It seems that something, (chicken pox in the chilidren's cases) made the body's resistance so low that the strep overwhelmed the child's system before antibiotics could do anything.

Most of us, who are 50 and younger, grew up thinking that antibiotics were invincible. When we were sick, we got them and the sickness went away. When nothing else worked, stronger antibiotics were given: by mouth, on the skin, in the rear end, intravenously — stronger and stronger until the bad bugs were conquered.

So what's going on now?

Ear infections are on the rise, urinary infections are on the rise, sinus infections are on the rise. Women are plagued by recurrent yeast infections that won't go away with creams and pills.

There is more than a 50% increase in antibiotic prescriptions given to children, under the age of 3, than a few years ago. What's changed?

And scarier still —

if antibiotics are so invincible, why are deaths from infectious disease increasing in this country?

Why, despite stronger and broader-spectrum antibiotics (and by the way, much more expensive ones) are new resistant strains of bacteria popping up each year?

H. influenza, a bacterium that causes ear infections and meningitis, and can be fatal in children, had an almost doubling of resistance to antibiotics in the past 15 years.

Gonorrhea, once easily treated with penicillin, now is resistant to it across most of the world, and difficult to treat even with the strongest antibiotics.

One paper, in the journal Science, states that pneumococcal pneumonia requires 600 times the dose of penicillin than it did 50 years ago, and still can be lethal.

And Clostridium difficile (or C. Dif ) is practically an epidemic in hospitals, where its diarrheal illness results from the heavy use of antibiotics.

Children who are treated with antibiotics immediately for ear infections get three times more recurrences and chronic problems than those in whom antibiotics were withheld.

And it's been estimated in the literature that 50 percent of antibiotics given by surgeons were without sound medical basis.

We should be aware of the toll that antibiotics take on our systems, and on our environment. There is an old saying "That which does not kill me makes me stronger" and that is the bacteria's creed.

What an antibiotic does, is to kill the weaker bacteria, allowing the stronger bacteria to develop its muscles, and become resistant to the drugs.

This is what we've done by this 50 year war on microbes: we've made them stronger and more cunning, so that now they're not satisfied to merely redden the throat.

Now, given the opportunity, they attack the skin with a savageness that can kill. And it's not only the antibiotics that our doctors prescribe.

Our meat and poultry is laden with antibiotics, given to keep the animals disease-free on their way to the slaughterhouse.

More antibiotics are currently used in animal husbandry than in medicine. Those antibiotics have been shown to promote resistant bacteria at a phenomenal rate, and

they pass UNTOUCHED into our digestive tracts when we eat the animal flesh.

Besides causing resistant bacteria, antibiotics destroy the good bacteria that live with us. Our bodies harbor billions of bacteria. In our intestines alone are 10 times more organisms than we have cells in our bodies!

These bacteria help to digest valuable vitamins and minerals, making them absorbable. They produce natural substances which protect us from harmful organisms (for instance acidophilin, a natural antibiotic produced by Lactobacillus acidophyllus). B. bifidum, another helpful bacteria, is higher in the intestines of breast-fed infants, giving them a protection against infection that bottle-fed children lack.

And the friendly bacteria in our intestines coat the walls, preventing harmful organisms from taking hold, and form a barrier against dangerous agents entering the body.

So, when antibiotics in our food and in our medicine cabinets destroy these friendly bacteria, huge gaping holes are left for the harmful kind, which are resistant to those antibiotics. These cause all sorts of symptoms, which may be addressed with more antibiotics, which cause more disruption....get the picture?

There are some strategies to prevent the breakdown in protection against harmful organisms.

The first is to eat as sensibly as possibly. This includes a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables, which contain substances that aid digestion and immunity.

It also includes being careful that our meat and poultry is as antibiotic-free as possible, and lobbying our grocers and our farmers to pay attention to this problem.

It means eating in as relaxed manner as possible. Most of us eat while we are on the run, reading, watching TV, or doing business. Our food is digested much less if we are engaged in these active tasks while we eat. That is because our digestive enzymes are not well produced unless we are in a relaxed, receptive manner to dine.

And keeping a healthy barrier against disease starts with properly digesting our foods.

If our food is not broken down well, we don't get the full nutrition from it.

The undigested food is attacked by the immune system of the gut — damaging the friendly bacteria in the battle.

And the harmful organisms love undigested food. So we need to maximize digestion.

Anyone who has ever had antibiotics, or eats foods that may contain antibiotics, should consider taking digestive enzymes with meals.

Digestive enzymes can be helpful beyond the digestive and immune systems. Arthritis, cancer and kidney disease among many other diseases affects the digestive system. And almost any illness can be helped by making the nutrients in our foods more available to us, and to encourage our digestive tracts to do their proper jobs.

Plant Based Digestive Enzymes have some advantages over animal-source pancreatin.

First, they are not as affected by the acid in the stomach as plain pancreatic enzymes are.

Second, they have a broader range of activity. They break foods down into the building blocks which make absorption easy. And properly digested food helps promote friendly bacteria.

A dose of intestinal bacteria daily can assist in this process. Not just any bacteria. Intestonal Flora probably responds best to as broad a range of helpful bacteria as possible.

This includes L. acidophyllus of a strain called DDS-1, which has been studied for its beneficial effects. B. bifidum and L. bulgaricus are other "probiotic" strains. ("Probiotic" is a Greek word meaning "promoting life.") Fructooligosaccharides, or FOS, also provides powerful food for the good bacteria.

The next way of supporting the intestines is to give proper food to the intestinal cells. This food is a special amino acid called Glutamine.  

Many studies have shown that glutamine, the preferred nourishment of intestinal cells, can be given to assist the body in overcoming stressful affects on the digestive system. In addition, glutamine has been shown to be helpful in protecting muscles and other systems from the harmful affects of stress.

Glutamine is best given in an activated form, which allows better absorption and lower necessary doses.

So, to review, we may be looking at the End of An Era — The Antibiotic Era.

And our best strategy is not to develop more powerful and expensive antibiotics. It is to strengthen our systems.

And we can strengthen our systems, by eating sensibly, by taking plant-based digestive enzymes with our meals, by increasing our friendly bacteria with good, broad probiotic supplements, by adding activated glutamine to our daily routine, and by making sure that we save the antibiotics for the few serious cases where there is no other choice.

At Essential2Health Advanced Natural Health Center we specialize in helping our clients strengthen their immune systems. Call today and schedule your free consultation with Dr. Stuart Hoover at 883-0115 or toll-free 866-883-0115 and;

"TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH!"