Never Abuse Drugs

Drug abuse is generally a big problem for anyone who indulges it and medical experts keep on sounding the warning for people to abstain from it. Albeit, there are certain classes of drugs which one MUST NEVER abuse as the resulting consequences are quite enormous and causes more harm. One of these classes of drugs is the Antibiotics.

Antibiotics are those drugs that are used to combat common microbial infections in man. One mistake that people usually make however is that they take antibiotics for every infection whereas these drugs are NOT effective against viral infections. So when someone has common cold for instance and goes ahead to take antibiotics, the individual is not only "pouring water on a rock" (making a failed effort) but they're also exposing themselves to risk of antibiotic resistance. Let me break that down further.

When a person takes antibiotics unnecessarily or for the wrong reasons, other foreign microbes present in the body become frequently exposed to these drugs that they start developing resistance to it. When this happens, the individual will require higher doses of the same drug to be able to combat these foreign microbes in the future. 

Secondly, these antibiotics also travel down to various parts of the body and destroy even the "beneficial" bacterial flora such as the Lactobacillus bacteria in the stomach. They accomplish this by deactivating the growth and reproduction/multiplication of these bacteria which are helpful to man. This further leaves the individual more susceptible to stronger microbial attacks subsequently.

Apart from these mentioned risks, there is also a possibility that the antibiotics will force the individual's normal flora (beneficial bacteria) to turn bad via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). What this means is that the "beneficial" bacteria may be forced to take up new genes that will make them harmful to the body and cause even more diseases in the future.

Now you may be wondering, "what is the best way to use antibiotics effectively??" Stay tuned as I drop some of the important tips in the next part of this piece.!

Until then, stay healthy and don't abuse antibiotics😊.