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Could antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" become a bigger killer than cancer? — "60 Minutes" - CBS News
Antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But their continued, widespread use has led to mutated bacteria that are resistant to these drugs
When antibiotics were first used in the 1940s they were a revolution in medicine. Before that, diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis were often a death sentence, and even an infected scratch could be fatal. Since then, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But now many of these drugs are becoming ineffective.
Scientists say it's a problem of our own making. We've used antibiotics so freely, some bacteria have mutated into so-called "superbugs." They've become resistant to the very drugs designed to kill them. A study commissioned by the British government estimates that by 2050, 10 million people worldwide could die each year from antibiotic resistant bacteria. That's more than currently die from cancer.
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Overuse of antibiotics, not only by people but by farmers who use them in animal feeds, has created races of 'superbugs' that are resistant to all known antibiotics. How? Unless you are a biochemist it is difficult to explain. But the cellular mechanisms that copy DNA from one generation to the next during replication are not perfect machines - they make occasional mistakes. And those mistakes can render a bacteria or virus capable of living & reproducing despite our antibiotics. It is very much like the mechanism that drives evolution. The strong & capable survive.
While the overuse of antibiotics is the main problem, there is a jarring fact that was not mentioned during last night's 60 Minutes program: big pharma companies are no longer researching new antibiotics because they are not included in their marketing strategies. They want expensive drugs that people have to take every day for the rest of their lives: for high cholesterol, for arthritis, for psoriasis, etc. Antibiotics, like all new drugs, are expensive to develop & push to market. But their use would only be in isolated incidences for short periods of time until the patients overcame their infections. Ironically, new antibiotics would also develop resistance. So it's a race that big pharma would lose money on & never win.
One promising area of antibiotic research & development is in the area of natural products from marine sources. Many thousands of such chemicals have been isolated & identified & many have proven to be promising antibiotics & anticancer agents. But without the incentive of Big Government, we seem doomed to watch as multi-drug resistant pathogens surpass cancer as our biggest killer.
Antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But their continued, widespread use has led to mutated bacteria that are resistant to these drugs
When antibiotics were first used in the 1940s they were a revolution in medicine. Before that, diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis were often a death sentence, and even an infected scratch could be fatal. Since then, antibiotics have saved hundreds of millions of lives. But now many of these drugs are becoming ineffective.
Scientists say it's a problem of our own making. We've used antibiotics so freely, some bacteria have mutated into so-called "superbugs." They've become resistant to the very drugs designed to kill them. A study commissioned by the British government estimates that by 2050, 10 million people worldwide could die each year from antibiotic resistant bacteria. That's more than currently die from cancer.
====================================================
Overuse of antibiotics, not only by people but by farmers who use them in animal feeds, has created races of 'superbugs' that are resistant to all known antibiotics. How? Unless you are a biochemist it is difficult to explain. But the cellular mechanisms that copy DNA from one generation to the next during replication are not perfect machines - they make occasional mistakes. And those mistakes can render a bacteria or virus capable of living & reproducing despite our antibiotics. It is very much like the mechanism that drives evolution. The strong & capable survive.
While the overuse of antibiotics is the main problem, there is a jarring fact that was not mentioned during last night's 60 Minutes program: big pharma companies are no longer researching new antibiotics because they are not included in their marketing strategies. They want expensive drugs that people have to take every day for the rest of their lives: for high cholesterol, for arthritis, for psoriasis, etc. Antibiotics, like all new drugs, are expensive to develop & push to market. But their use would only be in isolated incidences for short periods of time until the patients overcame their infections. Ironically, new antibiotics would also develop resistance. So it's a race that big pharma would lose money on & never win.
One promising area of antibiotic research & development is in the area of natural products from marine sources. Many thousands of such chemicals have been isolated & identified & many have proven to be promising antibiotics & anticancer agents. But without the incentive of Big Government, we seem doomed to watch as multi-drug resistant pathogens surpass cancer as our biggest killer.
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