AIDS connected to over use of antibiotics

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"Beyond Antibiotics" is the title of a recent book by two medical doctors, Keith Sehnert and Lendon Smith, and a nutrition consultant, Michael Schmidt. Myth #1. Antibiotics are useful against colds and flu. It should be common knowledge that antibiotics are only helpful for bacterial infections. However, many physicians continue to prescribe them for viral conditions such as colds and flu. The rationale is to prevent secondary bacterial infection. This would be fine, except for myth #2 below. Given the dangers of antibiotics, it is prudent in most cases not to take antibiotics for colds and flus. They can worsen the situation and prolong recovery. Myth #2. Antibiotics are harmless. This is the most insidious myth. It leads to over-prescribing, and blinds physicians and the public to the dangers of antibiotics, described in the next section. Meanwhile, safer methods of avoiding and treating infections are ignored on the premise that the antibiotics will take care of everything. Myth #3. Antibiotics are responsible for the decline in infectious disease. Sorry, but it just isn't so. In Beyond Antibiotics, the authors use graphs to trace the incidence of the major infectious diseases from 1900 to 1973. The diseases include measles, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, pneumonia, influenza, whooping cough, diphtheria and polio. All were in decline for several decades before the introduction of antibiotics or vaccines. After reviewing the data, researchers John McKinlay and Sonja McKinlay at Boston University concluded that improved nutrition and improved sanitation and hygiene were far more important than the 'wonder drugs' or vaccines to reduce these diseases. 1. Destruction of normal bowel flora. Like pesticides, antibiotics kill good bugs along with the bad ones. This can cause parasitic infection, vitamin deficiencies, loss of minerals through diarrhea, inflammation of the gut, malabsorption syndromes and development of food allergies due to defects in intestinal function. 2. Immune Suppression. This may sound odd, as the purpose of antibiotics is presumably to help the immune system. However, evidence indicates that people treated with antibiotics have more repeat infections than those who are not treated. This is especially true of children whose ear infections are treated with antibiotics. Vitamin A and herbs are much more effective. In fact, antibiotics do not aid the immune system. They replace one of its functions. Antibiotics act by inhibiting certain enzymatic processes of bacteria, and by changing mineral balances. Normal cells, however, are also affected. This may be one reason why antibiotics weaken the immune system. Other toxic effects of antibiotics, such as the effect upon the normal bowel flora, may also contribute to a weaker immune system. The latest research on AIDS indicates that a risk factor for AIDS is an impaired immune system, which can be due to a history of repeated antibiotic use. Oops! 3. Development of resistant bugs. Bacteria have a certain ability to mutate. Antibiotics kill bacteria that are susceptible to their action, but this leaves the field open for mutant strains to multiply even more. It is a case of survival of the fittest. The use of antibiotics actually encourages the development of the mutant, drug-resistant super-bacteria. 4. Yeast Infection. Normally, candida albicans, a common yeast, lives peacefully in our intestines and elsewhere, in harmony with other flora that keep the yeast in check. Take an antibiotic and all this changes. By suppressing the normal flora, candida takes over and problems begin. In its mild form the result is diarrhea or a yeast infection. Far more serious is the growing problem of chronic muco-cutaneous yeast infection. This is described in books such as The Yeast Connection and The Yeast Syndrome. It is a major iatrogenic illness today, and a very debilitating and potentially fatal condition. One of the prime risk factors for chronic candida infection is repeated antibiotic use. 5. Chronic fatigue syndrome. This is another 'new' health plague. It is associated with chronic viral illness and a weakened immune system. While its exact origins are not clear, one of the major risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome is - you guessed it - repeated antibiotic use. 6. Nutrient Loss. Nutrient loss from antibiotics is due in part to diarrhea, which causes a loss of essential minerals. Destruction of friendly bacteria in the intestines can also impair the synthesis of certain vitamins in the intestines. While not a major cause of malnutrition, antibiotic usage may be another factor contributing to poor nutrition and thus a weakened body chemistry. 7. Treating an effect, not a cause. Antibiotics only address the end-stage result of a weakened body chemistry - bacterial invasion. The bacteria may only be there to "mop up" the biological debris that are present because the body is too weak to eliminate the poisons. Coughing is one way the body gets rid of toxic substances. Cutting short the process with antibiotics aborts the cleansing function of a cough and impairs long-term health.