how childhood exposure to bacteria, pathogens, antibiotics, etc. effefcts immunities later in life w/ examples

EFFECT OF CHILDHOOD EXPOSURE TO BACTERIA , PATHOGENS , ANTIBIOTICS ON IMMUNITIES LATER IN LIFE

Introduction

The immune system is made up of organs and cells that defend the body against infection , disease , and foreign substances . However , traditional medicine has treated the immune system as a mere indicator of one 's health status . The `white count ' test helps physicians diagnose one 's good or ill health . High white blood cell count indicates that the body is fighting an infection . Beyond this basic information , it is more often abused than ignored , considering the numerous

medical procedures and drug therapies used to treat diseases which suppress the immune system

Again , traditional medicine has liberally made use of antibiotics . But there is growing awareness of adverse effects of antibiotics in later life , particularly its harmful effect on the body 's immune system . Time magazine published and article describing how antibiotics have contributed the emerging problems of all microbes such as virus bacteria , mold , and fungus (See Revenge of the Killer Microbes --- Are We Losing the War Against Infectious Disease

This will take a look on how exposure to bacteria and pathogens and the subsequent use of antibiotics for its cure , will have an effect on the immune system later in life

Discussion

Bacteria are unicellular microorganisms but do not contain cell nuclei or other membrane-bound organelles . Although the term has been generally used to refer to all prokaryotes , the scientific nomenclature changed after the discovery that prokaryotic life has two different groups of organisms which evolve independently . These evolutionary domains are Bacteria and Archaea (C . Woese , O . Kandler , M . Wheels . Towards a Natural System of Organisms : Proposal for the Doamins Archaea , Bacteria and Eucarya . Bacteria thrive in every possible habitat on the planet from the soil , underwater , under the earth 's crust , even acidic hot springs and radioactive waste (See Geomicrobiology of High-Level Nuclear Waste-Contaminated Vadose Sediments at the Hanford Site Washington State . Bacterial cells occur ten times more than there are human cells in the human body . Although majority of these bacteria are harmless or even beneficial , a few of these are pathogenic bacteria which causes infectious diseases . Pathogenic bacteria are the causal factor in cholera , anthrax , syphilis , leprosy and bubonic plague Tuberculosis is one common bacterial disease which kills about 2 million people every year . Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infections , especially in developed countries . The administration of antibiotics to fight bacteria unfortunately attacks both the good and the bad bacteria . It cannot identify or discriminate between the two Even after application , some bad bacteria would survive and develop resistance to the action of antibiotics . As a result , antibiotic resistance is becoming more common

These findings are slowly making other medical practitioners to turn to other alternatives . The past decade has placed so much faith on antibiotics , even naming this period as the `Age of the Miracle Drug This is the era characterized by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics which has brought the return of infectious diseases for which...