Stomach Bug Mutates Into Medical Mystery

[Fridays Child]

First came stomach cramps, which left Christina Shultz doubled over and weeping in pain. Then came nausea and fatigue -- so overwhelming she couldn't get out of bed for days. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, the nastiest diarrhea of her life hit -- repeatedly forcing her into the hospital.

Doctors finally discovered that the 35-year-old Hilliard, Ohio, woman had an intestinal bug that used to be found almost exclusively among older, sicker patients in hospitals and was usually easily cured with a dose of antibiotics. But after months of treatment, Shultz is still incapacitated.

snip

"This may well be another consequence of our use of antibiotics," said John G. Bartlett, an infectious-disease expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "It's another example of an organism that all of a sudden has gotten a lot meaner and nastier."

In addition, new evidence released last week suggests that the enormous popularity of powerful new heartburn drugs may also be playing a role.

More at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/29/AR2005122901575.html?sub=new

[trotsky]

1. Warning to creationists/IDers

[sakabatou]

27. LOL

:spray:

[BushOut06]

2. I've been saying this for years

Stay away from antibacterial products! All they do is help microbes evolve faster.

[Avalux]

7. Sometimes you need them.

Other times you don't. If you have a serious bacterial infection you need antibiotics or you will die. If you have a viral infection however, antibiotics won't work. Unfortunately, too many GP doctors prescribe antibiotics when they're not needed - one of the reasons we're seeing resistance problems.

[BushOut06]

10. I'm talking about anti-bacterial household items

Anti-bacterial soap, anti-bacterial kitchen cleaners, anti-bacterial wipes, etc. Americans are spending millions on products to kill bacteria that their bodies would normally be able to take care of. In the process, we're helping to speed along their resistance to anti-bacterial products.

[bleedingheart]

12. Nothing cleans better than a douche...

:evilgrin:

made you look!!!


I use vinegar and water to clean my floors and my walls...

[orleans]

30. you made ME look, that's for sure

and laugh.
thanks.

[Avalux]

13. Gotcha - and I agree with you completely.

I won't use them - our immune systems need exposure to common microbes.

[unblock]

21. actually, i've seen reports that these are harmless

turns out that cheapo corporations have big big big ANTI-BACTERIAL labels but small small small actual anti-bacterial content.

so the things as too weak and diluted to have much of an effect on the bacterial population. they don't really kill enough of the bacteria to really have an effect on mutation and/or natural selection.

so, perhaps ironically, corporate malfeasance works out for the best....

[MrMonk]

22. Soap and water is the most effective way to get bacteria off of surfaces

Vinegar or ammonia-water (note the OR) are good, but not as good as soap.

[orleans]

31. guilty as charged. i've been using that anti-bacterial hand

sanitizer for a number of years now.

i work with children and can't always wash my hands as often as i would like to or need to.

i've also learned to try and not touch my eyes or nose until my hands are washed (saw a show that explained that was the easiest way for us to "catch" a cold was through the eyes or nose and germ spreading)

[soothsayer]

14. Baloney, that's not what's causing this. it's the antibiotics we give

to food animals and dairy cows.

[Fridays Child]

15. I agree. nt

[BushOut06]

17. Read some scientific literature, there's plenty out there

Scientists have been warning about this for some time also, our over-reliance on antibiotics and anti-bacterial products. What you bring up is a valid point also, but don't discount what I brought up either. ;)

[MrMonk]

23. College biology 1974

was the first place that I heard about antibiotics forcing the evolution of infectious bacteria. I don't know how long before that the problem was addressed.

[Avalux]

18. I'll agree that's part of the equation, along with antibiotic misuse

There have been cases of avoparcin (antibiotic given to cows) resistant enterococcus found in people. Avoparcin is a glycopeptide antibiotic and although people don't use it, they do use vancomycin, another glycopeptide. The ramifications of this is profound, as vancomycin has been the gold standard in treating certain types of serious infections for years and now we've got something resistant to it.

[Richard D]

3. Advice

1. Save antibiotics for life-or-death situations.

2. If you have to take antibiotics, take Saccharomyces boulardii concurrently. It's a yeast that inhibits Clostridium difficile. It doesn't colonize the intestine either, so a few days after you stop taking it, it's gone.

[Fridays Child]

16. Read this advice!

Thanks, Richard. :)

Here's more:

http://www.gihealth.com/html/education/cdifficileRecurrent.html

[Rainscents]

4. My girlfriend had this exact bug and she had exact same symptoms

as this woman. She was very sick for 3 weeks and lost 30lbs.
I stay the hell away from antibiotics and I have told her repeatedly to do so. If I get sick, I take natural remedy and it always work!

[bleedingheart]

11. let us give credit where it is due...antibiotics are a good when used

wisely.

I have two coworkers who are very much into homeopathic medicine and both ended up hospitalized with pneumonia from waiting too long until they went to see an MD for their colds. The first one was taking some sort of arsenic pill (I kid you not)...and only when he had trouble actually talking (his breathing was that limited)....he finally went to the ER and was admitted to the ICU for a week.

The second one luckily didn't wait that long but she was taking some sort of Vitamin C stuff and while it might be good for you...she still ended up with pneumonia.

[Rainscents]

19. I wasn't talking about vitamins or C... to take care of antibiotics.

I take Oregacyn for any type of infections. I have auto-immune disease and it don't take much for me to come down with sinus and bronchitis infections, ever since I been taking this product, I haven't had to deal with any infections in 15 years now.

[Avalux]

5. Ah yes, clostridium difficile colitis -

there has been a signicant increase in this type of infection among the general population. Typically, the bug shows itself when the patient is taking antibiotics for another reason; people who are already sick. But now, we're seeing it in healthy people and it is troublesome.

The drugs that would normally treat c. diff aren't working as they should anymore in a lot of cases; probably the result of antibiotic misuse.

[Critters2]

6. This is why I've stopped eating meat

it can't be good to eat meat from animals shot full of antibiotics for no good reason.

[Rainscents]

8. You're right!

I eat free range organic meats.

[AZBlue]

26. Organic meat is safe.

Organic anything is safe. And tastes better!!

[bleedingheart]

9. Holy shits

that's some mean virus...

:evilgrin:

on a serious note, while I am very happy to take the meds that keep me kicking (asthma drugs)...I think many people get antibiotics for stuff that is viral and not bacterial...and then they do stupid stuff like only taking half of the meds instead of finishing them when they are really sick.

My sister's neighbor died due in part to messing around with her antibiotics and even taking expired ones she had saved....she got some nasty lung infection and died within three weeks.

[MrMonk]

24. Prescribing antibiotics for viral infections was presented to me

as a preventative measure against opportunistic bacteria. This goes back about 20 years, and seemed to make good sense at the time. I've only had them offered twice since then on that rationale. I refused them both times. Now, I take antibiotics when they are prescribed for actual infections, and I try to catch the infection early to minimize the amount of antibiotics that would be needed. I recently was pumped full of the stuff for a UTI that I tried to tough out.

[SmokingJacket]

20. When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, Drs. gave antibiotics out for

EVERYTHING, even head colds. I remember that people felt cheated if they didn't get a prescription out of the doctor visit.

Seems times have changed somewhat, but a lot of damage was done.

edited out a rude word!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

25. oooooh

you said "gypped..."

wooo woooo

[SmokingJacket]

28. You're right, and I just posted on that other thread!

:blush:

I guess that's one I don't really think about -- probably because I've never actually met any Gypsies.

I stand corrected. :spank:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

29. LOL

you made my night!