Antibiotics
What are antibiotics?
Chemicals produced by microorganisms or artificialy, which inhibit the development of other microorganisms (usually bacteria) or even kills them.
How do they work?
Antibiotics interfere with the metabolism of the target bacteria and destroys it, so the bacteria can no longer feed, reproduce or maintain structural integrity.
What is resistance to antibiotics?
Because the bacteria are in large number, when they multiply,mutations occur (changing the genetic information) resulting in a different structure and metabolism, so that antibiotics can no longer attack them.
So the target bacteria becomes resistant, not the man who takes antibiotics.
In time,bacteria resistant to many types of antibiotics have appeared, bacteria that when gets in the human body produces serious diseases and even death.
When and how to use antibiotics?
Antibiotics are not effective against viruses and fungi. Therefore the decision to take antibiotics belong to your doctor.The common cold is caused by viruses,there for the use of antibiotics in this situations is not necessary for most of the people.
Although many people decide to take antibiotics by themselves , they should only be recommended by a doctor, generally following a antibiogram (a test to see if and how effective is a given antibiotic against a bacteria that causes problems).
Also,the treatment should be followed until the end, not only to the disappearance of symptoms.
Side effects
Besides the direct side effects on our body(upset stomach, diarrhea,may impair the function of the kidneys, liver and other organs),there is another major side effect : antibiotics kill bacteria with which our body is in a symbiosis. They destroy the intestinal flora (which has important roles in digestion and protection against various toxins) and even the vaginal flora for women,leaving place for a fungus, candida albicans, most of the time.
If in the case of a bacterial infection the body is able to fight on his own,with candida albicans the fight is long and very difficult to win by the human body.
