The Antibiotic Paradox or Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicine

The Antibiotic Paradox: How the Misuse of Antibiotics Destroys Their Curative Powers

Author: Stuart B Levy

In The Antibiotic Paradox, Dr. Stuart Levy reveals how our cavalier and naпve attitude about the power of antibiotics can have dire consequences. He explains that we are new witnessing a massive evolutionary change in bacteria. A build-up of new antibiotic-resistant bacteria in individuals and in the environment, mixed with the unregulated dispensing of antibiotics worldwide, is leading us into a dangerous territory where our "miracle" drugs will no longer help.

About the Author:
Stuart B. Levy, M.D. is a world-renowned author on antibiotic use and resistance. The president of the international Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics, Dr. Levy is both Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Biology and Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine and a staff physician at the New England Medical Center.

Easily accessible to lay readers, peppered with personal anecdotesand clear explanations...[a] thought-provoking treatise.

Orville Schell

There is no one who knows this subject better or who has written about it with more lucidity than Stuart Levy. —Dr. Levy is a staff physician at the New England Medical Center and both Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Microbiology at Tufts University School of Medicine.

Washington Post

[Levy is] one of the world's leading experts on the misuse of antibiotics.

Choice

A timely book...an invaluable resource for those in the health professions and for policy makers.

New England journal of Medicine

Accessible, fact-filled...easy to read...Levy's writing is lucid, and his analogies are helpful.

Booknews

Contending that the seemingly endless miracle of antibiotics has led to an overuse and abuse which paradoxically detrimentally impacts their effectiveness, Levy (Tufts U. School of Medicine) simultaneously tells the history of the use of antibiotics and explains some of the basic science behind its effectiveness. He warns that the growing preponderance of antibiotics, not just in over-prescriptions, but also in common household products could well lead to the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that could have devastating impacts for human health. The new edition closes with an epilogue in which Levy criticizes the U.S. government's handling of the anthrax attacks, arguing that use of the antibiotic Cipro should be carefully monitored rather than handed out to everyone who has some possibility of having contacted some Anthrax spores. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

What People Are Saying

Orville Schell
There is no one who knows this subject better or who has written about it with more lucidity than Stuary Levy.
—(Orville Schell, Author, Modern Meat: Anitbiotics, Hormones, and the Pharmaceutical Farm)

Table of Contents:

	Preface to the Second Edition	vii
	Preface to the First Edition	xiii
	Acknowledgments	xvii
1	From Tragedy the Antibiotic Age is Born	1
2	The Disease and the Cure: The Microscopic World of Bacteria and Antibiotics	15
3	Reliance on Medicines and Self-Medication: The Seeds of Antibiotic Misuse	57
4	Antibiotic Resistance: Microbial Adaptation and Evolution	71
5	The Antibiotic Myth	115
6	Antibiotics, Animals, and the Resistance Gene Pool	149
7	Further Ecologic Considerations: Antibiotic Use in Agriculture, Aquaculture, Pets, and Minor Animal Species	181
8	Future Prospects: New Advances against Impending Disaster	211
9	The Individual and Antibiotic Resistance	239
10	The Antibacterial Craze	263
11	Antibiotic Resistance: A Societal Issue at Local, National, and International Levels	275
	Epilogue: Anthrax, Bioterrism, and Antibiotic Stockpiling: Consequences Beyond the Scare	315
	References Cited	321
	Bibliography	325
	Index	335

Go to: Business Statistics or Territoriality and Conflict in an Era of Globalization

Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Policy and Public Health Perspectives

Author: Gerard Bodeker

This is the first book to address public health issues in traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM). It presents state-of-the-art reviews of TCAM research in a range of priority public health areas such as malaria and HIV and in such common ailments as skin conditions and orthopedic injury in developing countries. Contributions analyze policy trends in areas such as financing of TCAM and education and training in this field as well as selected case studies of model TCAM projects. Important chapters on research methodology, ethical and safety issues, and intellectual property rights pertaining to traditional medicine are also presented.

Public financing for TCAM is a test of the commitment of governments, and the book includes an analysis from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Atlas data of the worldwide trends in this area. With safety concerns foremost in the minds of both policy makers and the public, the book offers a global overview of policy and legislative trends in this field as well as an important set of guidelines for pharmacovigilance and TCAM products.