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I want to read you a very striking quote from my friend Sarah Pope s blog: The Healthy Home Economist: The over reliance on drug based resolution to infections has also triggered an epidemic of children and adults with compromised gut function and autoimmune diseases of all kinds due to an imbalanced intestinal environment and the consequential scourge of leaky gut syndrome. Beyond the problem of antibiotic resistance, however, are the long term effects of even a single round of antibiotics. The expectation in the health community that you can just fix the damage with probiotics and/or fermented foods and that gut flora magically returns to normal seems to be far from accurate. Evidence is now emerging from multiple sources that gut flora may actually be permanently altered by drugs or, at the very least, the damage persists for several years. The Journal Microbiology, for instance, reports that the generally acknowledged precept that use of antibiotics only causes disruption of the gut flora for a few weeks is highly flawed. Gut flora does not quickly return to normal after a round of antibiotics. Even a short course of antibiotics can lead to resistant bacterial populations taking up residence in the gut that persist for up to 4 years maybe even longer (source) The bottom line is that drug based antibiotics really should only be used for life threatening situations as a last resort if you will. Gary B. Huffnagle, Ph.D., an associate professor of internal medicine and of microbiology and immunology in the U M Medical School states that "Antibiotics knock out bacteria in the gut, allowing fungi to take over temporarily until the bacteria grow back after the antibiotics are stopped. Our research indicates that altering intestinal microflora this way can lead to changes in the entire immune system, which may produce symptoms elsewhere in the body. http://www.news medical.net/news/2004/05/27/1969.aspx 8

Antibiotics kill intestinal epithelium cells https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289259.php Previously, it was thought the antibiotics only killed gut bacteria and blocked some immune functions in the gut. But the new study shows they also destroy cells in the intestinal epithelium. The intestinal epithelium is a velvet like layer of specialized cells that lines the intestine and helps absorb water, glucose and essential nutrients into the bloodstream. It is also a barrier between the rest of the body and the huge colonies of bacteria that live in the gut. Antibiotics disrupt mitochondria and host microbe signaling: The team also discovered that antibiotics affect a gene that is critical to the communication between host and gut bacteria. From sciencedaily.com Children who receive antibiotics within their first six months of birth, increase their risk of developing by age 7, allergies to pets, ragweed, grass and dust mites and asthma, according to study conducted at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. * By age 7, children given at least one antibiotic in the first six months were 1.5 times more likely to develop allergies than those who did not receive antibiotics. They were 2.5 times more likely to develop asthma. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031001064200.htm Antibiotic Exposure in Infancy Linked to Food Allergies http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/780023 From newscientist.com Antibiotics linked to huge rise in allergies The increasing use of antibiotics to treat disease may be responsible for the rising rates of asthma and allergies. By upsetting the body s normal balance of gut microbes, antibiotics may prevent our immune system from distinguishing between harmless chemicals and real attacks. The microbial gut flora is an arm of the immune system, says Gary Huffnagle at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbour. His research group has provided the first experimental evidence in mice that upsetting the gut flora can provoke an allergic response. Asthma has increased by around 160 per cent globally in the last 20 years. https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn5047 antibiotics linked to huge rise inallergies/ 8

