And then the issue of Antibiotics in childhood.

[agoodwinsmith]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/09/opinion/sunday/the-fat-drug.html

http://www.med.nyu.edu/medicine/labs/blaserlab/v1-mbr_cho.html

The idea being that administering antibiotics in early childhood kills off the normal intestinal bacteria, which hampers the person's ability to digest food properly.

It is probably going to be a multiple factor issue: not enough enzymes to digest carbohydrates properly, matched with the loss of whatever intestinal helpers there might have been to pick up the slack, plus the increase of sugar or wheat or corn starch in every single processed food[1], plus the access to cars to get us everywhere easily.  I suspect there might be a virus also (like there turned out to be a bacteria for ulcers - much against the "common sense" wisdom of the 80's) in the mix, but who knows.

On the other hand - I was given antibiotics early and (I think) often, but some of the things were really horrible (could have lost at least a leg), so - how do you not administer them for the things they work against?

[1] - seriously: I stopped buying the brand of salt my family has bought for three generations because it now has sugar as one of its ingredients (*really*? - salt needs sugar in it? - really?).

Comments

[sierra-le-oli.livejournal.com]

Multiple issue thing for sure. The first thing that springs to mind is the large amount of antibiotics consumed by French children. Not sure of the figures though, but when I lived there, there was a poster campaign encouraging children to use less antibiotics (yes, in those words!)

Also, sugar in SALT???!!!

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Sugar in salt. You have captured my incredulity expertly.

[randombler.livejournal.com]

The whole microbiome is a relatively new, and fast developing, field of study. Along with concepts such as faecal transplants, which do seem to work (on small number of properly recorded experiments). I think we may well find in a few years that a course of antibiotics will be followed up with a restorative shot of bacteria. Not to mention replacing over-used antibiotics with tailored bacteriophages, as the Russians do.

I can foresee that in a few decades, current use of antibiotics will be seen almost like butchery compared to keyhole surgery.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

I confess cynicism. I agree that would be an ideal world, but our current business model of big pharma medicine won't be looking for cures any time soon. Expensive ongoing treatment to manage conditions is far more lucrative.