4 ms·

I would say it's one of the most important breakthroughs of the 21st century, but as far as the most important breakthrough's ever? Sorry, antibiotics, penicill

I would say it's one of the most important breakthroughs of the 21st century, but as far as the most important breakthrough's ever? Sorry, antibiotics, penicillin and ivermectin hold the podium for that accomplishment. I equate GLP1 hype in the medical industry to AI hype in the tech industry. Yes it's an important breakthrough but there are other much more important breakthroughs that humans have achieved in the past.

foobarian 2y ago
It is wild to me that something as life-altering as antibiotics was only invented in early 20th century, and that the entire human history up to that point was antibiotic-less. I'm not sure that enough time has passed yet to fully absorb the consequences of antibiotics into culture and societal systems, and I wonder what that will look like - maybe given another century or two?
- DrillShopper 2y ago
  Bad news - if we keep misusing antibiotics as a species we will be back in that antibiotic-less existence.
  - asdasdsddd 2y ago
    I've been hearing about this all my life. Is the problem really getting worse?
    - 11101010001100 2y ago
      What would convince you? Some references from some random person on the internet?
      - asdasdsddd 2y ago
        I want a timeseries-like chart that show its getting worse over time, hopefully referenced.
    - DrillShopper 2y ago
      Yes, according to the WHO[1] [1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobi...
    - kylehotchkiss 2y ago
      Yeah. In many corners of the world, you get handed antibiotics for every cough or sniffle you get, and then people just don't finish up the doses when they are sick. Antibiotic resistance builds within a sick person and then spreads a disease the antibiotics can't kill With so many people taking antibiotics for their coughs and sniffles NOT caused by bacteria, they end up being more present in sewage, another place that antibiotic resistance increases. And finally we feed way too much to the cows. It would have been really, really wise for the healthcare governing bodies to limit antibiotics to hospitals, and stop sending promising new candidates overseas to any country with a track record of overprescribing and not doing a better job of monitoring treatment adherence. It's inhumane for us to allow illnesses abroad to become increasingly untreatable while those governments shrug off the problem. Mandate change in policy before sharing new formulations.

foobarian 2y ago

It is wild to me that something as life-altering as antibiotics was only invented in early 20th century, and that the entire human history up to that point was antibiotic-less. I'm not sure that enough time has passed yet to fully absorb the consequences of antibiotics into culture and societal systems, and I wonder what that will look like - maybe given another century or two?

DrillShopper 2y ago
Bad news - if we keep misusing antibiotics as a species we will be back in that antibiotic-less existence.
- asdasdsddd 2y ago
  I've been hearing about this all my life. Is the problem really getting worse?
  - 11101010001100 2y ago
    What would convince you? Some references from some random person on the internet?
    - asdasdsddd 2y ago
      I want a timeseries-like chart that show its getting worse over time, hopefully referenced.
  - DrillShopper 2y ago
    Yes, according to the WHO[1] [1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobi...
  - kylehotchkiss 2y ago
    Yeah. In many corners of the world, you get handed antibiotics for every cough or sniffle you get, and then people just don't finish up the doses when they are sick. Antibiotic resistance builds within a sick person and then spreads a disease the antibiotics can't kill With so many people taking antibiotics for their coughs and sniffles NOT caused by bacteria, they end up being more present in sewage, another place that antibiotic resistance increases. And finally we feed way too much to the cows. It would have been really, really wise for the healthcare governing bodies to limit antibiotics to hospitals, and stop sending promising new candidates overseas to any country with a track record of overprescribing and not doing a better job of monitoring treatment adherence. It's inhumane for us to allow illnesses abroad to become increasingly untreatable while those governments shrug off the problem. Mandate change in policy before sharing new formulations.