Are we murdering our
Allies?
The
human body is a home for millions of microbes, some can be damaging to our
health but others are there for our protection. It is hard to determine which
is which. Scientists are still trying to answer that question. It is thought
that the harmful microbes that make us sick should be destroyed. We have gained
the technology to rid of harmful microbes with vaccines and antibiotics. It is
now uncovered that by destroying the evil microbes, some helpful ones are dying
in the process. The microbes that aid in our survival are being affected by the
antibiotics and are disappearing throughout the world.
Can
it be that the healthier we try to live, the unhealthier it becomes for some
microbes to live? Scientists are trying to answer that question by doing many
studies on microbes and the affects of antibiotics and vaccines. It is thought
to be a good thing to kill off viruses and harmful germs but scientists are
seeing a decline in the good microbes. Some “traditional microbes are an
important line of defense against external and possibly dangerous invaders”
(Harmon). Humans need a line of defense if we want to stay healthy.
Microbial
ecology is a new study and the more we understand the better we can go about
living our lives. It is hard to tell whether or not all bad microbes should be
destroyed or if it will cause the good microbes harm. We need to find a balance
between good and evil especially when it comes to our health.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/human-microbiome-change/
After reading this article post I found it interesting but it also made me raise a couple of questions. I knew to some degree that the human body was home to microbes, but I had no idea that it was such a large amount. I also did not know that some actually are beneficial to our health.
ReplyDeleteWhen developing vaccines and antibiotics there seems to be no upside. Creating all these antibiotics to help us with our health doesn’t seem like such a good idea. Because we also killing of the good microbes in the process. It does seem that microbiologist and scientist alike need much more work in order to create vaccines and antibiotics that do not kill off the good microbes in our body.
This article made me really think about just how little we know about microbes and how much more there is to learn in order to live healthier lives.
I knew we had good microbes in our bodies but not at such a large amount; however I had no idea that our antibiotics and vaccines were harming these good microbes. It also makes me wonder if killing these good ones will it cause our immune system to lower; and be more susceptible to other dangerous microbes that can cause even more deadly problems in our bodies. Hopefully one-day scientist, doctors, and pharmacists can develop medicine, antibiotics, and vaccines that will kill off or destroy the bad microbes and save the good microbes from being harmed in the process. Unfortunately these good microbe we are killing off are usually the first line in defense for some of these diseases that exist, this was something I was unaware of and lets hope we will not kill them in the future. I’m glad that these things are being brought to the surface and hopefully we will fix this for future generations.
ReplyDeleteI recently had to take a course of antibiotics and I asked the doctor whether this particular antibiotic would kill off my gut microbes. Interestingly, she said "No", and went on to say that the antibiotic I was taking didn't harm gut microbes that much. I didn't know that antibiotics could target just certain parts of the body.
ReplyDelete