Antibiotics, Natural remedies and bacteria:

So what can we do if we accept the wait and see approach to our child’s health instead of antibiotics? We are not helpless to the microbes, there are some natural remedies to try before we must take an antibiotic.

“Using natural medicines from nature to control bacteria, viruses, and fungi is a reasonable approach,” states Dr. Michael Traub, N.D.

“Natural antibiotics are safer and less toxic than most synthetic analogs that have not been subjected to the kind of evolutionary scrutiny that the natural substances have had.”

In cases of uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infections, the symptoms resolve in most patients within 7-10 days. The patient may experience mild sinusitis-like symptoms such as facial pressure and colored nasal discharges.

Symptomatic management in terms of hydration with fluids, vitamin C and rest along with removing interference to the nerve system with chiropractic adjustments is all that’s needed.

The top ten most powerful natural antibiotic herbs:

The following is a list of the ten most powerful and effective natural antibiotic herbs based upon three overlapping criteria:

* Efficacy derived from scientific studies.
* Favorable outcomes in clinical practice
* Length of use in folk medicine.

1. Berberis alkaloids obtained from berberine-containing botanicals such as Goldenseal, Goldthread, Barberry, and Oregon grape.
2. Echinacea.
3. Garlic, either pressed, extracted, or whole clove with or without chorophyllin additive.
4. Green tea extract containing a minimum 40% polyphenol content.
5. Usnea (whole lichen).
6. Panax Ginseng containing a minimum of 3% active ginsenosides.
7. Osha root.
8. Basil (Brazilian variety).
9. Rosemary, ginger, and sage are antibacterial spices that kill 70 to 90% of food-borne pathogens.
10. Acacia herb.

Goldenseal:

Studies show that berberine, the alkaliod extracted from goldenseal, blocks streptococci from colonizing in the body. It may aid in the treatment of bacterial, fungal, and protozoal infections. Do not take goldenseal if you are pregnant as berberine is a potential uterine stimulant!

Echinacea:

Echinacea is an increasingly popular supplement that fights bacteria, viruses, and microorganisms. It was one of the Native Americans most used healing herbs. It stimulates production of immune-modulating T cells and B cells. Also, it does kill a braod range of disease causing viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa. Do not give to children under the age of 2, and start with lower doses for those over age 65. Do not take echinacea for more than ten consecutive days or you may develop a resistance!

Garlic:

Garlic is the only antibiotic that can actually kill infecting bacteria and at the same time protect the body from the poisons that are causing the infection. It is known that the most sensitive bacterium to garlic is the deadly Bacillus anthracis which produces the poison anthrax. Even the forefather of antibiotic medicine Louis Pasteur acknowledged garlic to be as effective as penicillin and late studies showed similar activity to a more modern antibiotic, chloramphenicol

Colloidal Silver:

Colloidal silver is another excellent natural antibiotic. One of the things that makes it such a fantastic product is the fact that your body cannot build up a resistance to it unlike conventional antibiotics. The best part is that it only destroys the invader bacteria, viruses and fungi – not the good bacteria.

How does colloidal silver work?

The presence of colloidal silver near a virus, fungus, bacterium or any other single celled pathogen disables its oxygen metabolism enzyme, its chemical lung, so to say. Within a few minutes, the pathogen suffocates and dies, and is cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics, which destroy beneficial enzymes, colloidal silver leaves these tissue-cell enzymes intact, as they are radically different from the enzymes of primitive single-celled life. Thus colloidal silver is absolutely safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter

Eucalyptus:

You can find it in Listerine, Vick’s VapoRub, or Dristan. It is a powerful decongestant with a very sharp and distinctly recognizable odor. This is a natural antiseptic that kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi. Russian studies show that it kills the influenza virus. It’s used internally to treat tuberculosis and chronic coughs.

Externally, it can be rubbed on the chest or back for respiratory infections. It can be used as an inhalant (boil a handful of the dried leaves) or an herbal bath. Use one to two teaspoons of the dried crushed leaves per cup of boiling water. Steep ten minutes. Drink up to two cups a day. You can also substitute one or two drops of the essential oil for the leaves.

Raw Unfiltered Honey:

Raw Unfiltered Honey has been used since ancient Egypian times as an effective topical antibiotic to treat cuts, burns, and scrapes, just slap it on! Rarely, raw honey can become infected with botulism, a dangerous bacteria. Never give honey to children under one year of age!

