As you will know, Bert has recently broken his collar bone and undergone an operation, all of which have taken their toll on his health in general. Prone to tonsillitis it was only a matter of time until he was struck down. Our doctor, upon examining Bert, informed us that Bert's body was using all its resources to recover from the op therefore he needed to take antibiotics to kill the bacterial infection in his throat.
So dear readers here's the debate...........,
As I knew he would, Bert refused to take the prescribed antibiotics, so fearful is he regarding antibiotic resistance. Yet what Bert, and indeed many people, fail to realise is the extensive use of antibiotics within our food chain.
Intensively farmed animals which are confined in cages at high stocking density are routinely given antibiotics (even if no disease is present) just to ensure they survive the overcrowded, squalid conditions they are kept in. Antibiotics help to mitigate the spread of disease which is exacerbated by the filthy conditions these animals are bred in, this leads to the development of antimicrobial resistance, which can then pass to humans.
So serious is the antimicrobial resistance crisis, chief medical officer professor Dame Sally Davies is giving it the same risk as terrorism! She warns that a post-antibiotic era is approaching, consequently routine operations and cancer treatments will be too risky to carry out. A world without effective antibiotics is a terrifying but very real prospect!
Inappropriate use of antibiotics is threatening their efficacy, however, whilst they are continuously added to livestock feed and we continue to eat factory farmed animals, regardless of how few antibiotics we personally take, we will be affected.
Chains such as Nandos, which have spread like a disease, ready-meals, ready prepared sandwiches, pizzas with their glut of factory farmed meat toppings, burger chains, cheap supermarket chickens, beef, pork and lamb, ingredients in takeaway meals (rarely does your regular Chinese or Indian takeaway use free-range or organic ingredients) Kentucky fried chicken......the list goes on and on, the fact is all of this meat has antibiotics running through its veins!
Writing this blog has become a learning curve for me, however, what scares me is the thought that these very real issues aren't scaring you. If you spare no thought or compassion regarding the welfare of animals, surely the fact that we may imminently be antibiotic resistant should concern us all.
If we lose antibiotics we will lose the ability to treat infectious diseases, to transplant organs, because doing those successfully relies on suppressing the immune system and willingly making ourselves vulnerable to infection. Any treatment that relies on a permanent port into the bloodstream-for instance, kidney dialysis. Any major open-cavity surgery, on the heart, the lungs, the abdomen. Implantable devices: new hips, knees, heart valves. We'd lose the ability to treat people after traumatic accidents, modern childbirth, before the antibiotic era, 5 out of every 1,000 women died. 1 out of every 9 skin infections killed and 3 out of evey 10 people who got pneumonia died.
Bert had to have intravenous antibiotics after his operation so susceptible was he to serious infection (fortunately he wasn't compos mentis and doesn't even realise he had them.)
Todays post doesn't include a recipe, rather, I hope it is food for thought and debate, I'd love to hear your opinions.
'Some experts say we are moving back to the pre-antibiotic era. No. This will be a post-antibiotic era. In terms of replacement antibiotics, the pipeline is virtually dry. A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child's scratched knee could once again kill.'
- Margaret Chan.
Think about this next time you're eating a mass produced pepperoni pizza or a cheap battery hen!
Love Donna xxxxxxx
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