The antibiotic crisis: Could this be the end of modern medicine?

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies recently warned:

“… the rise in antibiotic-resistant diseases could trigger a national emergency comparable to a catastrophic terrorist attack, pandemic flu or major coastal flooding.”

She is on record as saying we could routinely see deaths from minor surgery if new antibiotics are not discovered – highlighting the immediate threats that antimicrobial resistance poses. She has called for politicians to act now, and for global action to be taken.

Her warnings are echoed by Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She recently predicted ‘the end of modern medicine’. The use of modern medicine is threatened because antibiotics have been so over-used that they’re now almost totally powerless against some ‘super strains’ of bacterial infection.

The basic problem is that the bugs breed thousands of times faster than we do – so they mutate and develop resistance faster than we can modify antibiotics. The frightening implication is that routine operations could become dangerous to carry out, and minor cuts and grazes become potentially life-threatening.

No New Antibiotics

The problem is that there are no new antibiotics in the pipeline. Indeed no new antibiotic has been developed in nearly 40 years.

Why? Because there is far more money for the drug companies in developing ‘blockbuster’ drugs for heart disease, cancer, diabetes and cholesterol. Although these largely only manage the symptoms of disease, their commercial advantage is that people will need repeat prescriptions for the rest of their lives. So they are ‘cash cows’.

There’s another issue that should concern us. Too many drugs have limited effect, too many cause unacceptable side effects, and some are outright dangerous. Incredibly, prescription drugs are now the fourth leading cause of death in the US behind cancer, heart disease and strokes, and kill more people every year than road traffic accidents (36,000).

Natural Preventative Healthcare

All this strongly suggests that you need to ensure that your immune system is functioning at peak rate. Wellmune beta glucans are a non-drug, food-derived (from yeast) natural ingredient that can help signficantly.

But first some basic biology: You effectively have two immune systems: the Acquired (or Adaptive) Immune System and the Innate Immune system.

Your Acquired Immune System is the one that ‘remembers’ a previously encountered pathogen or illness and reacts by producing antibodies. But that assumes you have encountered the threat before.

Your Innate Immune System is your ‘front line’ immune system. Its cells continuously patrol the body looking for foreign invaders – virus, bacteria or even abnormal cells. It includes Natural Killer cells and neutrophils.

There is evidence that our innate immune systems are now less active and effective than they were in the past, partly because there were more bacteria in the environment to react to – especially yeast bacteria in mould. But we have cleaned up our environment so much with anti-bacterial sprays, over-processed food etc that they get less challenge and are weaker. This is the so-called ‘hygiene hypothesis’.

Beta glucans prime the innate immune system

Wellmune beta glucans restore and boost the strength of the innate immune system. Because these beta glucans are derived from yeast cell walls, the immune system recognises them as a potential threat and increases the number and activity of neutrophils and Natural Killer cells.

Clinical research shows that Wellmune beta glucans do indeed enhance the immune system. Indeed it was rated in tests by the Department of Defence of a major NATO country as the number 1 top rated ‘immuno-modulator’ ie. immune enhancer.

Wellmune beta glucans are the main ingredient in ImmunoShield.