Antibiotic Resistance

2016, Health  -   11 Comments
9.05
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Ratings: 9.05/10 from 94 users.

Antibiotics constitute one of the most consequential medical advancements of the past century. We rely on them to battle infections and disease, and they're often the first line of defense in emergency rooms and physician offices across the globe. But what happens when they stop working? This may sound like an apocalyptic premise, but the warning signs are undeniable. The new documentary short Antibiotic Resistance, produced by Australia's ABCTV Catalyst series, examines this oncoming crisis from the inside.

The documentary lays out the building blocks of this dilemma in a precise and scientific, yet easy-to-understand manner. We come in contact with countless microscopic bacteria every minute of our lives. The right balance aids in healthy digestion and an improved quality of life. When run amok, however, these bacteria can pose a severe threat against mankind. The invention of antibiotics in the 1940s gave hope to a medical community desperate to curb mortality rates from infection, and it's proven to be one of the greatest inventions in modern medicine.

The bacteria are fighting back and winning. Strains of bacteria such as E. coli are becoming more and more adept at resisting our antibiotic treatments. The more we take, the greater that resistance becomes. In some cases, these strains can evolve and regenerate within twenty minutes - far too quickly for medical science to catch up. This has resulted in increased instances hospital infections, sepsis, illness and death. It affects how well our bodies process the bacterial content of the food we eat.

Ironically, our heavy reliance on antibiotics could spell the end of this miracle treatment. As the filmmakers discover, this problem is particularly pronounced in Australia, which ranks as the largest user of antibiotics in the world at 30 million prescriptions annually. The medical community is looking within and urging for more awareness and self-regulation in order to curb the liberal use of antibiotic drugs.

Antibiotic Resistance takes us on a tour of various industries - from healthcare to agriculture - where researchers are working feverishly to combat this potential calamity. Will these displays of ingenuity save the day? Only time will tell, and the clock is ticking.

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11 Comments / User Reviews

  1. Younes Arbib

    Friends on Facebook:
    The best medicines against infections, that the Humanity has ever discovered and developed are Antibiotics.
    The dangerous drugs, that the Humanity have ever discovered and developed are also Antibiotics.
    Antibiotics is a medicine, that you must use according to the rules and within the rules, too much is dangerous and the less is also and certainly more dangerous.
    You must always respect the treatment rules and period. If you do not, the bacterium will become resistant and you will spread the deadly bacteria worldwide, which will lead to a Genocide Drama, that knows no boundaries and recognizes no boundaries.
    Hahahahahahahaha ...... .... I know a lot about Antibiotics. I have had antibiotics all my life. Fortunately, no longer.
    Do not forget ... !
    It takes years and years to develop the right antibiotics.

  2. seedgaia

    There is definitely something to be said for the anti-vaccine movement but obviously as other commenters have stated we don't see many cases of polio etc. That doesn't mean that all vaccines are perfect, I would never get a flu shot but I definitely do have my tetanus. Another commenter said they had severe mental reactions from AB use yet the doctor wouldn't confirm the correlation with the AB. With all the information about gut biology being so fundamental to total health, including mental health, some cases even suggesting links to autism, none of that story surprised me at all. Growing up my brother experienced severe night terrors around the age of 12, he could actually get up and throw stuff around the room or move around the house, one time he almost left the house. After doing some deep digging on google my mom told him to stop taking a nasal spray that had been prescribed for congestion due to allergies. The night terrors subsided from 3 or 4 times a week to about 1 a month to almost never like maybe every 6 months or a year as soon as he stopped taking the spray. So my personal experience is that things can be very twisted and well hidden, as I know a lot of readers wont even believe this now. Anything that can be exploited will be and the medical industry is a great example of that going all the way back to Rockefeller. And I agree with Mindy, the answer to disease resistant pigs is to incorporate them into well managed forest garden systems and allow the piggyness of the pig and the chickenyness of the chicken.

    lets hope to see more use of bacteriopaghes and bacteriocins which were not mentioned but are similar. For example milk cultured with a heirloom SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria & yeast) contains lots of bacteria species that all produce bacteriocins which kill similar bacteria and allow them to colonize. This is a potent and accessible AB and along with other natural AB like lemons, ginger, aloe etc. etc. etc. Conventional AB should only be used in a life or death situation.

  3. AlwaysNeutral

    We should put Joe and every other asinine, anti-vaccine advocates (jenny mccarthy) in a locked room with a bat carrying rabbies and a dog... Let them see first hand how the world would be without the miracle known as vaccination >;D

    Anyways back on topic, at first I was skeptical in regards to why reducing our intake of antibiotics would even be of importance in the first place in combating superbugs. It seems like superbugs will exist no matter what--even if everyone stopped using antibiotics. But the doc hinted a good point. If we haphazardly nuke our guts with ABs, we allow superbugs to grow at an expedited rate because the other microbials will die from ABs, thus giving superbugs less compeition and more room to flourish. This is a great and informative doc! I agree more research needs to be done in phages, let's target the actual superbugs, not the other random (mostly beneficial) bacteria.

  4. Jeff

    Some of the commenters need to learn what vaccines are and how they work. The two therapies described near the end of the video have absolutely nothing to do with vaccines. So calm down, set your hysterical beliefs aside, and perhaps learn something.

  5. mindy

    WHAT??? So to accommodate pig farms (where you can see how depressing their cement tiny pens are) by introducing VACCINES????? Are you insane?????? CHANGE THE WAY FARMING IS DONE...STOP CONFORMING TO INDUSTRIAL FARMING!!! How insane!

  6. martin

    the russians were the first to use bactiophage therapy and then the thought was dismissed

  7. Sharon

    Vaccines don't work? Polio has been nearly eradicated in the US thanks to vaccines given out (sometimes for free) from the 1950s on. How about smallpox? Don't see many people walking around with small pox scars.

    However, I have suffered severe reactions from two different antibiotics this past year--one so bad it made me refuse to take them unless forced. And that reaction involved a dramatic and scary change in mental status, something they were swearing up and down was not from the drug. However, I've discovered more research indicating how, by altering our intestinal flora, they can produce severe changes in other body systems. Even my doctor said that antibiotics can alter the amount of serotonin in the body, which is what probably produced the scary and dangerous effect in my mental state (severe suicidal ideation). I would only use them now in extreme situations. A strong immune system plus some help from nature is a safer way to go.

  8. Brian

    Good albeit short film. Presented in an easy to understand manner yet contains some very good information.

  9. Catherine Todd

    This is an important film I'm sure, but for me it's difficult to understand the different accent. What to do? Is there another similar film "made for America" perhaps?

  10. Joe

    By the way antibiotic are anti life works agent nature to push a reaction... Nice try

  11. Joe

    What kind of a documentary will assert that vaccines actually work on the first place they never did