According to the Reuters News Service, "Medical experts say overuse of antibiotics in Europe, the United States and other wealthy regions is building widespread resistance and threatening vital medical treatments from hip replacements and cancer therapies, to intensive care."
Doctors range in their ideas about the long-term effects of over prescribing antibiotics. Many indicate that drug resistance can build up and last for about a year. Of course, I do not believe that number. Like the accountant that spins the numbers to please his boss, I believe doctors are absolutely going to spin the numbers to support their bosses.
When I was studying medicine in university back in the late 1970s my doctors told me that the effect of antibiotics was more like 6 years! Corporate medicine can't have people going around thinking that antibiotics are potentially harmful to them. Are you aware of the sales numbers for antibiotics last year? It is in the billions and billions of dollars.
According to the "International Journal of Epidemiology", it has been hypothesized that antibiotic use early in life may increase the subsequent risk of asthma. In June 2005 a major pharmaceutical company paid $1.9 billion for a tiny little antibiotic manufacturer. At the same time there are reports that pharmaceutical companies stand to lose many billions of dollars as their long standing patents begin to expire and generic drugs replace them. For this reason, you are going to see aggressive defence of it's turf as big pharma looks for new revenue streams.
Dunn and Bradstreet says that world wide sales of antibiotics peaked in 2005 at about $25 billion annually. They say that number is expected to fall to around $16 billion by 2016. The only "out" that I can see is a business model that either has big pharma moving into the development of nutraceuticals, or a plan to get more people dependant upon more drugs - quickly!
My observation of the market tells me that both scenarios are in play at this time. There are more adds on television for more ailments than I've seen in a decade. Corporate medicine appears to be pulling all stops to ensure a maximized return on investment by selling you on the idea that you need their drugs to fix some health issue that you may or may not have.
My advice is to walk carefully and carry a big stick! That stick is your due diligence and research will to find real answers for real problems. There is no greater power than staying informed.
Nick Walsh is a professional researcher and information technology analyst with 30 years experience in alternative health care, strategic information technology, and entrepreneurial development. Nick maintains several blogs on alternative health care, anti-aging, green energy systems, technology, and internet marketing in general.
Nick has been a successful internet marketer since 1996. Consistently reviewing the internet marketing industry, Nick is always up to date with the latest successful internet marketing tools and resources.
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Walsh
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