Introduction to Antibiotics free essay sample

Antibiotics are among the most frequently used medications in the world today. A. They can cure anything from your minor discomforts to a life-threatening disease. B. However, if misused, antibiotics can cause many problems. II. Antibiotics are so overused, that the human body is becoming resistant to its cures. III. This morning I will show you that misusing antibiotics can be done without a person even realizing that they are doing it. A. First, antibiotics are used to feed animals to help with faster growth. B. Second, doctors are prescribing antibiotics when they don’t cure the disease the patient has. C. Third, when a patient is prescribed an antibiotic, they may not continue taking the prescribed amount after the symptoms are gone. (Transition: You may not know it, but you might be consuming antibiotics when you eat a hamburger. ) Body 1. Throughout the years, antibiotics have been used in an agricultural setting to feed the animals and promote growth. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Antibiotics or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A. An article dated January 28, 2008 entitled â€Å"Fight to Curtail Antibiotics in Animal Feed† by Sabin Russell in the San Francisco Chronicle, explains benefits and consequences of using antibiotics to feed these animals. . 70 percent of U. S. antibiotics are used in small doses in animal feed; not to treat disease but to promote the growth of the animals. 2. Antibiotics increase the speed of food-to-muscle conversion by 5 percent. 3. Antibiotics that are fed to cattle have been tied to the drug-resistances of salmonella which is found in humans. B. In his 2008 article â€Å"Antibiotic Resistance† in the Genetics Encyclopedia, Paul K. Small cited that the use of antibiotics in animal feeding is associated with antibiotic- resistant strains of bacteria. Transition: However, there are other ways that humans can become resistant to antibiotics other than simply consuming the meat of animals who had previously consumed an antibiotic. ) II. Misuses of antibiotics have also been linked to poor prescriptions that doctors give to their patients. A. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration stated in their article â€Å"Facts About Antibiotic Resistance† that antibiotics are given to patients more often than healthcare organizations recommend. 1. Doctors use antibiotics as treatment for the common cold or the flu, both of which are viruses that do not respond to antibiotics. . Some physicians are diagnosing a patient with little information about their symptoms, and will prescribe an antibiotic as a just-in-case. B. Doctors Thomas Hooten and Stuart Levy of the CME wrote in an article entitled â€Å"Confronting the Antibiotic Resistance Crisis: Overprescribing Antibiotics† blame the overprescribing on the doctors themselves. 1. Doctors may pr escribe broad-spectrum antibiotics instead of specific antibiotics to treat the symptoms that the patient has. a. Broad- Spectrum antibiotics are used prior to finding the cause of bacteria in a life-threatening situation, such as meningitis. Doctors use these when there are multiple bacteria causing illnesses that need to be treated. b. Specific antibiotics are used against a select bacterial type, or when the bacteria causing an illness are known. 2. Physicians prescribe antibiotics to simply please the patient. a. Patients request the medication, making doctors feel the need to fill the prescription to keep the patents satisfied with the office. b. Patients pressure doctors into prescribing certain mediations so they can get back to work or school sooner. (Transition: Have you ever been prescribed a medication for a sickness, and stopped taking it when your symptoms stopped? III. After the symptoms have stopped, a lot of people stop taking the antibiotics that they were prescribed. A. In an article written September 24, 2008 â€Å"The New Superbugs† printed in the Times of India, Bennett Colemen addresses the problems after an antibiotic is prescribed. 1. Patients use leftover medication if the symptoms come back in the future. 2. Drugs are distributed illegally- people who have used the drug for certain symptoms will give it to others who are currently having the symptoms. B. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration also address this problem. 1. Patients who are prescribed antibiotics but don’t take the full prescription can cause a resistance to that antibiotic. 2. When people do not complete the scheduled course, the medication can act as a â€Å"vaccination† for the surviving bacteria. (Transition: As you can see, it is sometimes impossible to be aware that you are not using an antibiotic in the correct way. ) Conclusion I. Although people may think that the antibiotic is the â€Å"cure all† medication, using them when it is not needed will cause you many problems. II. The misuse of antibiotics can be happening in many ways, three of which I have just addressed. A. Antibiotics that are being used in feeding agricultural animals to promote growth. B. Doctors over prescribing or wrongly prescribing an antibiotic. C. Patients who refuse to finish their full prescription, and continue taking a prescription when the symptoms reoccur. III. Antibiotics are among the most frequently prescribed medicines in modern medicine. A. Antibiotics are vital in curing life-threatening diseases. B. Antibiotics should be used the way that they are meant to be used, so that they can benefit the users as much as possible.