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| Yes | 78% | 42 votes | Total: 54 votes | |
| No | 22% | 12 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesIt depends on what drugs we are using. The drugs commonly used to treat chronic conditions like high blood pressure, arthritis and the like have no effect on bacteria and, thus, will not contribute to the development of any superbugs'
Similarly, drugs used to treat pain, acute or chronic, like aspirin, acetaminophen (Tylenol) or the whole gamut of NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents like ibuprofen, naproxen etc.) again have no effect on bacteria and are thus have no effect on the evolution of bacteria.
The drugs we are concerned about are, of course, antibiotics. Antibiotics either kill (bactericidal) or prevent bacteria from reproducing (bacteriostatic). These drugs are extremely useful, and also extremely overused.
What happens when we have an infection, and we take an antibiotic? The bacteria that we host in our bodies, whether they are involved in the infection or not, that are susceptible (sensitive) to the antibiotic will be affected by it. Depending on the dosage of the antibiotic and each bacterium's specific sensitivity to the drug, one of two things will happen: 1- the bacteria will either die, or be unable to reproduce, in which case the immune system will eventually kill it. 2- The bacteria will survive the exposure to the antibiotic, in which case, there is a good chance that it will develop a resistance to it, making the antibiotic either ineffective the next time around, or requiring much higher dosages.
A different way of looking at it is what happened with a common skin bacterium: Staphylococcus Aureus, commonly known as staph. This bug lives in the skin, where it can occasionally cause minor infections like pimples, or infect a cut small injury. When penicillin was discovered, this germ was almost universally sensitive to the drug. Some of the bacteria had a mutation that allowed them to produce an enzyme, penicillinase, which destroyed the antibiotic. Originally, when only penicillum fungi (commonly found in blue cheese, brie and moldy bread, were secreting the drug, the strains of staph that could produce the enzyme had no advantage from this, and were probably at a disadvantage with respect to their relatives (bacteria have very small amount of DNA, which means that the piece of DNA that coded for this enzyme was not available to code for other enzymes that the bacteria really needed) As penicillin use became more common however, this variant could survive in the new environment, and gradually displaced the milder version. At this time, just about all strains of staph are resistant to penicillin.
This has happened with just about every antibiotic in common use. The pharmaceutical companies have been running a competitive race with the bacteria to develop newer and potent antibiotics to deal with the stronger and more resistant breeds that the use of this antibiotics select for.
It is an interesting Darwinian vicious circle. The presence of an antibiotic selects among the germs for stronger, more resistant ones, which leads us to develop stronger drugs which in turn select for more resistant bacteria, and the cycle begins anew.
What can be done about it?
On one side, doctors can refuse to prescribe antibiotics for diseases that are not susceptible to them. Remember, if we take antibiotics for the flu for instance, all the bacteria in the body are exposed to them, and have an opportunity to become resistant.
Doctors however know that if they refuse to prescribe an antibiotic to a patient that demands it, he or she will simply get the prescription from a less scrupulous physician, so they are placed at a quandary. As patients we should not demand antibiotics from our doctors, when they say that we do not need them.
It is also important, whenever possible to try to consume foods produced without antibiotics, even though they are more expensive, this should help get the antibiotics out of the food chain and decrease the number of bacteria exposed to them.
Learn more about this author, Pedro Miranda.
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No
In a modern world it would be hard to see life without some kind of daily ritual of putting man-made drugs into our bodies. With our need to remain healthy we have become susceptible to taking vitamins and eating so called healthy foods or making a vitamin enriched smoothie and enforcing the rule that our kids must eat all their greens.
When we do get ill we pop off to the local pharmacy and make our selection from the array of different concoctions to fight off infections, rashes and other nice little symptoms that make us feel like we have the modern version of leprosy.
Next stop could be the Doctors when we feel we need a drug with a bit more kick to eradicate whatever bacterial or fungal type infection we think we have contracted. It is this so-called over prescribing of drugs that have given to the rise in the fear of so called superbugs.
Even though the advancement of science in producing powerful antibiotics has helped to speed up the body's ability to fight off infections it is not the only reason for the creation of more resilient strains of bacteria. Better drugs have only helped to speed up the ability of the body's immune system to fight off infection. It is natural evolution for bacteria to mutate; it is what they are designed to do.
Just like the common cold which is always changing and mutating into different strains making it difficult for the immune system to fight, bacteria will change even if we don't use drugs to help fight them off.
With the bacteria's ability to change we will never be able to completely wipe them all out so we will have to rely on our bodies ability to adapt to changes even if the drugs no longer have effect. Nature is a powerful adversary and it will always win in the end, drugs merely delay the inevitable and we will once again have to rely on our natural immune system.
As harsh as it is, survival of the fittest will be the key and no matter what nature will work to keep a natural balance no matter what we try to do to interfere. Just like paying taxes we will have to accept that bacteria is here to stay and it will adapt to keep one step ahead even if we stop producing and taking man-made drugs.
In summary I feel that using drugs does not lead to growth of super bacteria, but it may just speed up the process. It's a battle we will never win but we do need to keep fighting to protect our most vulnerable members of society, it is our moral duty.
Learn more about this author, Paul Henshaw.
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