Wild Indigo:

This herb is not as well known, however, it is an extremely powerful antibiotic and anti-inflammatory. Its active ingredient, baptitoxine, detoxifies the liver and blood. Herbalists recommend its use for swollen glands, strep or sore throat, mouth sores, tonsilitis, pneumonia, meningitis, and food or blood poisoning. Sage, Thyme, Oregano, and Parsley are herbs you can add to your food that are considered antimicrobial. Oregano is good for chest, lung, and yeast infections and sage is good for throat infections.

The benefits of natural antibiotics:

Natural antibiotics overcome the problems inherent with synthetic antibiotics. When used properly, natural antibiotics can boost the body’s ability to produce antibodies for which bacteria, as well as viruses and fungi, cannot develop immunity.

Many harmful influences can destroy the beneficial bacteria that normally thrive in the intestinal tract. Stress, antacids, antibiotics, processed foods, pesticides, chlorine in drinking water, and high-fat, high-protein diets are just some of the factors that can upset the digestive system’s natural balance of intestinal flora.

Probiotics is the term used to describe organisms such as “friendly bacteria” that live in a healthy intestinal tract. Acidophilus is one of those bacterias that can help to maintain a healthy balance of intestinal flora.

Beneficial bacteria, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum, are called probiotics. Probiotic bacteria inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria, promote good digestion, boost immune function, and increase resistance to infection. People with flourishing intestinal colonies of beneficial bacteria are better equipped to fight the growth of disease-causing bacteria.

Consult a healthcare professional:

Remember to always consult a healthcare professional before making any natural or chemical decision but be informed to ask the right questions.

In making informed health care choices, parents need to realize that simple preventive measures can go a long way in maintaining health and preventing disease and that treating symptoms merely covers up the underlying cause.

References:

1. The Merck Manual of Medical Information – Home Edition, Robert Berkow (Ed.), Pocket (September, 1999), ISBN 0-671-02727-1.

2. Planned Parenthood http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/medicalinfo/birthcontrol/pub-contraception-pill.xml#1097889802 325::-1797964069978546334,

3. Purdue University “Biologists build better software, beat path to viral knowledge”, see Imaging of Epsilon 15, a virus that infects the bacterium Salmonella News report

4. Avorn J, Solomon DH. “Cultural and economic factors that (mis)shape antibiotic use: the nonpharmacologic basis of therapeutics” Ann Intern Med 2000 (Jul 18); 133 (2): 128-135

5. Dr. Tim O’Shea, www.thedoctorwithin.com The Sanctity of Human Blood:Vaccination IS Not Immunization — 9th ed. — 2005

6. Garbutt JM, Goldstein M, Gellman E, Shannon W, Littenberg B. “A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of antimicrobial treatment for children with clinically diagnosed acute sinusitis. ” Pediatrics 2001 (Apr); 107 (4): 619

7. Little P, Gould C, Williamson I, Moore M, Warner G, Dunleavey J. “Pragmatic randomized controlled trial of two prescribing strategies for childhood acute otitis media.” BMJ 2001 (Feb 10); 322 (7282): 336-342

8. Damoiseaux RAMJ, van Balen FAM, Hoes AW, Verheij TJM, de Melker RA “Primary care based randomised, double blind trial of amoxicillin versus placebo for acute otitis media in children aged under 2 years” BMJ 2000 (Feb 5); 320 (7231):350-354

9. “Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in infants following pertussis prophylaxis with erythromycin.” MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 1999 (Dec 17); 48 (49): 1117-1120

10. Clinical Evidence Shows Limited Effect of Antibiotic Treatment on Children With Acute Otitis Media. Press Release, August 9, 2000. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2000/otitispr.htm

About the author:

Dr. Katie Greeley is a board certified Doctor of Chiropractic and a mother of two. She has completed extended courses on pediatrics that go above and beyond the regular doctorate degree. Her office, United Family Chiropractic Center, is located in Wood Ranch at 1070 Country Club Drive West, Suite D in Simi Valley, CA. Dr. Greeley can be reached at (805) 522-2324.

The fine line between viral and bacterial infection:

There is a fine line between a viral and a bacterial infection. An earache is viral while an ear infection is bacterial. A cough, sore throat, or flu is caused by a virus while pneumonia is a bacterial infection. Bronchitis is viral; sinusitis is bacterial. Therefore, we should wait and see what we are fighting before we run to get an antibiotic.

