesion to tissue cells, thus preventing them from settling in the body rather than kill them as do traditional antibiotics. This distinctive strategy, typically natural, is a particular advantage in a time where there are concerns about the growing resistance of pathogen organisms to conventional antibiotics.
So, will you take antibiotics this winter?
Sources : Requiem pour les antibiotiques Faut-il craindre une disparition des antibiotiques ? Médecine thérapeutique. Volume 12, Numéro 3, 154-9, Mai-Juin 2006, Point de vue : http://www.jle.com/fr/revues/medecine/met/e-docs/00/04/28/4D/article.md
Antibiotiques, la fin d'un mythe: Homme versus bactérie, chronique d’une défaite annoncée ? http://antibiotiques.suite101.fr/article.cfm/antibiotiques-la-fin-dun-mythe#ixzz19RYMp0DV
Plantes thérapeutiques, 2e édition, Max Witchtl & Robert Anton, Éditions Tec & Doc
L’inquiétante résistance aux antibiotique et l’inquiétante émergeance des superbactéries : Le figaro science, Marc Mennessier 14/09/2010 : http://www.lefigaro.fr/sciences-technologies/2010/09/13/01030-20100913ARTFIG00715-l-inquietante-resistance-aux-antibiotiques.php
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