Drug-resistant bacteria—“superbugs”—are becoming a global crisis. But the government not only thwarts the development of new antibiotic drugs. It also willfully ignores powerful natural therapies and cures.
Last August, the UN’s World Health Organization issued a global alert on the dangers of drug-resistant bacteria: “Some bacteria have developed mechanisms which render them resistant to many of the antibiotics normally used for their treatment, so pose particular difficulties, as there may be few or no alternative options for therapy.” Germs resistant to one or more drugs kill 100,000 US hospital patients a year and cost the healthcare system more than $34 billion, according to the Infectious Disease Society of America. This could easily rise to the millions worldwide as major bacterial pandemics emerge.
And as we reported in February, the world is also facing wave after wave of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in our food—a consequence of farmers’ overuse of antibiotics for their animals, and doctors’ routine prescribing of antibiotics to treat sore throats and other non-bacterial illnesses.
At first glance, it would appear that the mainstream medical solution is to treat drug-resistant bacteria with more drugs. Optimer Pharmaceuticals, for example, is in the process of developing five new antibiotics over the next three years to treat drug-resistant germs. Other biotech companies are following suit. This will solve the problem—right?
Wrong. It is almost impossible to get a new antibiotic through the FDA these days. Partly because the new antibiotics can be genuinely dangerous. Partly because the FDA is dragging its feet out of fear of making a mistake. Forbes magazine recently reported that the prohibitive cost and bureaucracy of the FDA approval process is killing innovation and new treatments, noting that the agency’s “notoriety for making the approval of new drugs ever more expensive—with nothing to show in efficacy and safety—has been increasing over the years.”
After Ketek, a much-hyped antibiotic from Aventis, had to be restricted because the pill caused liver damage and Congressional hearings criticized FDA officials, standards were tightened at FDA; in 2008, only one new antibiotic made the cut. In effect, the agency seems to have decided to “let people die by depriving them of new medicines [rather] than to be excoriated” for approving medications with unintended side effects.”
According to Forbes, “The FDA recently attended a meeting on the antibiotics crisis. Since then, astonishingly, the agency has implied it only would ‘consider’ revamping its slow and deadly approval process. No wonder Pfizer has thrown in the antibiotics towel; more companies are sure to follow.”
Of course antibiotics are not the only way to control drug-resistant bacteria, just the only way that the government and the drug industry is interested in. There are highly effective natural solutions without the side effects—yet they are not being developed, or even fully researched.
Grapefruit seed extract, oregano (especially oil of oregano), topically applied manuka honey (especially good against MRSA) and colloidal silver are all very potent antibacterial agents. In the case of silver, of course it is important not to take too much—like the poor fellow who turned himself blue. But it’s easy to control the dose. Perhaps the medical authorities nonetheless feel that they are simply not competent to control silver’s use in a hospital setting?
Viruses may actually be another solution for out-of-control bacteria. It is not widely known that viruses kill half the bacteria in the ocean every day. For each deadly bacterium, there is a virus to kill it, including the bacteria that causes MRSA. This therapy was being developed in the past but largely disappeared after the discovery of antibiotics in the 1930s. More to the point, the FDA has not done anything about it because they have no way of approving it as a drug—there is simply no thinking outside the box, except when it comes to drugs pushed by Big Pharma, of course!
And of course, there is vitamin D, which is so effective in maintaining a robust immune system. An article that appeared in Nature Medicine says that new research is showing that active analogs of vitamin D can help fight a number of diseases, including cancer and chronic kidney failure. Physicians already prescribe one such drug—calcitriol, an active form of vitamin D first synthesized in the 1970s—to treat rickets, psoriasis and vitamin D deficiencies sometimes seen with kidney disease.
Against the backdrop of these successes, one will always find naysayers like Forbes’ contributor Steven Salzberg, who claims that “Pseudoscience is insinuating itself into our medical schools across the nation, going by the latest buzzword, ‘integrative medicine.’”
This is actually quite hypocritical. There is very little science behind much of what is done in conventional medicine. There is plenty of science behind using silver to kill bacteria. Why else would it be applied to clothing to keep it fresh (a real misuse) and many other commercial and industrial applications. Moreover, if silver could be patented, you could be sure that the drug companies and the FDA would be all over it.
