Urinary Tract Infections Possibly Linked to Chickens

According to new research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chickens may possibly be to blame for the majority of urinary tract infections (UTI) in the US.

According to the researchers, after analyzing genomes of the bacteria in women with UTIs, the strains of E. coli in the women matched strains of E. coli found in retail chicken meat.  Something to note, the bacteria did not come from any contamination during the preparation process, but from the chicken itself.

More than 8 million women are at risk of bladder infections because superbugs, which are resistant to antibiotics and that are growing in chickens, are being transmitted to humans in the form of E. coli.

80% of all antibiotics sold in the US are fed to livestock and chickens to protect them from disease caused by their cramped living quarters.

Source:
Fox News
ABC News

Shared with:  the healthy home economist

SuperBug Detection Kit - A New Technology

Prof. Emeritus Nathan Citri, scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, recently developed a SuperBug Detection Medical Kit that targets the problem of identifying various infectious "superbugs" fast enough to save lives and stop an outbreak.

Prof. Citri's new technology kit has all the material necessary to test for the presence of superbugs in a urine or blood sample, and amazingly provides crucial guidelines on how to treat the infection almost immediately, when currently, patients can wait as long as five days to get an evidence-based treatment, time during which the infection could spread like wildfire.

BioConnections, a UK-based company has already applied for the CE Mark, the European regulatory version of the FDA's stamp of approval, to market Citri's SuperBug Detection Kit.  The kits could possibly be ready in a few months, and then it's only a matter of time before they become available in the US.

The kits are designed to produce a chemical reaction in the presence of beta-lactamases, an enzyme found in all multi-drug resistant bacteria, providing information on the type of antibiotic that might be useful against the infection, whether it's in the lower respiratory tract, urinary tract, intestines or abdomen.  This technology will also be able to identify extremely drug-resistant infections so that affected patients may be properly isolated and treatments determined within minutes.

Ken Denton, the CEO of BioConnections said, "We are convinced that Prof. Citri's invention will improve patient care, saving lives, shortening hospital stays and significantly reducing healthcare costs.  The first kits are in the last stages of development, and we hope it will reach the market within months."

Source:  www.yissum.co.il/media-center/news/23220

Shared with: the healthy home economist

Can Probiotics Totally Undo Antiobiotics Damage to Gut Flora?

According to Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist, evidence is now emerging that damaged gut flora may actually be permanently altered by drugs.

Dr. Martin Blaser, MD, of New York's University's Langone Medical Center writes in the August 2011 edition of Nature: "Early evidence from my lab and others hints that, sometimes, our friendly flora never fully recover.  These long-term changes to the beneficial bacteria within people's bodies may even increase our susceptibility to infections and disease.  Overuse of antibiotics could be fueling the dramatic increase in conditions such as obesity, type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies and asthma, which have more than doubled in many populations."

Did you know that, on average, most children receive up to 20 courses of antibiotics before the age of 18.  Also, between one third and one half of pregnant women receive antibiotics during pregnancy.  And, with the high rates of C-sections performed, surgical births negatively affects the composition of gut flora in newborns as they completely miss out on exposure to their mother's friendly bacteria while they travel through the birth canal.

If you have been given antibiotics anytime throughout your lifetime, a good defense, is still the use of probiotics, such as, drinking kefir, eating yogurt, supplementation with probiotic capsules.  Your gut will love you for it.

Source:
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Nature

Picture credit

Antibiotic Therapy Risks

According to Dr. James Howenstine, a board certified specialist in internal medicine, he writes in his article entitled "ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY CAN INCREASE THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER", that having a healthy gastrointestinal tract is a key component for good health. He goes on to say that he believes all antibiotics kill healthy intestinal bacteria and when these bacteria are killed, they are replaced in the intestines by more dangerous anaerobic bacteria, parasites, fungi, yeast and mycoplasma. In addition, our ability to kill cancer cells is probably being compromised by decreased production of intestinal immune cells, since more than 70% of our immune system cells reside in the intestine.

Dr. Howenstine further sites a study from the JAMA that revealed that women who have taken antibiotics are at an increased risk for developing breast cancer.

Dr. Howenstine also believes that long term use of antibiotics may be the primary reason why patients with Lyme Disease are now frequently being discovered to have lymphomas. Suppressed activity of killer lymphocytes related to decreased production of immune cells by damaged intestines whose health has been compromised by loss of healthy intestinal flora could be a key contributing factor to the lymphoma problem. source

HealthIsInReach has a couple of suggestions:
1. For increased immune system response, we suggest Beta-1,3D Glucan.
2. For help with bacteria, parasites, fungi and yeast overgrowth, we suggest the Advanced ERE.
3. For help with lymphomas and cancer, we suggest the FIR Dome and/or Original Sun Ancon Chi Machine.

Healthy Diet Keeps the Good Bacteria in Your Gut Healthy

According to Gail Cresci, dietitian and researcher at the Medical College of Georgia healthy eating with high-quality protein, fiber, healthy fats and fresh fruits and vegetables is the best way to keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy.

Poor diets are hurting the bacteria in many of us and the overuse of antibiotics is taking its toll as well, particularly the common, broad-spectrum antibiotics that wipe out anything in their path, good and bad bacteria included.

According to scientists at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, eating a fatty diet actually changes genes by altering the function of DNA in certain cells. The fat they studied was a saturated fatty acid called palmitic acid, one of the two most common saturated fatty acids. It may raise both good HDL and bad LDL cholesterol, even when eaten in moderation.

There is even mounting evidence that a healthy gut microbiota helps maintain a healthy weight. Reports show that microbial populations in the gut are different between obese and lean people, and that when the obese people lost weight their microflora reverted back to that observed in a lean person, suggesting that obesity may have a microbial component. Also, when bacteria from a genetically fat mouse are placed in a lean germ-free mouse, it gains weight without changing its food intake.

If you eat a lot of processed foods, rely on mostly cooked foods or foods high in sugar, the balance of bacteria in your digestive tract will have a hard time staying optimal. Sugar, by the way, is also an incredibly efficient fertilizer for growing bad bacteria and yeast in your gut. Also, stress, pollution and taking antibiotics can further upset your gut bacteria balance in a negative way.

Eating fermented foods such as: Natto, Miso, Kimchee, Tempeh, Kefir, Yogurt, Olives, Sauerkraut, Pickles and/or taking a high-quality probiotic is recommended for getting the proper ratio between the good/bad bacteria as well. source