Here are some good examples of drug resistance already occurring in the U.S.:

* In 1952, almost 100% of Staphylococcus infections could be cured by penicillin.
* In 1982, fewer than 10% of staph cases could be cured by penicillin.
* Today less than 5% of staph cases can be cured by penicillin.

* In the 1960s, doctors switched the resistant staph patients to another antibiotic called methecillin.
* By 1992, at least 40% of these staphylococcus infections were resistant to methecillin, according to the New England Journal of Medicine, 28 Apr 1994.
* By 1993, only one surefire Staphylococcus killer remained: vancomycin.
* Today there are many strains of staphylococcus that are resistant to vancomycin. That means also resistant to penicillin and to methecillin.

Forces spurring the over-prescription of antibiotics:

So now what? A recent study highlights the cultural and economic forces spurring the over-prescription of antibiotic drugs, and the evolution of super-resistant microbes. The report notes that antibiotics cost the U.S. about $15 billion per year. Extra hospital costs associated with drug-resistant hospital-acquired bacterial infections total at least $1.3 billion annually.

Of 51 million visits to physicians for “colds,” upper-respiratory infections and bronchitis, 50% to 66% resulted in an antibiotic prescription, even though these conditions usually do not require antibiotics.

To explain this trend, the study’s authors point to direct-to-consumer advertising, consumer demand, a medical training system that puts the least experienced doctors in charge of prescribing drugs and overloaded hospitals.

It’s so sad that we’ve used antibiotics as a “fix-all” for every ailment. How many times have you been to the doctor and had them prescribe antibiotics just for good measure? In fact the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has announced that they are starting a nationwide campaign “to make antibiotic overuse as unpopular as smoking”.

The CDC will be using radio and television announcements as well as ads in consumer health publications to get the word out about the dangers of excessive antibiotic use. When the CDC gets involved then we know we definitely have a problem.

Research regarding antibiotics and childhood ailments:

Lets look at some of the research involving the effectiveness of antibiotics and the common ailments that effect our children.

American Journal of Medicine:

An article published in the American Journal of Medicine reports:

“Children with otitis media who do not have a high temperature or vomiting during the first three days will most probably not benefit from antibiotics. Family doctors should wait for 24 to 48 hours before prescribing antibiotics for children with otitis as many will settle down on their own, analysis of a randomized controlled trial shows.”

Further, the article indicated the antibiotic tetracycline was shown to inhibit the ability of white cells to engulf and destroy bacteria and to delay the ability of white cells to move to the site of infection. The number of cases requiring surgical intervention was also seen to increase along with an increasing number of resistant Streptococcus Pneumoniae isolates.

Pediatrics:

Antibiotics do not help most children with acute sinusitis, according to a study in Pediatrics. Investigators studied 180 youngsters, aged 1 to 18 years, with acute sinusitis. The children were divided into three treatment groups: 1) amoxicillin, 2) amoxicillin-clavulanate, or 3) placebo.

Treatment lasted 14 days. Seventy-nine percent of the youngsters on amoxicillin improved after 14 days, as did 79% of those taking placebo pills and 81% of those on amoxicillin-clavulanate.

Jane Garbutt, MB, ChB.:

“Our study suggests that, for children with uncomplicated acute sinusitis, it makes sense to delay antibiotic treatment and watch carefully.”

British Medical Journal:

For decades, chiropractors have expressed concern about the aggressive use of antibiotics in children with ear infection. Now, a study in the British Medical Journal validates that concern. A total of 315 children, with acute otitis media were assigned to 1 of 2 cohorts: 1) a 72-hour waiting period with no antibiotic use or 2) immediate antibiotic intervention.

Findings showed that:

“immediate antibiotic prescription provided symptomatic benefit mainly after the first 24 hours, when symptoms were already resolving.”

Although children who were given antibiotics recovered an average of 1 day earlier than children who did not take the medication, no difference was seen in school absence or pain/distress scores.

And, only 9% of children in the watchful waiting group developed diarrhea, compared with 19% of those taking antibiotics. So not only does the child have a greater chance of getting diarrhea with their earache they would have recovered on their own.

Overall, 77% of parents of children in the watchful waiting group expressed satisfaction with the care their youngsters received. In addition, these parents were less likely than parents of children who received antibiotics to predict that their youngsters would require antibiotics for subsequent ear infections.

