Antibiotics: The Miracle Cure?

Abstract

Understanding the function of antibiotics sets the framework for understanding both their importance and their danger. Antibiotics were revolutionary to the field of medicine and have saved countless lives. However, recent research diving into gut flora, the microbes that inhabit a host, has discovered that microbiomes play a key role in a variety of health related problems. Knowing the mechanism in which antibiotics target bacteria allows one to see how they may pose a threat to the beneficial bacteria residing in human digestive tracts. Several of the problems that antibiotics pose stem from lack of consumer awareness. From overprescription to the lack of patent compliance, everyone has their own role to play in preventing antibiotic resistance. At the end of this chapter the reader should be able to not only recount the history of antibiotics and their function but be able to think critically about how antibiotics should be handled.