Sorry about the very late response, I’ve had a lot of things to work on lately.
...antibiotics are like giving your immune system speed while in combat.
Eh? Antibiotics kill bacteria, but don’t necessarily act on the immune system. Giving someone cytokines or some sort of interferon could perhaps be compared to speed, but I don’t see how penicillin could be.
The trouble is that they knacker other parts of your system...
I think you could make the case that they negatively impact the bacteria that live in your gastrointestinal tract. Aside from that minor problem, I haven’t ever come across this idea, and would like to see some evidence on this.
...they also screw about with the bodies balance.
Which homeostatic mechanism do they alter?
Is it again unreasonable to speculate in this direction in relation to the increased prevalence of autoimmune diseases in our society?
There’s nothing wrong with speculating, I just want some evidence to back it up.
A comforting perspective, but alas erroneous.
Then why is age the biggest risk factor for cancer?
As far as I understand it there is another epidemic that will surely kill as effectively as any flu but far more slowly and that is obesity.
Thankfully, it will only kill people unwilling to regulate their metabolic activity either by exercising more or eating less. However, I should point out that I am trying to get rid of my American flab as I write this. 
1 in 6 kids has asthma in the UK which is.....interesting.
It is interesting, but the possibility that this is caused by the overuse of antibacterial agents is still very controversial.
In this centuary we are almost certain to see the return of TB and a whole host of antibiotic resistant bacteria
This is dependent upon whether these bacteria can adapt to resist all antibiotics. In addition, new antibiotics are being made on a regular basis. It may turn out to be a serious problem, or we might be worrying over nothing.
So are you then saying that there aren't areas that have
1] a greater density of microbial action
2] that it isn't an important issue immune system-wise running into utterly novel microbes.......like say the native americans and smallpox?
For your first question no I'm not saying that at all. Last time I heard this was the breakdown of the estimated 10^30 bacteria on the planet:
Air: 10^19
Human Associated: 10^22
Other Animals: 10^24
Soil: 10^29
Ocean: 10^29
Subsurface: 6.5 * 10^29
So, if we're just worried about microbe density we should be avoiding the ocean and the inside of the earth as much as possible.
For your second question, I recognize that animals act as reservoirs for diseases. However, it is my opinion that we’ve already run into the vast majority of things that we could potentially encounter.
That said you don't really have to silence everyone at an individual level you simply don't allow it into the mass media, in this country it's called a D notice.
I'm not too familiar with the British media. However, isn't it true that the D notice is voluntary, and that not all news providers are involved?
Seems like yeah, bushmeat has been documented as a disease vector.
I’m not going to argue with the World Health Organization. |
