Antibiotics Antibiotics were a great discovery, and have been used to treat infections since the 1930s. Penicillin was discovered in 1928, and has been used since that time, originally referred to as a miracle drug. The fact is, as far back as Egyptian times, molded bread was used to treat wounds on skin, even at that time, they were on the correct road. When antibiotics were actually discovered and produced as a pharmaceutical product, people thought this would be a cure-all for everything. Some people were simply taking a daily dose to remain healthy. Antibiotics were certainly a great discovery, but has a good thing gone too far? Decades of Antibiotics During the 50’s and 60’s in particular, if a person had a runny nose or even a stomach ache, they would be prescribed that miracle wonder drug, penicillin. It was considered a miracle cure, and utilized by physicians everywhere. Now here we are decades later, and unfortunately that over-prescribing of antibiotics, has made them much less effective on today’s infections, and we as a population have developed super-bugs. Related: The Newer Prescription Drugs What Antibiotics Will Work On - Pneumonia- this can be a very serious disease. The important thing to remember is that there is more than one than one type of pneumonia. Usually referred to as bacterial pneumonia, or viral, although many refer to viral pneumonia as walking pneumonia. That idea originated from the concept that most people with the viral pneumonia were not terribly sick, and could continue on working and walking. While antibiotics can work wonders for bacterial pneumonia, the viral form of this disease must play itself out. For many people over the years, and even today, that is difficult to accept. Some patients will still insist on an antibiotic to treat an illness that is viral based. - Strep Throat, yes, an antibiotic will treat strep throat. Prior to the invention of antibiotics, patients often passed away from severe cases of throat infections, that would turn into scarlet fever. - Infections from wounds are treated with antibiotics, most often successfully without incident
When Antibiotics Will Not Work - Cold virus- If we only had a nickel for every time a patient wanted an antibiotic to treat a cold, we would be rich. An antibiotic on top of a cold can most likely accomplish one thing and that is to cause stomach upset. Most people rarely feel like eating when they have a bad cold, so if you put antibiotics in an empty stomach, you get stomach upset. What you won’t get is a cure for the cold, it’s viral and an antibiotic won’t help. - Most stomach issues- there are some exceptions here, an infection or an ulcer could benefit from an antibiotic, however odds are that the occasional stomach upset is viral, and antibiotics will not be of any benefit. Related: The Happy Side of Nursing The Problem with Antibiotics Just as the human population climbed the evolution scale, bacteria do the same. That means that when someone has an infection, and they take half of their prescribed antibiotics, it kills approximately half of the bacteria causing the infection. The other bacteria adjust to the antibiotic, and lives. So, when the illness returns, and the same antibiotic is prescribed, it can be rendered useless, the bacteria is unaffected. Patients should be warned of this scenario, and encouraged to always take all prescribed medications in their entirety. When a patient comes in requesting an antibiotic, statistically speaking, there is less than a 15% chance they actually need the antibiotic. The word antibiotic has a healing stigma attached to it, and at times it is deserved, however at other times it could not be more wrong. Perhaps there is literature on hand to offer the patient regarding the over-use of antibiotics, many times they simply need to be educated to understand why penicillin is not a magic cure-all. Antibiotics can be great, and they save lives. The trick is learning when they are appropriate to use, and never to use them otherwise. Related: International Nurses Association - What's Your Superpower? Tshirt Please follow us on Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest and Twitter