When we have runny nose or sore throat, we go to see doctors. We ask doctors to prescribe antibiotics, and then they may reluctantly prescribe antibiotics for you.
Antibiotics are drugs which can kill bacteria usually by making them not be able to produce bacterial essential proteins or popping up open their cell walls. However, these work only to bacteria, not virus or fungi.
Usually, when we have cold, flu, short-term sinus infection, bronchitis, or runny nose, it is virus which makes you ill. So, it is no good to use antibiotics for them.
But, tens of millions of antibiotics are prescribed in a year for virus. Doctors say that the reason they write unnecessary prescriptions are mainly because of patients' demand, according to Centers for Disease control and Prevention.
If your doctor says that you or your kids will be better soon without medication, you can just follow his professional ideas, not feeling like you wasted time and money for nothing. In fact, it's better for you and our community.
You probably have heard of 'antibiotics resistance'. Unnecessary uses of antibiotics increase it significantly.
To bacteria, antibiotics are harmful agents. Just like all the creatures on the Earth, they evolve and try to survive in the environment with antibiotics, so bacteria gain the ability to resist to the antibiotics. It is even easier for bacteria because they divide into two every few hours and many mutations occur meanwhile. It is way faster than the rate human develops new stronger antibiotics.
If we use antibiotics too often, it will accelerate bacteria to get resistant to antibiotics. Already, there are some bacteria which are not treatable with any antibiotics existing.
Showing posts with label Health Information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health Information. Show all posts
Monday, June 2, 2008
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Mad Cow Disease
There have been many protests in Korea against importing cows from the US for several days. Police collided with citizens to stop them violently.
Police shot a high-pressure water cannon directly to a guy on a peaceful 'candle' demonstration and became blind. Police stumped on a girl who was in a demonstration and beat up a reporter from one of the biggest Korean broadcasting systems.
Here, law graduate students from Seoul National University claim that police' suppression is illegal (written in Korean).They made it clear that even if policemen got an order from their boss, if it's obvious illegal work like harming other people, they are also guilty. The way the police used 'high pressure water cannon' and using their metal shields are against the rules, too.
Whatever brought up the demonstrations, this shows the poor status of Korea in human rights. Without permission of the authority, you can't demonstrate or gather for it in a public place, even if it's peaceful. They made excuses like the demonstration is impeding the traffic, and people complain about it. However, almost 10 thousand people gathered per a night for demonstration, majority of citizens actually support the demonstration. Additionally the way of police's suppressing the demonstration is illegal. New President's goal should be 'guaranteeing human rights' before 'improving economic status.'
The risk of importing cows with 'mad cow disease' from the US seems low since there have been 'only' 2 cases in the US. But, for Koreans, who have plenty of beef by raising cows in the country and importing from Australia, where there has been no case of mad cow disease reported, it looks unnecessary to import cows from the US. Whatever the reasons are Koreans do not want a trade, but there is a forced trade of product which people are not interested. The deal is, as the president MBL says, giving up a little for getting more benefits in economical trades between Korea and the US. I don't know what kind of benefits, if any, Koreans can get from making a deal citizens hate or is that just one of MBL's national plans nobody else can understand, like his canal project, or trials to remove universal health plan?
Living in the US, I eat beef without concerns because I know the risk is extremely low, and so many, such as causes, the way of transmission,or exact incidence of mad cow disease or that of human version of the disease, vCJD, are not yet proven.
97% of mad cow diseases have been reported from UK, where they had fed cows cow bones and other body parts. If you don't feel safe when you travel to Europe, try not to eat beef or consume only solid meat, not burgers, sausages, brain, spinal cord, and etc.
You can find more information about the disease at CDC website.
Police shot a high-pressure water cannon directly to a guy on a peaceful 'candle' demonstration and became blind. Police stumped on a girl who was in a demonstration and beat up a reporter from one of the biggest Korean broadcasting systems.
Here, law graduate students from Seoul National University claim that police' suppression is illegal (written in Korean).They made it clear that even if policemen got an order from their boss, if it's obvious illegal work like harming other people, they are also guilty. The way the police used 'high pressure water cannon' and using their metal shields are against the rules, too.
Whatever brought up the demonstrations, this shows the poor status of Korea in human rights. Without permission of the authority, you can't demonstrate or gather for it in a public place, even if it's peaceful. They made excuses like the demonstration is impeding the traffic, and people complain about it. However, almost 10 thousand people gathered per a night for demonstration, majority of citizens actually support the demonstration. Additionally the way of police's suppressing the demonstration is illegal. New President's goal should be 'guaranteeing human rights' before 'improving economic status.'
The risk of importing cows with 'mad cow disease' from the US seems low since there have been 'only' 2 cases in the US. But, for Koreans, who have plenty of beef by raising cows in the country and importing from Australia, where there has been no case of mad cow disease reported, it looks unnecessary to import cows from the US. Whatever the reasons are Koreans do not want a trade, but there is a forced trade of product which people are not interested. The deal is, as the president MBL says, giving up a little for getting more benefits in economical trades between Korea and the US. I don't know what kind of benefits, if any, Koreans can get from making a deal citizens hate or is that just one of MBL's national plans nobody else can understand, like his canal project, or trials to remove universal health plan?
Living in the US, I eat beef without concerns because I know the risk is extremely low, and so many, such as causes, the way of transmission,or exact incidence of mad cow disease or that of human version of the disease, vCJD, are not yet proven.
97% of mad cow diseases have been reported from UK, where they had fed cows cow bones and other body parts. If you don't feel safe when you travel to Europe, try not to eat beef or consume only solid meat, not burgers, sausages, brain, spinal cord, and etc.
You can find more information about the disease at CDC website.
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