Antibiotics Kill Your Body's Good Bacteria, Too, Leading To Serious
Health Risks

Dr. Mercola's Comments:

The information that follows is a two-part article taken directly from
Doug Kaufmann and Dave Holland, MD's new book, "The Fungus Link,
Volume 2." Inside this follow-up to the Fungus Link, published in
2000, you'll not only learn about the dangers of antibiotics. You'll
also learn about the ins and outs of natural and prescriptive
antifungals. Additionally, Doug and Dave share with you the role fungi
and their mycotoxins play in what are unfortunately everyday diseases
such as prostatitis, ear-nose-throat disorders, weight problems
(including obesity and anorexia), autoimmune diseases, hormonal
disorders, neurologic diseases, hair loss, and eye problems.

To preorder this or any of Doug Kaufmann's books, you can call Doug's
office at 972-772-0990, M-F 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central.

You can also get books in person and learn about the role of fungi and
mycotoxins in cancer and diabetes as Doug and Dave talk with you live
at their next interactive seminar in Ft. Worth, TX, June 28th at
Pantego Bible Church, 8001 Anderson Blvd. Ft. Worth, TX 76120. Click
here for directions. You can register for the seminar by also calling
the office or visiting the website.

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by Doug Kaufmann

"It is ironic that this humbled fungus, hailed as a benefactor of
mankind, may by its very success prove to be a deciding factor in the
decline of the present civilization."

-Dr. John I. Pitt, The Genus Penicillum, Academic Press, 1979

Simply put, antibiotics are poisons that are used to kill. Only
licensed physicians can prescribe them. The drugs are used to kill
bacteria. Certainly, many people have benefited from using them.
However, if bacteria were the only organisms that antibiotics killed,
much of this book would be unnecessary. In fact, I con­tend that
poisons that kill small organisms in small doses -- organism-specific
varieties notwithstanding -- can also kill big organisms, when they
are taken in big doses. You, my friend, are a big organism.

We've talked about the link between fungus and human disease. This
chapter addresses the possibility that antibiotics may help fungi to
proliferate within the human body.

As an adult human, you have three to four pounds of beneficial
bacteria and yeast living within your intestines. These microbes
compete for nutrients from the food you eat. Usually, the strength in
numbers beneficial bacteria enjoy both keeps the ever-present yeasts
in check and causes them to produce nutrients such as the B vitamins.

However, every time you swallow antibiotics, you kill the beneficial
bacteria within your intestines. When you do so, you upset the
delicate balance of your intestinal terrain. Yeasts grow unchecked
into large colonies and take over, in a condition called dysbiosis.

Yeasts are opportunistic organisms. This means that, as the intestinal
bacteria die, yeasts thrive, especially when their dietary needs are
met. They can use their tendrils, or hyphae, to literally poke holes
through the lining of your intestinal wall. This results in a syndrome
called leaky gut. Yeasts are not the only possible cause of this
syndrome. Some scientists have linked non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory
drugs (NSAIDS) such as naproxen and ibuprofen to the problem. Given
their ability to alter intestinal terrain, antibiotics also likely
contribute to leaky gut syndrome.

In addition to possibly causing leaky gut syndrome, I believe that
parasitic yeasts can also cause you to change what you eat in that
they encourage you to binge on carbohydrates including pasta, bread,
sugar, potatoes, etc. So, it should come as no surprise that weight
gain counts as one of the telltale signs of antibiotic damage and
subsequent yeast overgrowth.

By altering the normal terrain of the intestines, antibiotics can also
make food allergies more likely. An array of intestinal disorders can
ensue, as well. Sadly, most doctors claim ignorance concerning their
patients' intestinal disorders rather than admit that the drugs they
themselves prescribed actually caused the disorders to begin with.

Tons of antibiotics are fed to American livestock on a daily basis,
purportedly to proof them against bacteria. This practice not only
possibly contributes to antibiotic resistance in humans -- many
experts feel weight gain, and not disease prevention, is the real
reason antibiotics are so widely used. Fat cattle sell for more than
thin cattle. That's all very well, but imagine what the antibiotics
thereby possibly present in dairy products could be doing to our
children's health.