This is just a partial list! 9

Description of image: Prominent health conditions with both biologic age and chronic inflammation as central risk factors. Prominent health conditions with evidence linking them to gut dysbiosis. Note the similarities between the conditions associated with aging and inflammation and those associated with gut dysbiosis Thomas W. Buford, Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham states that: In line with known interactions of the microbiome with the systemic circulation and distal tissues, gut dysbiosis commonly defined as a disturbance of or change in the density and/or composition of gut microbiota has been linked to a wide variety of diseases and health conditions (Fig. 2b). These conditions include In line with known interactions of the microbiome with the systemic circulation and distal tissues, gut dysbiosis commonly defined as a disturbance of or change in the density and/or composition of gut microbiota has been linked to a wide variety of diseases and health conditions (Fig. 2b). These conditions include cystic fibrosis [57], inflammatory bowel conditions (irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn s disease, and colon cancer [58, 59, 60], neurological diseases (Parkinson s disease, Alzheimer s disease, and multiple sclerosis)) [61, 62, 63], metabolic diseases (obesity and diabetes) [64, 65], as well as musculoskeletal conditions (frailty, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout) [41, 66, 67, 68]. Notably, as evidenced by the remarkable similarity between Fig. 2a, b, the majority of these conditions exhibit age related increases in incidence. Accordingly, it seems relevant to explore the possibility that age related inflammation may stem at least partially from changes to the gut microbiome. [57], inflammatory bowel conditions (irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn s disease, and colon cancer [58, 59, 60], neurological diseases (Parkinson s disease, Alzheimer s disease, and multiple sclerosis)) [61, 62, 63], metabolic diseases (obesity and diabetes) [64, 65], as 10

well as musculoskeletal conditions (frailty, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout) [41, 66, 67, 68]. Notably, as evidenced by the remarkable similarity between Fig. 2a, b, the majority of these conditions exhibit age related increases in incidence. Accordingly, it seems relevant to explore the possibility that age related inflammation may stem at least partially from changes to the gut microbiome. 10

And it s not just Fluoroquinones, Liver injury caused by drugs such as the Z Pak and amoxicillin can occur within one to three weeks. Fluoroquinones are some of the worst but that doesn t mean that the other classes of antibiotics are harmless either. 14

Everyone is talking about the global health crisis of antibiotic resistance. A study funded by the Finnish Academy found that the negative effects of antibiotics on intestinal bacteria remained even after a year (link). It was also discovered that using one type of antibiotic increases the resistance of bacteria to other types of antibiotics as well, making the common practice of switching to a different antibiotic in order to combat resistance useless. 15

After antibiotics: what happens when the drugs don't work from an article on the Guardian newspaper website, titled Are you ready for a world without antibiotics? Transplant surgery becomes virtually impossible. Organ recipients have to take immune suppressing drugs for life to stop rejection of a new heart or kidney. Their immune systems cannot fight off life threatening infections without antibiotics. Removing a burst appendix becomes a dangerous operation once again. Patients are routinely given antibiotics after surgery to prevent the wound becoming infected by bacteria. If bacteria get into the bloodstream, they can cause life threatening septicaemia. Pneumonia becomes once more "the old man's friend". Antibiotics have stopped it being the mass killer it once was, particularly among the old and frail, who would lapse into unconsciousness and often slip away in their sleep. Other diseases of old age, such as cancer, have taken over. Gonorrhea becomes hard to treat. Resistant strains are already on the rise. Without treatment, the sexually transmitted disease causes pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and ectopic pregnancies. Tuberculosis becomes incurable first we had TB, then multi drug resistant TB (MDR TB) and now there is XDR TB (extremely drug resistant TB). TB requires very long courses (six months or more) of antibiotics. The very human tendency to stop taking or forget to take the drugs has contributed to the spread of resistance. 16

https://drnancymalik.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/epidemics and pandemics/ Lives saved by Homeopathy in Epidemics and Pandemics The website contains tables summarizing general statistics compiled by doctors and health researchers of the time. EPIDEMICS AND PANDEMICS BETWEEN 1799 AND 1918 [2] In the year 1852, Dr. Routh, a British allopathic physician and an opponent of homeopathy, was a designated authority by medical officials of London to release the mortality statistics (for all diseases). As a result of his findings, Dr. Routh was constrained to testify in favor of homeopathy. He collected statistics of different hospitals (England, Austria and Germany), total of 32,655 homeopathic cases and 119,630 allopathic cases. The overall mortality under homeopathic treatment was 4.4 percent, and the overall mortality under allopathic treatment was 10.5 percent. 18