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85% of all antibiotics sold are for livestock. The volume of antibiotic given to animals, and the cramped and dirty living conditions of many farms results in a

85% of all antibiotics sold are for livestock. The volume of antibiotic given to animals, and the cramped and dirty living conditions of many farms results in a damn good engine for creating antibiotic resistant bacteria

autokad 9y ago
not just livestock, one of our most powerful antibiotics (tetracycline), was used en-mase to wash down produce such as grapes. still, things like antibiotic resistant gonorrhea, syphilis, and tuberculosis scare me the most, and they have nothing to do with livestock. we are in a bit of a catch 22, we want to treat these diseases, but in doing so the diseases are getting stronger in an arms race against our technology. meanwhile our bodies de-evolve due to its dependence on our technology to defend it.
- devmunchies 9y ago
  > meanwhile our bodies de-evolve due to its dependence on our technology to defend it I saw in a documentary a couple years ago that skulls of our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors had little to no dental cavities—their teeth were intact. It was attributed to their very diverse bacteria exposure (being hunter gatherers) and no sterilization. This changed with farming. I'm a bigger fan of probiotic research rather than this antibacterial "arms race".
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    There's likely a gene variant where people that have it have much higher resistance to cavities (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3318028/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3318028/ ). It'd probably be more prevalent if we didn't cook food and needed our teeth more.
  - shagie 9y ago
    This has more to do with sugar (corn in the americas). For example, in Wisconsin it is possible to use dental information to identify if there was a diet of wild rice or corn. https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsins-mound-builders https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsins-mound-builders Farming is in part responsible for the concentration of sugars that bacteria use.

autokad 9y ago

not just livestock, one of our most powerful antibiotics (tetracycline), was used en-mase to wash down produce such as grapes. still, things like antibiotic resistant gonorrhea, syphilis, and tuberculosis scare me the most, and they have nothing to do with livestock. we are in a bit of a catch 22, we want to treat these diseases, but in doing so the diseases are getting stronger in an arms race against our technology. meanwhile our bodies de-evolve due to its dependence on our technology to defend it.

devmunchies 9y ago
> meanwhile our bodies de-evolve due to its dependence on our technology to defend it I saw in a documentary a couple years ago that skulls of our ancient hunter-gatherer ancestors had little to no dental cavities—their teeth were intact. It was attributed to their very diverse bacteria exposure (being hunter gatherers) and no sterilization. This changed with farming. I'm a bigger fan of probiotic research rather than this antibacterial "arms race".
- maxerickson 9y ago
  There's likely a gene variant where people that have it have much higher resistance to cavities (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3318028/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3318028/ ). It'd probably be more prevalent if we didn't cook food and needed our teeth more.
- shagie 9y ago
  This has more to do with sugar (corn in the americas). For example, in Wisconsin it is possible to use dental information to identify if there was a diet of wild rice or corn. https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsins-mound-builders https://www.wpr.org/shows/wisconsins-mound-builders Farming is in part responsible for the concentration of sugars that bacteria use.