Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria Essays - Pharmaceuticals Policy

Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria Essays - Pharmaceuticals Policy Antibiotic Resistance In Bacteria For about 50 years, antibiotics have been the answer to many bacterial infections. Antibiotics are chemical substances that are secreted by living things. Doctors prescribed these medicines to cure many diseases. During World War II, it treated one of the biggest killers during wartime - infected wounds. It was the beginning of the antibiotic era. But just when antibiotics were being mass produced, bacteria started to evolve and became resistant to these medicines. Antibiotic resistance can be the result of different things. One cause of resistance could be drug abuse. There are people who believe that when they get sick, antibiotics are the answer. The more times you use a drug, the more it will decrease the effect it has on you. That is because the bacteria has found a way to avoid the effects of that antibiotic. Another cause of resistance is the improper use of drugs. When patients feel that the symptoms of their disease have improved, they often stop taking the drug. Just because the symptoms have disappeared it does not mean the disease has gone away. Prescribed drugs should be taken until all the medicine is gone so the disease is completely finished. If it is not, then this will just give the bacteria some time to find a way to avoid the effects of the drug. One antibiotic that will always have a long lasting effect in history is penicillin. This was the first antibiotic ever to be discovered. Alexander Fleming was the person responsible for the discovery in 1928. In his laboratory, he noticed that in some of his bacteria colonies, that he was growing, were some clear spots. He realized that something had killed the bacteria in these clear spots, which ended up to be a fungus growth. He then discovered that inside this mold was a substance that killed bacteria. It was the antibiotic, penicillin. Penicillin became the most powerful germ-killer known at that time. Antibiotics kill disease-causing bacteria by interfering with their processes. Penicillin kills bacteria by attaching to their cell walls. Then it destroys part of the wall. The cell wall breaks apart and bacteria dies. After four years, when drug companies started to mass produce penicillin, in 1943, the first signs of penicillin-resistant bacteria started to show up. The first bacteria that fought penicillin was called Staphylococcus aureus. This bug is usually harmless but can cause an illness such as pneumonia. In 1967, another penicillin-resistant bacteria formed. It was called pneumococcus and it broke out in a small village in Papua New Guinea. Other penicillin resistant bacteria that formed are Enterococcus faecium and a new strain of gonorrhea. Antibiotic resistance can occur by a mutation of DNA in bacteria or DNA acquired from another bacteria that is drug-resistant through transformation. Penicillin-resistant bacteria can alter their cell walls so penicillin can not attach to it. The bacteria can also produce different enzymes that can take apart the antibiotic. Since antibiotics became so prosperous, all other strategies to fight bacterial diseases were put aside. Now since the effects of antibiotics are decreasing and antibiotic resistance is increasing, new research on how to battle bacteria is starting. Antibiotic resistance spreads fast but efforts are being made to slow it. Improving infection control, discovering new antibiotics, and taking drugs more appropriately are ways to prevent resistant bacteria from spreading. In developing nations, approaches are being made to control infections such as hand washing by health care people, and identifying drug resistant infections quickly to keep them away from others. The World Health Organization has began a global computer program that reports any outbreaks of drug-resistant bacterial infections. In the early 1900's, the discovery of penicillin began the antibiotic era. People thought they have finally won the battle with bacteria. But now since antibiotic resistance is increasing rapidly, new strategies must be developed to destroy these microbes. To many scientists the antibiotic era is over Bibliography Bylinsky, Gene. Sept. 5,1995. The new fight against killer microbes. Fortune. p. 74-76. Dixon, Bernard. March 17,1995. Return of the killer bugs. New Statesman & Society. p. 29-32. Levy, Stuart B. Jan. 15,1995. Dawn of the post-antibiotic era? Patient Care. p. 84-86. Lewis, Ricki. Sept. 1995. The rise of antibiotic-resistant infections. FDA Consumer. p. 11-15. Miller, Julie Ann. June 1995. Preparing for the postantibiotic era. BioScience. p. 384-392. an excellent news article summary, got me a 100, by strife007

What Is a placebo

What Is a placebo A placebo is a procedure or substance with no inherent medicinal value. Placebos are often used in statistical experiments, especially those involving pharmaceutical testing, in order to control the experiment as much as possible. We will examine the structure of experiments and see the reasons for using a placebo. Experiments Experiments typically involve two different groups: an experimental group and a control group. The members of the control group do not receive the experimental treatment and the experimental group does. In this way, we are able to compare the responses of members in both groups. Any differences that we observe in the two groups may be due to the experimental treatment. But how can we be sure? How do we really know if an observed difference in a response variable is the result of an experimental treatment? These questions address the presence of lurking variables. These kinds of variables influence the response variable but are often hidden. When dealing with experiments involving human subjects we should always be on the lookout for lurking variables. A careful design of our experiment will limit the effects of lurking variables. Placebos are one way to do this. Use of Placebos Humans can be difficult to work with as subjects for an experiment. The knowledge that one is a subject of an experiment and a member of a control group can affect certain responses. The act of receiving a medication from a doctor or nurse has a powerful psychological effect on some individuals. When someone thinks they are being given something that will produce a certain response, sometimes they will exhibit this response. Because of this, sometimes doctors will prescribe placeboes with therapeutic intent, and they can be effective treatments for some issues.   To mitigate any psychological effects of the subjects, a placebo can be given to the members of the control group. In this way, every subject of the experiment, in both the control and experimental groups, will have a similar experience of receiving what they think is medication from a health professional. This also has the added benefit of not revealing to the subject if he or she is in the experimental or control group. Types of Placebos A placebo is designed to be as close to the means of administration of the experimental treatment as possible. Thus placebos can take on a variety of forms. In the testing of a new pharmaceutical drug, a placebo might be a capsule with an inert substance. This substance would be chosen to have no medicinal value and is sometimes referred to as a sugar pill. It is important that the placebo mimic the experimental treatment as closely as possible. This controls the experiment by providing a common experience for everyone, no matter which group they are in. If a surgical procedure is the treatment for the experimental group, then a placebo for the members of the control group could take the form of a faked surgery. The subject would go through all of the preparation and believe that he or she was operated on, without the surgical procedure actually being performed.