Antibiotics - A (Very) Short History

The new meds are working and I'm breathing a sigh of relief. I'm not out of the woods yet - I'll stick to the treatment course my new dermatologist prescribed - but I haven't had things looking this good or this pain-free for months. Antibiotics are a total miracle. 

Alexander Fleming won the Nobel Prize for his work
in the discovery of penicillan. 

Today's world tends to take antibiotics for granted, but really, they are a relatively recent discovery. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillan in 1928, but it really didn't get widely used until the late 1930's and World War II, where it saved thousands of lives. 

Antibiotics come in all different looks, types and dosages. 

The Golden Age of antibiotic development was 1940-1962 where various classes of antibiotics gave rise to more specific drugs. These classes, penicillans, beta-lactams and cephalosporins featured a variety of medications under their umbrellas. 

Antibiotic drug resistant bacteria is becoming a
serious problem and knocking the effectiveness
of antibiotics down. Fortunately, I seem to have
a good response to the antibiotics I was prescribed. 

Unfortunately, a patient can develop resistance to antibiotics, and they can be overprescribed which also can result in disease resistance. This has created a new grouping of ailments and infections that are antibiotic resistant and people are dying from the cure. Also, antibiotics work against bacterial infection, not viral, so all sorts of health issues can't be resolved by the administration of a course of antibiotics. 

I'm amazed at how quickly an antibiotic can show results
when they are used properly and against bacteria that
they can attach successfully. I don't think I've felt
this good for months, even though I still have some
major healing to do. 

I'm well aware of how important an antibiotic can be. I'll be taking my meds for the full ten days and using the various ointments and creams for the time prescribed because I really would like to keep myself in good shape for a while. I know my health can go up and down, but this time it was worse than it had been for many years. Since 48 hours has made such a dramatic change, the treatments are doing the trick. Now to keep things going smoothly. 

Enjoy your Friday. I'm totally stoked for the end of the week. Today the outdoor pool will be crowded, so I'll use the indoor pool, but tomorrow I'll be back outdoors again. So much fun, and a good workout too! I'll be back tomorrow.