How the Super Bugs developed ? and how you can pro

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How the Super Bugs developed ? and how you can protect yourself How the Super Bugs developed ? and how you can protect yourself by Paul Clayton

Each day you inhale hundreds of thousands of germs (bacteria and viruses) that are floating in the air. There are millions more already in your body. Yet your immune system normally deals with all of them without a problem.

Occasionally, however, a germ, a bacteria or a virus (they are all called pathogens) gets past the immune system and you catch a cold, the flu, or get food poisoning. A cold or flu is a visible sign that your immune system failed to stop it.

A common reaction is to deal with the threat from bacteria with antibiotics. But antibiotics are causing increased antibiotic resistance. Better surely to ensure your immune system is a strong as possible to provide a first line of defence ? rather than taking an antibiotic when the pathogen has already taken hold.

Problem 1 - the bugs breed much faster than we do!

If antibiotics are over used, individual bacteria which were slightly more resistant to the original antibiotic, will survive in larger numbers. Among their descendants, those with the strongest resistance survive preferentially; and within a surprisingly short period of time, full-blown resistance can emerge. An unfortunate example of natural selection in action!

This resistance may be due, either because the bacteria has acquired the ability to break down the antibiotic, or to excrete it. In either case, the therapeutic game has been lost twice over; the patient is still infected, and the antibiotic has become significantly less useful. No wonder that the rising tide of ?superbugs? is a warning of bad times to come.

Problem 2 ? over-prescription

Antibiotic resistance is partly due to doctors who over-prescribe, and poor infection control in some hospitals ? a problem that has occurred in the UK.

A prime example of inappropriate prescribing is for coughs and colds. They are not caused by bacteria at all, but by viruses. And antibiotics work only on bacteria and not on virus.

Nevertheless, nearly a half of children with common colds who visit a doctor are treated with antibiotics. Since children catch an average of three to eight colds each year, they may be given many courses of unnecessary antibiotics. In fact children with colds, ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis and sore throats, account for a staggering three quarters of all antibiotic prescriptions.

Indiscriminate use of antibiotics in less-well regulated parts of the globe is also a major issue.

The looming crisis

Leading bacteriologists now believe that the world may run out of effective antibiotics by 2010, with a gap of five years or more before new drugs can be developed to combat the so-called ?superbugs.?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), antibiotic resistance has become so widespread that many significant bacterial infections are becoming resistant to all the commonly used antibiotics world-wide.

Bacteria that have become resistant to previously effective antimicrobials include: MRSA (Methycillin-Resistant Staph Aureus), pneumococci, other staphylococci, enterococci, E. coli, and Enterobacter. Put bluntly, researchers are running out of possible new therapeutic variants of the kinds of antibiotics currently available.

The way out ? a healthy immune system

The best defence against infection ? whether bacterial or viral - is as Louis Pasteur realised, a healthy host defence or strong immune system.

But a strong immune system is built on good nutrition ? and our knowledge of the key dietary elements that support a powerful immune system has expanded greatly in the last few years.

In addition to a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, the following four nutrients have been shown to be powerful immune enhancers.

Vitamin D ? activating natural killer cells

Vitamin D depletion has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of the innate immune system ? the first line of defence against bacterial and viral invaders.

If you are low in vitamin D, fewer numbers of natural killer cells - (a key element in the immune system) - are formed and your innate immune defence against viruses becomes impaired. Since the other function of natural killer cells is to kill tumour cells, D-depletion also increases our risk of cancer.

Selenium - deficiency in the body weakens resistance to invading viruses

Selenium deficiency allows invading viruses to mutate and remain for a longer period in the host.

Selenium deficiency has become a prominent dietary factor contributing to an increased risk of infection, and in the worst cases, death. It is prevalent in large parts of the world, including the UK.