Back in the 1950s, two researchers in Albany, New York, worked to
develop an antimicrobial drug from a substance produced by a soil-
based fungus. Although the nystatin they discovered is technically a
mycotoxin, it works wonders an intestinal antifungal. This as yet
revolutionary drug stops the yeast overgrowth caused by all other
antibiotics and is 100 percent safe to use. In addition, nystatin
works with no side effects, though it can cause a pseudo sickness that
patients often confuse with side effects.

Also in the 1950s, scientists used mice to grade the relative toxicity
of 340 antibiotics (Dr. William S. Spector, The Handbook of Toxicity,
1957). The researchers based their rankings on the amount of a given
antibiotic required to kill half of the lab mice injected with it. I
relate this story only to ask you, before 1957, how did scientists
decide what would serve as prescriptive doses for these very same
antibiotics when used in humans?

I'll assume that the same toxicity scale remains in place today. If it
does, and if a given dose of penicillin will kill 50 percent of mice
injected, it stands to reason that a much larger dose, or perhaps
repetitive doses extended over 40 years, might prove fatal to a human.
I don't know if larger doses are in fact administered to people. And,
the 40-year scenario has its problems. But you have to admit, it's
certainly food for thought.

The time span between when patients take rounds of antibiotics and
when they die interests me. That's because I believe that few people
really die of heart disease and diabetes. In actuality, antibiotics
are responsible for deaths attributed to these diseases, because these
drugs are what caused people to develop the diseases to begin with.
And yet, incredibly, death certificates usually state the probable
cause of death without mentioning whether the deceased had a history
of taking antibiotics.

Remember, antibiotics are dangerous mycotoxins -- fungal metabolites.
Just as importantly, medical experts have written articles maintaining
that these drugs kill people. But, other experts insist on remaining
sceptical as to the problem, even though these same experts readily
recognize the link between weakened immune systems and death.

According to the 2001 Allergy and Asthma Report, the first
immunodeficiency syndrome was identified in 1952. This document tells
us that since that time, "more than 95 immune syndromes have been
identified, with new conditions coming to light every day." The report
goes on to say that research indicates that "increased antibiotic use
in human infancy may be associated with increased risk of developing
allergies."

Max Planck won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics. He once weighed in as
to why science is slow to change even in the presence of overwhelming
evidence that it should do so.

"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents
and making them see the light," Planck said, "but rather because its
opponents eventually die and a new generation grows up that is
familiar with the ideas from the beginning."

That a new generation will grow up knowing of the dangers inherent in
taking antibiotics is a good thing. That doctors will continue
randomly prescribing fungal toxins should teach us the importance of
knowing medical facts before blindly accepting any prescription.
Please study the antimicrobial benefits and the immune system
stimulants that nature provides. Know also that, in some instances,
antibiotics may become necessary.

If you reach the point where no alternatives exist, I recommend that
you ask your doctor to prescribe nystatin simultaneously with the
antibiotic (see Dr. Holland's article). Also, keep in mind the post-
antibiotic importance of restoring the intestinal terrain with plain
yogurt and probiotics. If you experience bloating, belching, gas,
constipation, diarrhea, GERD, or other intestinal problems, probiotics
can play an important role in restoring your intestinal terrain.

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Antibiotics -- to Take or Not to Take?
by David A. Holland, M.D.

I looked up antibiotics in Harrison's Textbook of Internal Medicine.
The listing referred me to "antimicrobials." This caused me to realize
how much more accurately the second term describes these substances,
given the broad-spectrum nature of a lot of them.

I must confess that, as a doctor, I do prescribe "antimicrobials."
Perhaps I prescribe more antifungals and nonprescription remedies than
the usual doctor, but I do prescribe antibiotics, as well. Perhaps
even more horrifying, considering Doug's articles condemning them, is
that I've taken them myself! In fact, in these times it's a rare
individual who goes through life without ingesting those little pills.
So, three questions have become important -- when should you take
antibiotics, when should you refrain, and what will you do when you've
already taken them?

Alexander Fleming, by the grace of God, brought us a mixed blessing in
1928 with his accidental discovery of penicillin produced by, of all
things, a fungus. Medicine's interest treating people for exposure to
fungi dropped dramatically in succeeding years, until the microbes
were only thought important insofar as their ability to produce
increasingly diverse varieties of antibiotics.

