Antibiotics
An antibiotic, is defined to be a drug produced by certain microbes. Most doctors use
antibiotics to help fight the germs in a patient. Antibiotics are obtained from plants,
fungi, air, water, soil, just about anything on earth. Antibiotics kill and attack the
germ or virus in the body, but do not hurt the human cells, ordinarily. The antibiotics
are used to treat many various types of diseases, such as tuberculosis, syphilis, and
several kinds of infections.
People have been using antibiotics for more than 2,500 years. They used molds to help
cure some skin infections and rashes. It was in the late 1800's that the real study of
medicine began. Louis Pasteur discovered that bacterium was the cause of disease, and
proved wrong the theory of spontaneous generation. After him there was Robert Koch, who
developed a method of isolating and growing bacteria. Scientists tried developing drugs
that could kill microbes, but they proved to be either dangerous or ineffective.
In 1928 there was a discovery by Alexander Fleming. He detected that a substance he
called "penicillin" destroyed bacteria. Then in the late 1930's, two British scientists
invented a method of extracting penicillin from the mold. This was the start of
developing new drugs to treat diseases and bacteria.
Over the years, numerous thousands of antibiotic material have been found in nature as
well as produced chemically but, there are few that are safe and useful. However the ones
that are safe and effective have saved many lives and have helped extend life
expectancy.
Right now, there is more than 70 different kinds of antibiotics in use. Most
antibiotics are used to treat infections, some for fungi and protozoa, but antibiotics
are not usually effective against viruses. So they have developed other methods such as
vaccines against viruses.
Antibiotics work by one of three ways, they can one, prevent the cell wall from growing;
two, obstruct the cell membrane; or three disrupt the chemical processes. When the
antibiotic prevents the cell wall from forming, the antitoxin surrounds the bacteria's
membrane, and then it forms a rigid wall that stops the cell wall from splitting open,
which would produce another cell. The humans' cells are not hurt by this because human
cells do not have cell walls.
If the antibiotic obstructs the cell membrane, which controls the flow of items in and
out of the cell, then essential nourishment can escape the cell. Then a toxic substance
could enter the cell killing it. Human cells are not effected by this method because the
antitoxin only effects the microbial cells.
If the antitoxin disrupted the chemical process, then the microbe cannot survive. The
cells need the proteins and nucleic acids, that they produce to survive, and by
interfering with this process, the cell cannot persevere. Human cells are immune to this
method because, both kinds of cells produce proteins and acids to survive, but the
methods of making the proteins in each cell differ enough for the antibiotic to be able
to decipher the different methods.
Antibiotics are the safest kinds of drugs when properly used, but misuse could lead to
dangerous side effects or even death. There are three main dangerous reactions to the
antibiotics are one is allergic reactions, two is the eradication of good microbes, and
three is the damage of organs and tissues.
Most allergic reactions are not that bad. It could be a rash or a fever, but if a person
is highly allergic to what they were exposed to, they could die. Every antibiotic made
can produce an allergic reaction, but the most commons are penicillins. Approximately 10%
of people in the U.S. have an allergic reaction to penicillins.
The antibiotic could also hurt or damage the helpful microbes. In a body, there is
sometimes some good microbes living near the bad ones. When they are both alive, they are
competing for the food. However, antibiotics could kill more good microbes than bad ones,
resulting in a higher level of multiplication. This could also cause a new infection
called a suprainfection. In this case, the doctor will usually prescribe a secondary drug
to clear up this infection.
The last side effect that an antibiotic could have is that it could damage the organs or
tissues. This kind of side effect is the least likely to happen because the antibiotics
usually only attack the microbial cells. Sometimes, as a last resort a doctor may use
such a drug as streptomycin, used to treat tuberculosis. The overuse of such a drug could
result in deafness, kidney damage and other side effects.
Resistance to antibiotics has grown more common in recent years. Resistance can happen
in two ways. One is, when the reproduction of cells is occurring the genetic material
may get changed causing a mutation in the new cells. These cells then become immune to
the antibiotic. New research shows that, in mutation, the cells can become immune to
germs that they have never faced. The second way is, the resistance microbes, may
transfer the genetic material to another non-resistance cell, in turn, producing a
resistance cell. When antibiotics are being used the non-resistance cells are killed, but
the resistance cells, keep multiplying, which is bad if a germ is a resistance cell.
Scientists are always trying to find new antibiotics. They test many thousands of
natural plants and chemicals. They must first test these drugs in test tubes and then on
laboratory animals. If they still show no harmful side effects, then they are tested on
humans. The human testing must first be approved by the FDA. Then if it passes all tests
on humans and is approved by the FDA the drug may go on sale.
Antibiotics are a great invention, perhaps one of the best. They help people survive
through diseases and infections, that would otherwise kill them. Antibiotics save lives,
and there aren't many other inventions that can do that.
Bibliography
CD-ROM Reference
"Antibiotics." Microsoft Bookshelf. 1995 ed.
Encyclopedias
"Antibiotics." World Book Encyclopedia. 1992 ed.
Magazines
"The end of antibiotics." Newsweek 28 Mar. 1994: 47-51.
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