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TOPIC:

Buckyballs make super-antibiotics

3
LoveGravyPerson was signed in when posted
04-18-2003
03:04 PM ET (US)
 But immunities are (allegedly) passed from mother to child during breastfeeding, so it's not like you start with a "Blank slate" and can only fend off X pathogens per lifetime. Through bottlefeeding, plus living in a near-sterile environment, I think there are fewer and fewer immunities passed from generation to generation (genetic or passed through breastfeeding) which increases our reliance on antibiotics which are engineered by man instead of by our bodies, which simply make them less responsive to changes.
2
jleaderPerson was signed in when posted
04-18-2003
02:52 PM ET (US)
 LoveGravy, I used to think the same thing (and I still think mis-use of antibiotics could lead to some really unpleasant consequences). Recently I saw a reference to the idea that our immune system has the ability to respond to a limited number of threats during our lifetime. So exposure to more pathogens, while it makes you immune to those pathogens, may in the end leave you without the resources to respond to other pathogens later in life. I haven't looked into this phenomenon to see if it's real or not, but it's an interesting idea.
1
LoveGravyPerson was signed in when posted
04-18-2003
01:46 PM ET (US)
 Swell, then the misuse of this antibiotic by patients who stop taking it too early will lead to the first MegaAntibiotic-resistant super organism. I give it two years.

I wonder how much harm we've done to our collective immune system over the past 100 years. With all of our disinfectants, antibiotic soaps and antibiotic pills, we've kept ourselves so isolated from pathogens that I bet our immune systems wouldn't last 10 seconds in the jungle, while all the while the pathogens are growing more and more resistant to our unnatural defenses.
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