How Excessive Antibiotic Use Can Lead To Antibiotics Resistance

By Jun Kim Ph.D.

According to the CDC, 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions aren't necessary for the patients that receive them. Increasing our exposures to antibiotics unnecessarily may lead to antibiotic resistances as a population. However, it can also disrupt your own microbiome. 

That is why it's important that you take a targeted probiotic to help with gut diversity. When you are off the antibiotic, consider getting your gut tested to help support balance through the microbiome. 

The fact that antibiotic resistance is occurring is hardly surprising. After all, that is how evolution happens through natural selection. But the problem is excessive use of antibiotics seems to have accelerated the process. Let's discuss the potential downfalls of using too many unnecessary antibiotics. 

The Antibiotics Problem

After penicillin was successfully used in the 1940s, penicillin resistance soon became a significant problem by the 1950s 1. In response, new beta-lactam antibiotics were used, but the first case of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was identified during that same decade 1.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), now there are over 80,000 MRSA infections and 11,285 related deaths every year in the US.

Mechanisms behind antibiotic resistance have been studied extensively. Some bacteria can be intrinsically resistant to certain antibiotics because of structural or functional characteristics. For example, a species can be missing a molecular that the drug targets or have a cell surface membrane the drug cannot penetrate. 

Other types of bacteria that were initially responsive can also acquire resistance via mutations in genes or by receiving these genes from other bacteria 2. Such mutations can reduce the concentration of the drug in the cell, modify the drug target gene by mutation, or modify the antibacterial drug.

The Problems of Unnecessary Antibiotic Use

The unnecessary use of antibiotics can promote the development of antibiotic resistance by supporting genetic alterations, such as changes in gene expression, gene transfer between species, and mutagenesis 3.

Also, antibiotics often remove drug-sensitive competitors because these drugs tend not to be very specific, and this leaves resistant bacteria behind to grow 4. 

The healthy gut flora provides an important host defense. They inhibit the overgrowth of c. difficile and other potential pathogens through competition for nutrients and intestinal niches and induction of host immune responses. 

Antibiotic therapy can weaken this host defense by disrupting the indigenous gut flora, which makes the host more vulnerable to C. difficile during the treatment and during the period of microflora recovery 5.

Why Antibiotics Might Be Less Effective Now

Another important contributing factor to the rapid increase in untreatable infections is a lack of new drugs. Because of economic and regulatory obstacles, pharmaceutical companies are moving away from antibiotic development. 

For example, because antibiotics are used for relatively short periods and are often curative, antibiotics are not as profitable as drugs that treat chronic conditions.

In terms of price, antibiotics are generally at a maximum of $1000 to $3000 per course compared with cancer chemotherapy that costs tens of thousands of dollars 6.

Also, now that antibiotic resistance is becoming a widely noticed issue, restrained use of antibiotics will hold the new drugs in reserve for only the worst cases to prevent the development of further drug resistance 6. Understandably, of the 18 largest pharmaceutical companies, 15 abandoned the antibiotic field 7.

Probiotics and Antibiotics

Probiotics provide the body with antimicrobial agents, essentially boosting host's immune system, decreasing intestinal permeability, and competing with pathogens for space and nutrients in the host.  

Studies have shown that use of probiotics with antibiotics reduces the risk for antibiotic-associated issues, like diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. Although the extent to which probiotics directly reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance is unclear, maintaining a balanced microbiota during antibiotic use does provide opportunities for reducing the spread of resistance 8. 

Most of the research conducted on antibiotic resistance has been focused on pathogenic bacteria prevalent in nosocomial settings such as hospitals and nursing home environments. 

However, it is also important to study antibiotic resistance in animal food production as well as aquaculture. Therefore, using probiotics in the feed and thus improving animal health could be an important approach to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance.

You can also improve your own gut microbiome and perhaps, decrease your need for antibiotics. Diversify your gut microbiome to fight off pathogenic attacks. Get your gut tested with Ombre. 

Receive personalized food recommendations that will help you meet your wellness goals. Also, consider opting into a strain-specific probiotic subscription. These formulas are clinically backed to address your daily symptoms. Reclaim your gut health with Ombre today.