In the news
Is there an answer to the looming antibiotic winter?
Within months after penicillin became available to the public in the mid-1940s, some bacteria had already become resistant to this brand-new antibiotic. Since then every new class of antibiotics has shown the same weakness. Eighty years later some microbes have emerged that are resistant to every available antibiotic, a situation that scientists fear can lead to an “antibiotic winter.” There is genuine concern that without a major breakthrough in medicine, we will revert to conditions of a century ago, when even a seemingly minor infection often led to death.
This is not a problem that future generations will have to face; it is happening now. Every year antibiotic resistant bacteria are directly responsible for more than one million deaths throughout the globe. Although such resistance occurs naturally, the widespread overuse of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture has accelerated the emergence of infections for which there is no current treatment.
This dismal scenario may not be inevitable. Two new solutions are on the horizon, one new and one old. The emergence of AI carries the promise that it will hasten the discovery of new antibiotics or even new approaches to this problem. The other possibility is that a group of viruses that were discovered more than a century ago will stem the tide of resistance
Bacteriophages – sometimes simply called “phages” — are viruses that prey on bacteria. They emerged billions of years ago, and they are remarkable for their diversity and their sheer numbers. They were used with some success as far back as 1919 but the subsequent discovery of sulfa drugs and later, antibiotics, led scientists away from their further exploitation in the treatment of infectious bacterial diseases.
Bacteriophage therapy is not without its challenges, including the need to match the viral agent with the bacteria that cause a particular disease. European physicians are leading the way in this area but studies are few in number and not always successful. Perhaps bacteriophage therapy with the help of AI will help us to avoid an antimicrobial winter. Stay tuned!
Lifestyle
Some like it hot. Hmmmm!
A study from the University of Oxford cautioned against drinking very hot beverages, noting that this practice is associated with the development of squamous cell cancer of the esophagus. Let’s put this in perspective.
First, the study was done among UK residents, who drink a lot more tea than Americans do and the association was greatest among those who drank six or more hot drinks a day. That much coffee gives most people the jitters.
More than three quarters of squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus are due to smoking and alcohol use. It is more common in developing countries, possibly because of poor nutrition. There have been previous reports on the association of habitual consumption of hot beverages and cancer but the evidence is not clear from those studies.
The bottom line: if you like one or two cups of your morning coffee hot, the risk is quite small. But don’t overdo it.
