Death by Infection, the End of Modern Medicine

A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. ~ Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization Alzheimer's Reading Room In its recent annual report on global risks, the World Economic Forum (WEF) concluded that “arguably the greatest risk . . . to human health comes in the form of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We live in a bacterial world where we will never be able to stay ahead of the mutation curve. A test of our resilience is how far behind the curve we allow ourselves to fall.” As I read those words I shuttered. For example, operations are dependent on antibiotics. Operations we now take for granted like heart bypass or hip replacements might not be available to us in the not so distant future. The reason is simple and straightforward - without effective antibiotics to treat potential infections the risk of death will be greater than the potential reward from the operation. I started talking about this phenomena last year when I first read The Top Ten Facts About Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance. The facts were compiled to mark European Antibiotic Awareness Day. While the facts presented below apply to the UK they can be extrapolated for other industrialized countries. Not a single person I talked to had any idea what I was talking about. Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room Email: R...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - Category: Dementia Authors: Source Type: blogs