Beta sitosterols ? an important immune modulator

The plant extract beta sitosterol is one example of a group of molecules called sterols. They are regarded as the plant kingdom?s equivalent of cholesterol. Beta sitosterol is a natural immuno-modulator as it up-regulates (enhances) certain aspects of immune function while down-regulating others. It is present in a number of plant foods and especially seeds and nuts.

Beta sitosterol increases natural killer cell activity, so depletion leaves the cells under-active. This contributes to an overall degradation of the innate immune system. Hence, a diet rich in sterols can ?quieten? auto-immune responses and improve immune response.

1-3, 1-6 Beta Glucans ? priming the immune system

Of all the natural compounds known to stimulate the innate immune system, the best documented and most effective are the 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans, generally derived from baker?s yeast and now available as a supplement.

When you ingest 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans, receptors on macrophages - which are important components of the body?s innate immune system ? recognize the beta glucan particles as foreign bodies and ?assume? that a potential enemy has arrived. In response, the number and activity level of the body?s immune cells is increased.

Many well-conducted research papers have shown that this sequence results in a significant enhancement of resistance to infection ? so it is worth examining how this nutrient works in a little more detail.

A biological ?guided missile?

Biothera is a biotech company and a world leader in research on beta glucans. It is the manufacturer of a patented source of 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans, WGP 3-6. (The US Government are now testing Biothera?s WGP beta glucans with a view to stockpiling it as a protective measure against potential nuclear radiation).

Their research shows that, once swallowed, 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans pass through the stomach into the small intestine and are taken up by specialized regions called the Peyer?s patches.

In the Peyer?s patches, the beta glucan molecules are encountered by circulating macrophages ? immune cells whose function is to engulf and digest pathogens ? defined as foreign invaders, whether they are viral, bacterial or even cancer. (Macrophage literally means ?big eater?.)

The macrophages break down the beta glucans into smaller particles and transport them to immune organs throughout the body. There the active fragments of beta glucans bind themselves onto the surface of the most abundant immune cells in the body ? the neutrophils.

The binding of beta glucan fragments onto the surface of neutrophils ?primes? these immune cells and makes them ready to seek out and destroy pathogens. Once it encounters a pathogen, a neutrophil locks on to its surface and recognises it as ?non-self? i.e. foreign. It is now able to destroy that pathogen by releasing toxic chemicals.

But the neutrophil can only lock onto a pathogen when a specialised receptor on the pathogen?s surface is occupied by two elements ? a blood protein called complement, and beta glucans - (the receptor is called Complement Receptor 3 or CR3)

The CR3 receptor is occupied naturally in the presence of some pathogens ? e.g. fungal infections. But there are other threats, including many infectious diseases, viruses and cancer, where beta glucan is not present. Thus, by taking beta glucans, the neutrophils are provided with the missing element they need to function effectively as natural ?guided missile? killer cells.

But there is another, secondary benefit. As the pathogen is destroyed, a different group of killer cells retains fragments of that pathogen on their surfaces. They now become memory cells and part of the acquired immune system.

These memory cells are now able to recognize the virus or pathogen should it attack a second time and will produce antibodies which stick to the surface of the virus and prevent it from infecting healthy cells.

The role of 1-3, 1-6 beta glucans in strengthening the immune system ? together with another natural nutritional immune modulator called beta sitosterol - is explained in detail by the international health expert Dr Paul Clayton in his book Health Defence and at www.drpaulclayton.com.

Dr Paul Clayton has advised on the formulation of Uni-Vite ImmunoShield, a natural nutritional immune system booster. It contains the unique combination of beta glucans supplied by Biothera and beta sitosterol.

Visit www.immunoshield.com to learn more about the effective use of ImmunoShield in activating immunity. ImmunoShield also works synergistically with Uni-Vite?s NutriShield ? a very comprehensive daily nutritional supplement for boosting your Innate Immune System.

Dr Paul Clayton is a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a former advisor to the UK Committee on the Safety of Medicines. His best selling book Health Defence, now in its 2nd edition, draws lessons from the world's healthiest diets to define the ideal protective diet and supplement.

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