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Location: Antibiotics and Disease in a Zombie Apocalypse
Discussion: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
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Dr.Wheatie |
Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Jul 28 2010, 2:49 PM EDT
One thing you can do now to improve your odds of surviving disease after the apocalypse is to limit your use of antibiotics now. The main reasons for this recommendation are two-fold.1) The improper use or over use of antibiotics can harm your immune system's ability to fight infections. Your body's immune system and other functions depend on a balance of "good" bacteria and yeast. Antibiotics indiscriminately kill good and bad bacteria and can lead to an imbalance and subsequent dysfunction in your body's immune responses and other functions. In addition after an infection your body produces "memory cells" to help fight future recurrences of a similar infection. Improper use of antibiotics can blunt this response and decrease your body's natural defenses against future infections. 2) When you take an antibiotic a small fraction of the "bad" bacteria can survive (especially if an antibiotic is not finished) and then remultiply resulting in a resistant strain. This strain may take stronger and/or more antibiotics to defeat in the future. (Google MRSA or VRE for an example of this.) Educating yourself on the proper indications and use of antibiotics and working with your physician to use antibiotics properly and only when necessary will serve to maximize your ability to resist disease and maximize your response to antibiotics if they are needed in the future and , heaven forbid, post Z-day. 2 out of 2 found this valuable. Do you?
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antibiotics
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toxic_shock |
1. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 5 2010, 11:01 PM EDT
I saw this thread last week but didn’t have time for it then. I'm no physician, but I agree 100% percent. Laying off the meds now will increase your chances of not needing them when they aren’t available anymore. Using a minimal amount of medication also keeps you from building up a tolerance, and a tolerance to medication is bad, Z-day or not.One of my friends gets bad headaches, and used to pop Advil like they were Skittles. He probably took one to four pills per day, at any sign of a headache. Now, only a few years later, two or four Tylenols or Advils do nothing for him, and the headaches get worse and worse. My step-dad is the same way with Tums, needs ‘em at every meal almost. I take no prescriptions and only take painkillers when I am horribly hung over. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
TheLoadedGun |
2. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 6 2010, 3:34 PM EDT
Indeed. Limit any medications in general, cause you never know. I took an Advil today for the first time in years. Lay off common drugs especially, because you won't always have the best medicine in the world.
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madworld0909 |
3. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 6 2010, 3:45 PM EDT
Wow, I would've never thought of this, in fact I'm pretty sure I would've been receptive to the idea of using antibiotics more during Z-day. Nice to know! Especially with other members of my family who have been taking antibiotics as of late.
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Dr.Wheatie |
4. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 7 2010, 6:16 PM EDT
"One of my friends gets bad headaches, and used to pop Advil like they were Skittles. He probably took one to four pills per day, at any sign of a headache. Now, only a few years later, two or four Tylenols or Advils do nothing for him, and the headaches get worse and worse. My step-dad is the same way with Tums, needs ‘em at every meal almost.I could, and may start a whole new thread on pain-relievers. Although Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Aleve etc. are over the counter (OTC) they are not necessarily safe or always used in an appropriate manner. There is such a thing as Tylenol withdrawal headaches. The chronic use of Tylenol or other OTC meds for headaches and pain can actually trigger more headaches and pain when the meds wear off. I will say there is a time when a person requires medical relief of pain. I do believe however that pain medication is overused and that there is an advantage to learning to tolerate some pain and to allow your body to naturally deal with it just as antibiotics are overused and we should learn to tolerate some infections and let our bodies deal with them. Post-Z do you want to be the person needing to constantly scavenge for Tylenol to relieve minor aches and pains? Learn to allow your mind and body to deal with minor aches and pains now to help in the future especially WTSHTF. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
Madurjafro |
5. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 7 2010, 9:58 PM EDT
Well I agree with this whole thread that we should use less "Meds" as I'll call it. I took some Ibuprofen earlier today (well yesterday) to relieve some neck pain, honestly my mum said it was from bad sleeping angle, I think it was the fact that I stayed on the comp for like, ages.Reading this thread though, I've figured my mums F***ed Do you find this valuable? |
Eritsukukun |
6. RE: Limit antibiotics Pre-Z
Aug 8 2010, 8:58 AM EDT
This also applies to alcohol soap that they used during the bird/swine flu scares.that kind of soap shouldn't even be allowed to be used anywhere outside a hospital. If you surround yourself with alcohol resistant bacteria you will have a much harder time to keep infection away when you get hurt. Do you find this valuable? |