Scientists have recently proposed using silver more widely to protect drinking water in areas where it is not safe. A study has confirmed that using filter paper impregnated with silver nanoparticles kill disease-causing bacteria as they pass through it. Very little silver escapes the portable filter, which could provide an efficient source of potable water to alleviate diseases—such as cholera and giardiasis—that are associated with drinking foul water. In this case, no one is calling the idea pseudoscience. But even the best science won’t get hospitals to start using silver as they obviously should be. Both the FDA and the medical societies involved should be ashamed of themselves. How many people must die before they change their minds?
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Don’t take antibiotics unless the natural remedies aren’t working (which is very rare). If you have to take an antibiotic, make sure that you are taking a probiotic with it.
This is only partially correct. The probiotic is essential in rebuilding the flora, but after the course of antibiotics is finished. This includes natural or alternative forms as well. ie: Golden Seal, Olive Leaf Extract, Garlic, etc. If you take any probiotic during the course of an antibiotic the antibiotic will be less effective at destroying the unwanted pathogens as it can not differentiate between good and bad bacteria. This is the reason to replenish the good bacteria after you kill most of the harmful bacteria so you prevent re-occurrence of the overpopulation of bad bacteria and therefore obtain harmony in the human system by balancing the FLORA.
ALWAYS take a probiotic after an antibiotic; however, if you have hypoglycemia, shy away from Golden Seal. Go for something else (I learned that the hard way).
Eat organic, localtarian, free-range, grass-fed. Be consistent about it. Force the money people to re-assess the economics of poison.
Try that on $16 a month in Food Stamps and SSDI. And still keep a roof over your head.
Ian
The link http://www.jjconsulting.net/fpr_OptiMonolaurin.aspx has information about a natural defense against antibiotic resistant organisms, viruses, fungi and protozoas. Opti-Monolaurin is our name for a natural component of mother’s milk, lauric acid. The CDC has been involved in studies with this natural, effective alternative to antibiotic and viral medications.
OMG! Has anyone thought about the GMO’s which have an anti-biotic resistant marker in them all on the DNA strand?? Perhaps it’s not the anti-biotics that are fed the animals but the GMO feed such as corn and soy that are the problem. All of these crops are tilled under and superweeds are growing resistant to the pesticides. We need to stop these insane practices.
Love the article, but you forgot: Vitamin C IV’s and large doses of vitamin C by mouth, L-Lysine, Cloves, thyme, Echinacea, goldenseal, neem leaf, calendula, sage, yarrow, rosemary and a host of other natural antiivirals, antiinfectives, and immune system boosters! In 30 years as an herbalist (and now also a certified nutritionist), I only use antibiotics for myself and my family for the severest of infections (which thankfully have been seldom). I am also intolerant of most of them anyway.
It is not fair to represent that colloidal silver turns people blue. The “blue man” used it incorrectly by creating silver salts. If used correctly, there is a very low risk for turning blue. Thousands if not tens of thousands of people throughout the U.S. and Europe use colloidal silver and there are very few blue people walking around.
Genocide – American Style. Yes, everything that could possibly be used to extend people’s lives with natural measures is being run into the ground by corporations bottom lines. Sad but true. Our own government poses more of a threat to our well being than any foreign power, even extra terrestrials.
There are no super bugs, there is, however, super ignorance. In fact with an optimal amount of Vitamin C and l-lysine, pathogens cannot make you ill. Read “Cancer” by Dr. Rath. You can download it at no cost, or you can purchase it on the internet, like at Amazon.com.
By curing the “Ignorance” of my friends through education, I can tell you they get no infections, bacterial or viral.
gary
Couldn’t agree more with my fellow commentators. The FDA will not save you! Save yourself! If Codex Alimentarius has it’s way, we may all wind up growing our own echinacea and comfrey and olive trees and making our own medicines. And what’s so new about that? Our great-great-great grandmothers did it. So can we.
Its horrible how the Federal Death Administration gets away with letting people die all while affective, natural science-based treatments could save them. And those naysayers are only helping in letting people die.
FYI Based on my understanding only from my research, and particularly from a book written by Dr. Ott, Wellness Secrets For Life, at Mother Earth Minerals, you cannot turn blue or overdose on angstrom silver. And=gstrom silver is like a second immune system the book says. The cells are able to absorb what they need and the rest is excreted easily as they are angstrom sized. According to my understanding, and I’d appreciate any other feedback on this, one can take angstrom silver daily . I’d appreciate any thoughts on this info, and I speak only from my experience and research to date, not as an expert.
