Antibiotic ban in the UK?

Doctors in the UK are being advised not to prescribe antibiotics for colds, flues and sore throats. From the UK Telegraph online:

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, says it is time to end the unnecessary use of penicillin and other commonly-prescribed pills, which cost the NHS £1.7 billion a year.

	Watch: Why patients should not panic

Using antibiotics too liberally has led to bugs such as MRSA becoming resistant to treatment with the drugs. Most colds, coughs and flu are caused by viruses, which cannot be treated with antibiotics anyway, Mr Johnson points out.

Finally!

If we could get doctors in the US to do the same, the benefits to patients could be huge.

The government led program is designed to slow the spike of MRSA, a deadly bacterial infection that has been sweeping hospitals.

But the real danger of antibiotics far exceeds the hospital danger. Antibiotics allow yeast to spread in our bodies. That can make us crave sweets and excess carbs.

Why? Because the yeast lives on sugar and so does our brain. When we have too much yeast, our brain tells us it is starving. Then our brain walks us to the refrigerator or drives us to the store to buy high sugar and high carb foods.

In other words, antibiotics carry the real risk of causing our pants not to fit. A bigger waistline is a risk factor for all sorts of health problems including depression, heart trouble and diabetes.

Each of those factors decreases the quality of our lives and shortens life expectancy.

In short, antibiotics are dangerous drugs.

By the way, have you ever noticed how one round of antibiotics leads to another and another?

There's a good reason for that. I'll cover it in an upcoming post.
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William Kelley Eidem is the author of The Doctor Who Cures Cancer and It's Not Just For Sex. Your comments and signature lines are welcome.