Abstract During World War II a medicine was discovered and was named as antibiotic. In the early years those medicines were called miracles because it was very effective against pathogens; however, bacteria also developed a technique called antibiotic resistance which started to make the so called “miracle drugs” ineffective overtime. Technology is now hoping to fight back by creating to new treatment methods in a diverse manner. Will they succeed to reduce the occurrence of this incoming threat? I. Introduction As technology progresses, medicine finds itself endless and sometimes futile battles against many modern and old threats to life.
Why has medicine proved effective in curbing diseases, while it has made little or hardly little or hardly any progress it its battle against many others? How effective is medicine expected to be in curtailing stubborn diseases in the near future? After the discovery of antibiotics which are chemicals that inhibit the growth of or kill micro-organisms, diseases and infections were fading and the cure to them was easy; however, the common use of antibiotics created a process in the pathogen called antibiotic-resistance.
For example, the anti-biotic named penicillin was used to treat many infected soldiers at World War II. It has proved to be effective and invigorating them again. After that incident penicillin was used to cure variety of infections in a wide range, but one day in the year 1967 a penicillin resistant pathogen has emerged and proved the cure wrong by making it ineffective (Daniel Crisswell 2004). The process of antibiotic resistance is growing rapidly in the modern age due to the common use of these medicines; however, technology still has hope with future medications. II. Antibiotic Resistance I.
Emerging Pathogens Antibiotics might become rarely effective against their enemy in the near future. First of all, pathogens are incessantly resistant, for they make the medicines less effective every day. Antibiotic resistance is inevitable, scientist anticipated that bacteria and viruses will become superior to medicines someday which will lead to human extinction. Bacteria can transfer resisting genes to neighboring bacteria (Dr. John Turnidge). The proof of this theory is the emerging diseases. The frequent use of antibiotics can cause new diseases to emerge along with the mutation and environmental changes.
According to figure 1, the bird flu disease became highly infectious around 2004-2007 due to its mutation which raised the complexity to cope with it. II. Immune System Vaccination is process of taking a vaccine which improves the immunity to certain pathogens. Memory cells are cells from the immune system that has information about the recently cured disease. Vaccines are often useful in creating memory cells before the pathogen strikes. Vaccines have prevented over 20 million diseases successfully for around 30 years; however, emerging diseases such as, HIV keeps mutating and causing critical damage to mankind.
According to (Mr. Betsy Bauman) “Antibiotics are truly miracle drugs that have saved countless millions of lives, but antibiotic resistance is a critical public health issue that is eroding the effectiveness of antibiotics and may affect the health of each and every one of us. ” Not all viruses are the same. Figure 2 shows a bacteriophage virus on the left and an HIV virus on the right. The difference is the HIV viruses’ genetic material has extra support with its envelope. Bacteriophage is a predator that has bacteria as a prey.
That is sometime’s an advantage for the humans since scientists can use these viruses to get rid of some bacteria in certain infections. In short, no matter how technology will develop pathogen’s can level up to face it as well. III. Medication Misuse Moreover, medication can impair the pain if used in unnecessary timings. God created an immune system in our body that fights the pathogens back. In most cases we need to depend on our immune system. Immune system can malfunction or can’t fight back sometimes; therefore, we are allowed to help the immune system with some antibiotics.
A misuse for antibiotics is when they are used against viruses such as the flu infection. An antibiotic cannot face a virus; it is specialized to boost the immune system with enzymes to fight bacteria. III. Medication Improvements I. New medicine resisting method Without a doubt, scientists must find a way to stop the bacterial resistance in this world. Although that’s impossible, biomedical engineers are working on new ways to oppose the resistant bacteria successfully. Researchers in San Diego University believe they found a new way to produce antibiotics with a much faster rate than they used to do.
Similarly to bacteria, researchers are mutating antibiotics endlessly to discover the new resistance method and remove the previous one (Gina Buss), so it’s like hitting two birds with one stone. II. Fighting back bacteria In addition, Eric brown a professor in biochemistry and biomedical scientists took a suggestion from one of his students to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria’s, that “instead of targeting the bacteria in general, hit right on the bacterial membrane. ” However, two chemical compounds are required for greater effectiveness and less toxicity (Suzanne Morrison 2013). Figure 3 shows a basic bacterial figure.
If the membranes were targeted the genetic material or the DNA will be defenseless, as stated by Eric Brown “The bacterial membrane is a fundamental structure for energy production and storage in bacteria that functions like a battery. ” Technology is still in a struggle; however, there is still hope to find new ways to fight back, new methods never end. III. The enemy is an ally? Recent discoveries have leaded the scientific technology to treat diverse types of cancer using the enemy. The College Of Medicine At Urbana-Champaign found a new way to increase the percent of treating cancer dramatically.
Using the smallpox virus, researchers have concluded that it can customize the patient’s immune system to fight cancer. Shisler one of the researchers on this treatment states that “Viruses are giving us clues as to what they perceive as a target, There’s a lot of rich information to be learned about how they neutralize immune response. ” In short, the near future might hopefully use the family of smallpox causing viruses to terminate the cancer threat. IV. Conclusion In conclusion, overuse of medications lead to medical disasters that are hopefully might be solved one day.
Mutations of the pathogens are hindering the antibiotics from doing their jobs, as a result new diseases are emerged. Medicine misuse can affect the person critically as well as improve the bacteria; therefore, researches have been made to fight back this resistance. Trying new methods of treatment although they are risky are vital to stand up against the non stopping development of the enemy. Is technology ascending successfully or are the infectors? V.
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