Last , but certainly not least , the THIRD view. As I mentioned in my last two blogs there are three views and this post will cover the last view. The last view is that antibiotics should not be prolonged under ANY circumstance.

Andrew , our professor, is one of the scientist who believe that the continuous use of antibiotics after you feel better is complete and utter nonsense. He believes that bacteria that cause infections are living , and in prescribing antibiotics , we are basically picking a fight with mother nature. This is because sooner rather than later the infection evolves to be resistant against the antibiotics that doctors prescribe to get rid of it. This resistance has been seen for years on end. Andrew answers the obvious question that many scientist refuse to address “if you have antibiotic-resistant pathogens in you, wouldn’t they survive antibiotic treatment no matter how long the course?” basically saying what is the point of taking antibiotics for weeks on end if there are these pathogens that are going to resist it any ways? It doesn’t matter how long you take the antibiotic it is still not going to work.. all it’s going to do is create more resistance  in the other pathogens that weren’t resisting the drug. He goes into more depth here in this video.

Moreover, Robert Bearmore , also a scientist, whose research is on the same page agrees with Andrew. He even suggests that much of what doctors consider to be “good practice“, which is taking all antibiotics is beneficial, is actually based more on assumption than actual evidence. Bearmore tests this “good practice” with E. coli bacteria.  What he found was continuing antibiotic dosages actually increased and quickened bacteria resistance rather then eliminating it. This leads us back to the the question Andrew answered “if you have antibiotic-resistant pathogens in you, wouldn’t they survive antibiotic treatment no matter how long the course?” Bearmore proves that YES it will in fact not only survive but cause other pathogens to multiply AND resist.

My take away from all of this is , Andrew and Robert have a really compelling case… (no I am not only saying that because he is my professor) but really their test even proves their proposition is correct. However, I don’t know which view I would actually go along with next time I am prescribed antibiotics for an infection, and that’s only because my ENTIRE life I have grown up to believe that doctors know it all. Who am I to question them? Once a belief is set in stone it is hard to reverse it, but if doctors were to get on board with scientists such as Andrew and Robert, than I would be on board also. The reason is I am a paranoid person and a hypochondriac so since I am not a scientist myself I would think that if I don’t follow the doctor’s orders I will be lying somewhere in some hospital, wishing I followed directions, but that’s just me.