Why antibiotics should not be overused. Write a Short Note?

Every time we are ill, our doctors may prescribe antibiotics to stop the spread
of infection in our body. Antibiotics, first used in the 1940s, are certainly one of
the great advances in medicine.

Antibiotics are important discovery in the medicine but overusing and

misusing they will also lead to further health risks.
When antibiotics are actually used correctly, antibiotics can do an amazing job
of cleaning up the most lethal bacterial infections, and if you're sick enough to
be hospitalized for an infectious illness, antibiotic might even save your life.
Antibiotics are overused and over- prescribed-despite repeated pleas nowadays
from infectious disease experts warning otherwise.
Their crystal clear usage guidelines for antibiotics are often ignored by busy
doctors eager to appease the many patients who show up demanding a quick
fix for their illness.
One of the most serious problems with antibiotic overuse is that too many
strains of bacteria are becoming resistant to the drugs. Antibiotic resistance is
a widespread problem, and one that the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) calls "one of the world's most pressing public health
problems." Infectious bacteria constantly multiply. All it takes are a few strong
bacteria to actually defeat the antibiotic. And the constant fight against
antibiotics teaches the bacteria to grow even stronger, making them much
harder to kill. This not only creates the need for more antibiotics, but it can
also be life-threatening if the right antibiotic isn't found in time. The huge
problem with all of this is that most common upper respiratory tract infections
and sore throats are caused by viruses --not by bacteria. Antibiotics are
useless in these cases and they still promote resistant bacteria, jeopardizing
your health without any clear benefit.
The germ causing the infection can become resistant ("immune") to the
antibiotic, and then it will basically make it useless in the fight against that
germ. The more antibiotics are used, the more likely it is for antibiotic

resistant/immune organisms/germs/bacteria to appear. When antibiotics are

overused they kill even the essential bacteria too which makes our body prone
to diseases. Body develops immunity to them and then when you really need
them, they won't work. Plus, whenever you take antibiotics they run the risk of
side-effects, such as stomach upset and diarrhea or even a possible allergic
reaction.
Antibiotics are effective only against bacteria. If antibiotics are overused, the
bacteria eventually mutate and become immune to the particular antibiotic
that was overused, making the antibiotic ineffective.
Because over time antibiotics kill off weaker bacteria, and the stronger bacteria
still live, when the stronger bacteria live, they multiply, creating stronger
bacteria, so if the bacteria are stronger, people get sicker, and the antibiotics no
longer kill the strong bacteria, creating a superbug, that is a super illness.
The dosage of selected antibiotic drugs prescribed for a disease, should never
be shortened or prolonged. The continuous usage leads to collapsing of body
immunity and the same drug will not be of any use for any future infections. It
kills the healthy RBC count and affects the bone marrow adversely causing
serious malfunctions of important organs/metabolism. Over-dosage / usage of
antibiotic drugs may produce super mutant viruses/bacteria strains before
developing epidemics that may cause apocalypse, which is a dreaded one. So it
is advisable that, if any infection or disease does not respond or subside to a
particular group / simple basic antibiotic drug, it is advised to go deeper into
the investigations i.e. pathological, cell-cytology, biopsy, FNAC, clinical,
biological, radiological, magnetic resonance, color Doppler, ultra sound, CT,
PET investigations before hitting into bull's eye. But in certain unavoidable
cases it may be prolonged to treat diseases under the supervision of specialist
medico.
The two major types of germs that can make people sick: bacteria and viruses.
Although certain bacteria and viruses cause diseases with similar symptoms,
the ways these two organisms multiply and spread illness are different.
Antibiotics are used in treating infections, caused by living organisms/germs
like bacteria, fungus and parasites. Germs/Bacteria are everywhere and most
don't cause any harm, and in some cases may be beneficial. But some bacteria
are harmful and can cause illness by invading the human body, multiplying,
and interfering with normal bodily processes.

Antibiotics don't cure diseases caused by viruses. Viruses are not alive and
cannot exist on their own they are particles containing genetic material
wrapped in a protein coat. Viruses "live," grow, and reproduce only after they've
invaded other living cells.
Some viruses may be fought off by the body's immune system before viruses
cause illness, but others (for example colds/sore throat) must simply run their
course. Viruses do not respond to antibiotics at all. Antibiotics do not stop
viruses spreading.

Antibiotic functions in two ways. It kills the bacteria and stops them from
multiplying.

In recent years, health experts have noticed that antibiotics are becoming less
and less effective as people use them more and more or encourage the spread
of resistant/immune bacteria in the body and in the community.

Frequent and inappropriate use of antibiotics can cause bacteria or other

microbes to resist the effects of antibiotic treatment. This is called bacterial
resistance or antibiotic resistance. Treating these resistant bacteria requires
higher doses of medicine or stronger antibiotics. Because of antibiotic overuse,
certain bacteria have become resistant to some of the most powerful antibiotics
available today.

The reason for this is that antibiotics, if overused and misused would lead to
dangerous side effects in the body such as being resistant of bacteria, reducing
RBC count, de-orienting organ functioning/metabolism.

Due Overuse/misuse, the antibiotics will become less effective against that
type of bacteria. The stronger antibiotics you take without any prescription will
not help in treating your disease; rather the bacteria will just stay dormant and
become more resistant. This would mean that you need to take the strongest
antibiotics to kill that bacterium if in case you will experience that kind of
bacterial infection again.

Bacteria that were once highly responsive to antibiotics have become

increasingly resistant. Among those that are becoming harder to treat are
pneumococcal infections (which cause pneumonia, ear infections, sinus
infections, and meningitis), skin infections, and tuberculosis. Infections or
diseases or viral infections in which antibiotics should not be used are as
follows:
Colds, Flu
Cough, bronchitis
Sore throat
Ear infections
Sinus infections etc.
Popular Antibiotics
Some 160 antibiotics are available. These include Tetracyclines,
Aminoglycosides,
Penicillins,
Cephalosporins,
Fluoroquinolones,
Streptogramins, Sulfonamides, Macrolides, Erythromycins, Polypeptides etc.