Interest in fighting bacteria proliferated like a flesh-eating Strep
infection, fueling the race to discover ever more antibiotics.
Pharmaceutical salespeople invaded doctors' offices and hospitals,
intent on convincing physicians their antibiotic was better than the
others. These salespeople supported their pitches with studies,
graphs, charts and convincing stats, while often failing to mention
that their research had been funded by their own companies. The
possible conflict of interest was, and remains, enormous.

I have no quarrel with such salespeople. They're regular men and women
like you and me, just trying to make a living. However, when human
lives are involved, funding research to prove that your own product is
better than the competition's is just plain wrong. The advantage is
obvious, and the danger that a great deal of objectivity could be lost
is only all too real.

I believe that an impartial, third party should be assigned to perform
such research, funded by a mandatory "ante" from all pharmaceutical
compan­ies involved in producing a given category of drug. Of course,
that will be the day! In case the above scenario never happens, we
would do well to take with several grains of salt the unregulated
information that companies provide about their own products.

Perhaps you are wondering about the use -- and abuse -- of antibiotics
in general. Let me give you an example. One of the most common
diagnoses given at a doctor's office is the upper respiratory
infection (URI). It accounts for up to 70 percent of all antibiotics
dispensed (Annals of Internal Medicine. American College of
Physicians. American Society of Internal Medicine. March 20, 2001).

However, according to Dr. Carol Kauffman, most URIs are not caused by
the bacteria that antibiotics are designed to fight. Rather, Kauffman
says, they are caused by fungi. So, unless a secondary, bacterial
infection presents itself -- and even then, the rules change -- most
URIs do not require the use of antibiotics.

Regarding ear infections, in one study, children administered
antibiotics for acute otitis media suffered double the rate of adverse
effects compared to children in the study who took placebos (Clinical
Evidence. 2000). The difference in outcome for those children in the
study who took antibiotics compared to those who do not was almost
negligible. Some scientists counter that children who take antibiotics
run lower risks of secondary ear infections such as meningitis or
mastoiditis (infection of the angular bone located behind your ear).

Of course, the landscape is complicated by noncompliance. The portion
of people who take their antibiotics as prescribed has been estimated
at anywhere between 8 to 68 percent. So it's difficult to say just how
effective antibiotics actually are.

Now, say my daughter were to get sick for 10 days, miserable with a
high fever and screaming ear pain. Say our doctor said her ear canal
checked out as angry red. Am I going to have my daughter take the
prescription? Probably so. We cared for a young woman at the hospital
where I worked who was literally at her death bed with overwhelming
Streptococcal -- bacterial -- pneumonia. One of her lungs was
saturated with the infection, which had also spread throughout her
bloodstream.

I went on to my next rotation thinking that was the last I would hear
of that patient. However, I later spoke with her attending physician.
He told me she walked out of that hospital, completely cured. So,
antibiotics save lives, but it's not exactly a common occurrence.
Certainly, most of you out there suffering from the common cold are
not near death, so you should think twice about taking antibiotics.

The non-synthetic antibiotics are fungal by-products called
mycotoxins. Penicillin is perhaps the best example. In other words,
mycotoxins kill off fungi's competitors, allowing fungi to grab up all
of the nutrients for themselves. Alexander Fleming himself observed
this in action, and it later led him to develop penicillin. When a
mold -- molds are fungi -- contaminated a bacteria colony upon which
Fleming was performing an experiment, the invader cleared the area
around it of all bacteria. When Fleming investigated, It turned out
that the fungus had produced a substance he would later call
penicillin, killing the bacteria in residence.

Just because they kill bacteria, you may be thinking, doesn't mean
that some, many or especially all of the mycotoxins used as
antibiotics are necessarily harmful to human beings. A. V. Costantini
in effect counters this idea when he speaks of the work of two
scientists by the name of Bernstein and Ross. Costantini says that the
men found that two or more months of treatment with penicillin and
other antibiotics contributed to what they saw as a "significantly
increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in humans (Costantini, A. V.
Fungalbionics. 1998)."