Another study looked at 240 children, aged 6 months to 2 years, with acute otitis media. The children were prescribed either placebo or 40 mg/kg per day of amoxicillin. There was no significant difference between the two groups in otoscopic findings, pain duration, or crying.

In addition, tympanometric findings in both groups were similar at 6-week follow-up. Investigators again looked at 157 babies less than 3 weeks of age who were treated with erythromycin after being exposed to whooping cough. A total of 5% of the newborns that took erythromycin developed hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, which was treated with surgery. This figure is dramatically higher than the average incidence of the disorder, which only 0.1% to 0.3%.

Southern California/RAND Evidence-based Practice Center:

Finally in a study conducted by the Southern California/RAND Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) and sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reveals that nearly two-thirds of children with uncomplicated acute otitis media recover from pain and fever within 24 hours of diagnosis without treatment with antibiotics. And, over 80% recover within 1-7 days. When treated with antibiotics, up to 93% of children recover during the first week.

Part 3 – Natural remedies and bacteria:

By Dr. Katie Greeley B.S., D.C.

The consequences of antibiotics:

Almost everyone has had at least one round of antibiotics and for some it is a regular occurrence. As a society we need to stop and think about what consequences our actions might bring:

* Is there another alternative to always taking antibiotics?
* Do we actually need antibiotics every time we walk through the clinic door?

This article is not to say that antibiotics are not necessary, it is in fact an article to better educate the average individual to know when antibiotic use is absolutely necessary.

Antibiotics and how they work:

Let’s first look back to the history of the “miracle bullets” with a quote from Herbert Spencer ” When once you interfere with the order of nature, there is no knowing where the results will end.”

An antibiotic is a drug that kills or slows the growth of bacteria. Before the discovery of antibiotics substances like arsenic were used to kill off infections.

Typically antibiotics target the bacteria without harming the host. However, according to Dr. Steven Gelone, Associate Professor of Pharmacy and Medicine at Temple University School of Pharmacy and Medicine,

“One of the lies regarding antibiotic therapy is that they are nontoxic drugs. It is important to realize that 20% of patients who require medical care have a history of an adverse drug reaction. All of these occurrences cause morbidity and many lead directly to hospital admission.”

The effectiveness of individual antibiotics varies based on the location of the infection, the ability of the antibiotic to reach the site of infection, and the ability of the bacteria to resist or inactivate the antibiotic.

Antibiotics can either kill the bacteria (bactericidal), or prevent the bacteria from multiplying (bacteriostatic) so that the host’s immune system can overcome them.

Some possible side effects range from fever and nausea to major allergic reactions. One of the more common side effects is diarrhea, which results from the antibiotic disrupting the normal balance of intestinal flora.

Misuse of antibiotics:

Unfortunately we have used antibiotics for just about everything and thus have created widespread resistance to antibiotics. The common misuse of antibiotics includes taking them in inappropriate situations such as for viral flus and colds.

Another example of misuse is the failure to take the entire prescribed course of the antibiotic, usually because the patient starts to feel better before the infecting bacteria is completely gone. Excessive use of antibiotics in travelers may also be classified as misuse. Misuse and treatment failure can lead to antibiotic resistance.

In the United States, vast quantities of certain antibiotics are routinely included as low doses in the diet of some kinds of healthy farm animals, where this practice has been shown to make animals grow faster.

“Humans can contract antibiotic-resistant infections from animals used for food,” states a study panel from the National Academy of Science. “Almost 25 million pounds of antibiotics are used in animals each year – 80 percent to help them grow faster, not treat disease!”

Thanks to today’s modern factory farming techniques, E. coli, a benign and important symbiotic bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and most animals is mutating and becoming pathogenic.

Salmonella bacteria now live in the ovaries of most of the United States chicken stocks. Eggs these chickens lay are subsequently contaminated and proving to be much more pathogenic than medical researchers expected. Most organic farms fortunately do not practice the injection of antibiotics into their livestock.

In 1946 there were only 723 cases of salmonella food poisoning in the United States. By 1986, salmonella was estimated to be sickening over 150,000 people per year. In fact the Centers for Disease Control estimates that between 800,000 and 4-million people get sick with salmonella, and that 500 people die each year.

Part 2 – The fine line between viral and bacterial infection: