A couple of years ago, Miriam S. took a dream vacation to the Canary Islands off the coast of northwestern Africa. While she was enjoying herself at the resort, she came down with an ear infection and went to see the hotel doctor.
She was given a six-day course of a common antibiotic and took it as prescribed.
Three weeks later, 61-year-old Miriam was suffering from severe depression and fatigue. She developed severe pains in her legs, shoulders and feet. The previously active physician could barely walk. The only way she could get up and down her staircase was on her hands and knees.
Miriam had been “floxed”… poisoned by the antibiotic that was supposed to cure her.
The medicine Miriam took was a class of drugs called fluoroquinolones. With more than 32 million prescriptions written each year, it’s the fourth most common antibiotic in America.
And every year, hundreds of thousands of people are injured by this drug.1 And 6,500 have died.2 Called FQAD, or fluoroquinolone-associated disability by the FDA, this debilitating condition leads to:3
- Confusion
- Memory loss
- Dizziness
- Weakness
- Extreme anxiety
- Tendon ruptures
- Nerve damage
- Heart palpitations
- Delirium
These health issues go on for years and grow more severe over time. And the effects are potentially permanent. That’s why I help my patients fight infections with safe natural remedies. And I’ll share three of my favorites in a minute.
You see, in 2016, the FDA slapped a new “black box” warning on the labels of fluoroquinolones (FQs). That’s the agency’s strictest warning and it’s designed to draw your attention to a drug’s life-threatening risks.
But an earlier FDA label insisted that cases of neuropathy after taking the FQ Levaquin was rare, and could be reversed by discontinuing the drug.
But the truth is that such side effects are not all that rare and neuropathy is not easily reversible, even if patients stop taking the drugs.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not against antibiotics. Since Alexander Fleming first discovered penicillin in the late 1920s, these drugs have saved hundreds of millions of lives.
I am against the overuse of antibiotics.
Global consumption of these prescriptions has soared. In just 15 years, they jumped by 65% to 42 billion daily doses.4 And according to the CDC, around 1 in 3 of every antibiotic prescription is unnecessary.5
And that is leading to real trouble…
Drug-resistant infections are expected to kill more people than cancer by 2050.6
More than 2 million people get antibiotic resistant infections every year in America. And 23,000 die.7
That’s because after decades of overuse, antibiotics have lost their power to fight infections. And the more they’re prescribed, the worse the problem is getting.
That’s why I recommend my patients first turn to natural alternatives to Big Pharma’s prescription antibiotics. These natural cures have been around for thousands of years. One of my favorites is curcumin, the active ingredient from the turmeric plant.
I first discovered curcumin’s incredible healing power years ago when I was in India studying Ayurveda. Ayurvedic doctors consider curcumin to be a cure-all. And science confirms they’re right.
A recent study found that curcumin killed 100% of MRSA within 2 hours. And E. coli was wiped out by 80%.8
Researchers in South Korean discovered that curcumin not only killed bacteria on the skin, it also created a barrier that prevented further infection from entering a wound.9
The easiest way to get all the curcumin you need to fight infection is by supplementing. I suggest taking between 500 mg and 1,000 mg per day. Be sure to look for a supplement that contains piperine, a black pepper extract that boosts absorption.
For external sores and infections, make a paste of turmeric powder and water and apply it to the wound. Cover with a bandage and let it sit for 12 hours. Do this for three days, changing the bandage as needed.
2 More Natural Ways to Fight Infection
Here are two more herbal alternatives to Big Pharma’s prescription antibiotics.
- Use the WWII solution to fight infections. Research has found that a substance in garlic called alliin is an effective treatment against many forms of bacteria, including E. coli and MRSA. Garlic has also been shown to be effective against drug-resistant tuberculosis bacteria.
I recommend eating 1 to 2 cloves of fresh garlic a day. Or you can supplement with 200 mg to 400 mg of aged garlic extract three times daily. But be careful not to take too much. It can lead to stomach upset.
Garlic was popular during WWII when soldiers ran out of penicillin on the battlefield. And several studies show that garlic extract increases the rate of wound healing while decreasing infection.10 To keep the garlic extract from irritating your skin, I suggest mixing it with honey — another proven antibiotic.
A 2011 study reported that the best-known type of honey inhibits approximately 60 kinds of bacteria. It also found that honey successfully treats wounds infected with the MRSA superbug.11
- If that doesn’t work, try the traditional healer’s flowering plant solution. Native American and other traditional healers have used Echinacea purpurea for hundreds of years to treat infections and wounds. It contains a complex mix of active substances with antimicrobial, antibiotic and immune system boosting properties.
A study published in the Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology reveals that echinacea can kill many different kinds of bacteria, including Streptococcus pyogenes — the bacteria behind strep throat, toxic shock syndrome, and the “flesh-eating disease” called necrotizing fasciitis.12
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD, CNS
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Outpatient antibiotic prescriptions — United States, 2015. https://www.cdc.gov/antibiotic-use/community/programs-measurement/state-local-activities/outpatient-antibiotic-prescriptions-US-2015.html. Updated October 26, 2017. Accessed September 5, 2018.
2. Regan R. “Levaquin: FDA fails to disclose additional serious side effects of antibiotic linked to deaths Calls for updated label warnings.” News 5 Cleveland. Updated August 24, 2017. Accessed September 5, 2018.
3. Brody JE. “Popular antibiotics may carry serious side effects.” The New York Times. September 10, 2012.
4. Beaubien J. “Surge in antibiotics is a boon for superbugs.” NPR. March 26, 2018.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1 in 3 antibiotic prescriptions unnecessary New CDC data show large percentage of antibiotics misused in outpatient settings. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2016/p0503-unnecessary-prescriptions.html. May 3, 2016.
6. O’Neill J. “Tackling drug-resistant infections globally: Final report and recommendations.” May 2016.
7. Welch A. “Antibiotic resistant “nightmare bacteria” a grow threat in the U.S., CDC warns.” CBS News. Updated April 3, 2018. Accessed September 3, 2018.
8. Tyagi P, et al. “Bactericidal activity of curcumin I is associated with damaging of bacterial membrane.” PLOS One. 2015;10(3): e0121313.
9. Mun SH, et al. “Synergistic antibacterial effect of curcumin against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.” Phytomedicine. 2013;20(8-9):714-718.
10. Alhashim M and Lombardo J. “Mechanism of action of topical garlic on wound healing.” Dermatol Surg. 2018;44(5):630-634.
11. Mandal MD and Mandal S. “Honey: Its medicinal property and antibacterial activity.” Asian Pac J Trop Biomed. 2011;1(2):154-160.
12. Hudson JB. “Applications of the phytomedicine Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower) in infectious diseases.” J Biomed Biotechnol. 2012;2012:769896.