The guy who turned blue used a silver solution, Not true colloidal silver and he was drinking over a quart a day. Immune protection from real colloidal silver amounts to a tablespoon a day or three times a day when ill. My companion had a silver impregnated wound vac after his open heart surgery and not only did he heal extremely fast but 4 years later you could barely see the incisional scar. I am a nurse and even though I’m not allowed to use anything but expensive prescription creams on bedsores or other wounds, I sometimes use colloidal silver without telling anyone. Nobody has ever been allergic, MRSA clears with the first spplication and impossible wounds heal very quickly. We wouldn’t want to stop the agony though, would we or stop stuffing Dr.’s and big pharma’s pockets would we. We have idiots running the show and together we must stand up and stop this horrible injustice.
Garlic can also work against some bacteria. Garlic has sulfur in it, which can help remove some bacteria. Onions, which are botanically related to garlic, may also help. I even read that in the past, when people got sick, they often ate chicken soup.
With respect to colloidal silver turning a person blue: that adverse event was caused from over-consuming too much of the wrongly processed colloidal (and large size) silver. Colloidal Silver properly processed, will not cause blue skin, under any circumstances. The majority of people who are taking it world wide have not experience any side effects. In addition, it is the process, the tool, such as the electrolysis device, the purity of the destilled water, and the size of the particles, that will determine the efficacy, side effects, and size of silver particles: smaller is better;smallest is best. There have been very little examples in history of side effects. It’s beyond the scope of this blog to mention other factors, but the aforementioned is a critical requirement of the process. Also consider the combination effect, good antibiotic, and a Beck system that will also effectively diminish the count of bacteria or viruses.
I have heard more than once, that big Pharma has thrown in the towel on antibiotics is that they are making so much $$ on more designer type drugs. In any case, I’m really glad that the FDA stopped the approval of a drug that causes liver damage; aren’t you? For years the FDA was so lax that they let all kinds of bad stuff through; I’m glad they are more vigilant now. Of course it is best to use natural means whenever possible . And I’m sure that, like everyone else, they are always trying to cover their a__ ;making them not as responsive or effective as they should be. Wish my suppliments were under more scrutiny too.! And G-d knows what we will do as the superbugs hit.
What happened to treating water with iodine? Totally safe and effective.
Great point, Evan. My nutritionist told me that iodine has been used in water supplies in some developing countries to help prevent illness. Why not in the U.S.? He also said that there are many people in the U.S. who are deficient in iodine (I was), and that using a bit of iodized salt or seaweed in our food each day can help boost and protect the function of many bodily processes. That, in addition to preventing illness.
Read Dr. Mortin Walkers book, Its fabulous. He will school you how to prevent or kill the
super bug with olive leaf extract tablets, capsules or powder taken three times daily.
I personally take the tablet, Its a standardized ( which means guaranteed potency) extract
1000 mg at 10 % which equals 100mg of Oleuropein. I take 2 tablets 3 times a day monday
thru friday, Its good to skip 2 days a week unless your dealing with an Infection, virus or
some what bacteria, then I would take it 7 days a week until I feel better, and revert back to
5 days aweek as a preventive !
Sincerely and GOD BLESS
this just highlights why we shouldn’t be relying on the gov’t or big pharma to save us from a real scourge. Massive amounts of garlic juice and aromatherapy oils like oil of oregano are important to know about also. this is why it’s so imp’t that Codex doesn’t get passed in the USA. Then we’re doomed.
And another thing,,,if only the FDA was strict with most of what goes into market, whether it’s food-related or drugs, then we’d be OK. Antibiotics can have some harsh side effects – one that should be off the market, in my opinion, is Clindamycin – it doesn’t get the negative publicity it deserves but it’s a usual suspect of causing that DREADFULl and sometimes FATALl C. Difficile infection of the gut.DENTISTS are usually the ones prescribing it prophylactically or after a procedure. So watch out for that one, folks! Probiotics definitely are promising too.