How many people, children included, have undergone dose after dose of
antibiotics for recurring infections? Doug and I believe that these
relatively small doses taken over long periods of time are actually
harming us in similar, incremental fashion, later showing up as
cancer, diabetes, vasculitis or other diseases.

We take antibiotics when we are sick, when our immune systems weaken.
The mycotoxins pharmacies dispense for use as antibiotics only
exacerbate the problem, because the lion's share of these substances
have been shown to be immunosuppressants (CAST Report No. 116.
November 1989.). Not only are they capable of hamstringing our immune
systems, they also destroy the friendly bacteria that guard our
intestines.

These friendly bacteria include Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidus and
Bulgaricus, supplements for which can be found in any health food
store's refrigerated section. They protect us against pathogens such
as Salmonella, yeast, cholera, and the bad E. coli. They are so potent
that, prior a trip abroad, to protect yourself from traveler's
diarrhea you'd do better to skip the usual antibiotics and instead
take acidophilus supplements.

Unfortunately, these good flora are so vulnerable to antibiotics that,
in mice, a "single injection of streptomycin can eradicate the
protective effect of the normal flora. (Mandell. Principles and
Practice of Infectious Diseases. 2000.)" And, once gone, these
friendly bacteria are replaced by hostile bacteria such as
Pseudomonas, Clostridium, and Klebsiella, and by Candida yeast, a
powerful member of the fungi family.

So, we have the good and the bad regarding our chemical friends known
as antibiotics. They can "save the day" at times, but they have ruined
them at others -- just ask any woman with a yeast infection or look at
any baby who suffers from thrush. You should know that, even should
you just say "no" when your doctor moves to prescribe antibiotics for
you, theoretically speaking you may still be taking them with every
bite of steak and pork you eat.

That's because more antibiotics per pound are used on livestock than
in human medicine. How much of those antibiotics are passed on is
difficult to determine, but the mere possibility of this kind of thing
is certainly a worry.

Our goal in this book is to educate you and to help you make informed
decisions. Some final, simple tips follow:

An ounce of prevention.... Exercise, eat intelligently and take a few
supplements. Avoid alcohol, smoking, and recreational drugs. Get some
rest once in a while. Pray.

Despite our best efforts, most of us will get sick at some point and
decide to go see a doctor. If you are a stubborn, married man, your
wife will likely make the appointment for you.

Ask Questions. If your doctor diagnoses you with an upper respiratory
infection, sore throat (in which the strep test is negative),
bronchitis, sinusitis, or ear infection, and you wonder if you really
need an antibiotic, make a point of asking her about it. A lot of
physicians would be pleasantly surprised that one of their patients
would even consider trying to recuperate without antibiotics. Ask if
you can treat your condition symptomatically and come back or call in
a couple of days if you are not better.

If your questions annoy your doctor, then get another doctor. After
all, you pay the bills, either directly or out of your paycheck in the
form of insurance, and you deserve adequate treatment. On the other
hand, if you feel you, in fact, do need an antibiotic and your doctor
disagrees, try to work a deal in which she will prescribe an
antibiotic for you if you don't feel better in a couple of days. I
learned an important lesson about this kind of disagreement during
college, on a visit to the infirmary. The doctor there refused to give
me an antibiotic for a URI I'd come down with. I had to suppress my
anger at what I saw as arrogance on his part, but lo and behold, he
was right. I got better without the pills I'd been sure I'd needed. I
think a lot of people tend to underestimate their bodies' healing
abilities, in much the same way as I did. That's just one reason why
doctors are oftentimes in a better position to make the call as to
whether or not to prescribe.

Take an objective look at yourself and your life-style. If you keep
coming down with the same thing, do some research and a little
thinking. Do you drink a lot of soda? Do you smoke? Are you taking
antibiotic after antibiotic and now have a secondary yeast or fungal
infection? How is your spiritual life? Your stress level? The point
is, myriad factors contribute to "wellness."

As far as chronic sinus infections go, Johns Hopkins researchers are
now saying most such conditions are caused by a fungus. So, if you do
have chronic sinusitis, stop taking antibiotics, get on an antifungal
diet, and ask your doctor for antifungal medications. If your doctor
refuses, visit a health food store for natural, off-the-shelf
antifungals such as olive leaf extract, garlic, and Caprylic acid.