There is one manufacturer of medical silver which has extensive independent lab and clinical proof of non-toxicity and complete effectiveness against resistant bacteria, fungus, yeasts, mold and virus. It will not turn you blue. It has been available for years and its topical silver gels have recently received FDA approval for wounds and burns. There is a video presentation of successful clinical human trials with MRSA victims. Before the therapy with the nano-catalytic silver hydrosols, some had already had amputations which failed to halt the infection’s progress. The video is half way down this page http://www.lifesilver.com. Educate yourself!! Knowledge protects. These are not old technology silver colloids.
I find that most people I test for Vit. D, are grossly deficient in it, given the high use of SP lotions desinged to keep the skin from burning in the sun. I would recommend that everyone get a baseline Vit. D test, and in most cases, you will need to supplement with Vit. D, which helps the immmune system fight colds, flu, and superbugs, but also does many other things such as help prevent colon cancer and all forms of cancer in the body. Wouldn’t it make great sense to use Vit. D as a preventative?
It’s the stuff of political thriller novels. Big Pharma goes to the ends of the earth to develop antibiotics to get a handle on potentially fatal infectious agents. Blinded by good will and the science backing them, well meaning doctors come to the rescue of little children with ear infections, strep throat, injured soldiers–remember the rise of sulfa drugs?–post surgical patients, nosicomials, etc. Then the vet industry gets a turn, with antibiotics in the milk, in the flesh, in the ova of our favorite fowl, and ultimately, our environment. Bacteria adapt, become resistant, and the war is on.
Now the war is nearly lost, since billions of years of bacterial DNA are more adaptable than less than 100 years of Big Pharma. The post antibiotic era is almost here, and perhaps, with Medicare and baby boomers close to “breaking the bank”, a lack of new agents to fight infection is just what the bankrupt developed nations need to cull the herd.
Age weakens the immune system of all organisms, but to greater degree in those who eat and drink the industrial swill advertised in the media.
Seem paranoid or far fetched? Read excerpts of BIll Gates musings on healthcare in the US. We have to stop spending money on old people, save it for the young. I expect they won’t find “Do not rescusitate” tatooed on his chest, however.
We were warned about this back in the 80’s when I was a nurse, at an infection control meeting. Seems like the word didn’t get out to everyone!
It concerns me a bit that this article supports using viruses to kill bacterias. I mistakenly used the Rx Nasonex (because I had seen the commercials on tv so much I incorrectly thought it was a saline-based product). #1 it says NOT to give to a person with a sinus infection and #2 the side effects state that it can GIVE YOU A VIRUS. It gave me a whopper of a virus in my ear. Along with other crazy side effects. After that happened, I started researching into why they’re putting viruses into medications…. it seems to come from the European Union using viruses to fight bacteria. While I’m 100% with natural healing, etc. I do not think our antibiotics ought to be taken from us. At least not the older ones. (The newer antibiotics I have to question). We need antibiotics from time to time. A good example – you need Doxycycline for Lyme’s Disease. It’s the best thing to kill the bacteria right away. I state this after lots of research, too, as I have two family members with LD and I got bit by a deer tick last Oct & showed all signs of Lymes until taking two rounds of Doxycycline. So it scares me that the govt & medical society is pushing for getting rid of antibiotics. Penicillin was a miracle medicine when discovered!!!
Sorry, but isn’t millions dying needlessly pretty much The Plan? The elitists have been saying there’s too many of *us* and it’s time to depopulate the planet. Didn’t Pelosi say there were too many people in this country?
I keep colloidal nano silver on hand at all times, in fact, I’m stockpiling it as I can afford to. I absolutely do NOT trust the FDA not to take access to that away, too.
i was put on a 4th round of antibiotics for ecoli
but instead started reading and learned natural ways
i never took the 4th round and have cured myself.
watch out, just heard congress approved some drug for drinking water that will make everyone happier. haven’t ck’d info out for myself yet….
Actually there are three types of “colloidal silver.” The first is “silver protein” which has silver compounds surrounded by animal cartilage. This type is dangerouys because of the presence of bacteria and the large silver particles, and this is the type that turns your skin blue-grey (Argyria). The second type is silver ion, which is effective against bacteria. Only pure colloidal silver is effective against many/all bacteria and viruses.
All fingers are pointing to consistantly replenish the body’s immune system on a daily basis.
Super bugs take super immune builders…..every day.