Once you improve, make sure you go back and let your doctor know how
things worked out. Chances are she is neither experienced nor
comfortable with prescribing antifungal medication. Your story may
convince her to do her own research, the first step to changing her
treatment philosophy.

It shouldn't be too difficult to convince your doctor to let you try a
prescription of nystatin. As one of the better gut antifungals,
nystatin is also remarkably safe and free of side-effects.

If you've decided to go ahead and take an antibiotic:

Get the facts. Ask your doctor how many days you must take the
antibiotic and if you, in fact, do need the latest, most powerful one
on the market. Simple urinary tract infections are now treated with
only three days of antibiotics. Sinus infections, bronchitis, and ear
infections in children over two years of age can be treated with as
few as five days of antibiotics, new or old, generic or name brand.
This may not be possible, however, if you have other medical
conditions or if you smoke.

Build trust. Commit to the full course of the antibiotic unless you
experience significant side effects or an allergic reaction. You
sought medical advice and agreed to the prescription. You will build
trust with your doctor if you work as a team. This trust will be very
important once you see number 3 below.

Take an antifungal with the antibiotic. For example, you could ask
your doctor for a prescription of nystatin to take during the course
of your antibiotic. Many dermatologists do this when prescribing long-
term antibiotic courses for acne. I suggest adults take two tablets
twice a day -- 1 cc of suspension twice a day for children -- to
prevent yeast overgrowth in your intestines. Most cases of upset
stomach or diarrhea that kick in a few days of beginning a round of
antibiotics can be cured with a single dose of the drug. Diarrhea
after a two-week round of antibiotics is likely caused by a different
bug altogether -- be sure to bring that to your doctor's attention.

I should tell you that, in my clinical practice years, many of my
patients made great strides against acne through taking nystatin and a
change in diet alone, without the antibiotics.

Supplement your intake. Take an antioxidant supplement, one which
includes vitamin E, zinc, selenium, vitamin C, and vitamin A, among
others. According to A.V. Costantini, all antioxidants are antifungal.
(Costantini. 1998.)

Keep your bowels moving. If antibiotics kill off your friendly,
intestinal bacteria, once you cease taking antibiotics you'll run a
higher risk of infection by other, more hostile bacteria. These
bacteria will be quick to find and exploit pockets of debris that
could be collecting and putrefying in your intestines if you happen to
become constipated. So, be sure to keep your digestive tract as clear
as possible until you can repopulate it with friendly bacteria.
Psyllium hulls fiber from your local health food store is the best,
bulk fiber to use, as long as you don't have a history of intestinal
obstruction. Psyllium not only relieves constipation. It also slows
diarrhea by absorbing excess water.

Replace the good bacteria in your intestines. Supplement with an
acidophilus supplement for a few weeks following any course of
antibiotics. Do not take these simultaneously with your antibiotic, or
you will simply end up with a lot of very dead, albeit still friendly
bacteria in your intestines. At the very most, take acidophilus
supplements either in between antibiotic doses or after you have
completely finished your prescription.

Look back at why you became ill to begin with. I once suffered from
strep throat after indulging in half a box of chocolates. That should
have come as no surprise. Who wouldn't be crippled by that amount of
garbage? More than likely, you have your own experience regarding
similar binges. My point is, diet plays at least as much a role as
actual exposure to germs as to whether we get sick -- when we are
healthy and eating correctly, our bodies are amazingly resistant to
infection.

One, last note: Please ignore advertisements that recommend guzzling
orange juice for the vitamin C it contains. A big dose of sugar is
what you'd actually be getting. I have heard more than a few patients
note that once they felt they were coming down with something, they
immediately began downing glass after glass of orange juice, only to
get even sicker. They concluded that they must not have caught the
illness in time, which couldn't have been any further from the truth.

The truth is, they simply fueled the fire of their infections with
lots of sugar, all because they trusted a corporation's advertisement
to educate them about proper healing strategies. If you want that much
vitamin C, you will be perfectly fine taking it in the 1,000 mg pill
form a few times a day. As far as fluid requirements are concerned,
your body is 70 percent water -- and that is exactly what it needs!

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