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Severe Spring Weather: Thunderstorms & Lightning

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Severe Spring Weather Awareness Week Continues as we look at Thunderstorms and Lightning.

Every thunderstorm produces lightning. All electrical storms are dangerous. While lightning casualties have actually reduced over the past 30 years, lightning continuous to be one of the leading three storm-related killers in the USA. Typically in United State, lightning kills about 67 men, women or children and harms hundreds more. Although most who suffer a strike of lightning may make it through alive, folks struck by lightning will frequently report a range of lasting, incapacitating symptoms.

Various other dangers connected with thunderstorms include tornadoes, sturdy winds, hailstorm as well as flash flooding. Flash flooding takes account for more fatalities — greater than 140 yearly– than any other thunderstorm-associated risk. Little known phenomenons called: “Dry Thunderstorms” are storms that do not produce rain that reaches the ground are most widespread in the western USA. Falling raindrops evaporate, but during these dry thunderstorms, lightning can still strike the ground and also could begin wildfires.

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Thunderstorms Facts:

Warm and moist conditions are precursors for developing potentially strong thunderstorms.
They usually generate massive amounts of rain for a quick duration, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
Several of the most serious threats occur when a single storm affects one location for a prolonged time.
They may take place singly, in clusters or in lines.
About 10 percent of all thunderstorms are categorized as severe, meaning one that generates hailstorms which contain hail that is at least an inch or bigger in diameter and has winds of approximately 58 mph or greater; conditions which also create a tornado.

Lightning Facts:

Lightning’s unpredictability increases the threat to people and property.
Your chances of being struck by lightning are approximated to be 1 in 600,000 but can be reduced even further by knowing and practicing preventative measures.
Most deaths and/or injuries happen when people are caught outdoors in the summer months. This can be during the day or night.
Lightning typically strikes before and after rain and might occur as far away as 10 miles far from any type of rainfall.
“Heat lightning” is in fact lightning from a thunderstorm that may simply be too far away to be heard. Nevertheless, it might be moving in your direction.
Despite the common myth, lightning can strike the same place twice.
Lightning strike victims DO NOT have an electric charge and ought to be attended to quickly.

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Lightning is a stunning, impressive, sensational dance of brilliance across the sky, however it can be fatal. Thankfully, most lightning-related fatalities are avoidable. Follow these action steps to safety before there’s a dazzling light show overhead:

1. Know the 30/30 lightning protection policy: When you see a lightning flash, begin to count. If you don’t make it to 30 prior to another roll of thunder, seek shelter quickly. Then, remain indoors for HALF AN HOUR after the last boom of thunder has been heard.

2. Locate shelter right away!

While the majority of people look for shelter if lightning seems close, people often wait far too long to seek cover. If you are able to identify lightning at all, it could be close enough to strike you. Do not wait for it to strike closer to you to get to safety.

If you discover yourself caught outdoors in a lightning storm, the trick to reducing risk is to go inside an enclosed structure.
Never ever stand under a tree, and be sure to stay clear of power lines as they’re both outstanding conductors of electrical power and thus may increase the chances of death or significant injury.
Locate shelter near or inside a stony shelter, such as a cinder block building, cavern or cave.

3. While inside the shelter…

DO NOT use corded or electric cordless phones.
AVOID using electrical devices. Electric cords could be conduits for lightning to enter your shelter.
DO NOT use your cell phone throughout an electrical storm.
DO NOT wash your hands, shower, take a bath, clean dishes or do laundry. Water pipes can conduct lightning.
High winds and hail could break glass, so far away from windows, skylights and glass doors.
Close drapes or blinds in order to protect against hail or wind-shattered glass from blowing inside.

4. No Shelter to be found? Now What!?

Get inside a hardtop automobile; however, do not lean against or touch any metal parts of it. Leave bicycles and motorbikes for more permanent shelter.
In the wide open area, squat down, put your hands on your knees or covering your ears and place your head in between your knees. This will make you a smaller sized target for a lightening strike.
Do NOT lie flat on the ground, as this gives the lightning a larger target.
If you are hiking with a metal frame backpack, remove it as soon as you suspect lightening in the area. Be sure to leave it a minimum of 100 feet (30.5 m) from wherever you are taking shelter.
If you’re in the water, get out quickly and stay clear of any metal objects. Water and metal will conduct an electric current.
If you’re with a group of people, spread out to be no closer than 50 feet away from each other.

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In event of a Lightning Strike.

If you or a person you know is struck by lightning, call 9-1-1 for help right away.

Examine him/her and attempt to provide aid by:

Checking Breathing – if breathing is stopped, start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Checking Heartbeat – if the heart has stopped, begin CPR.
Checking Pulse – if the he/she has and is breathing, search for any other potential injuries.
Look for burns where the lightning entered into, as well as, left the body.
Likewise be alert or nervous system damage, bone fractures and/or loss of hearing or vision.

After the Severe Thunderstorm passes keep these tips in mind:

DO NOT assume that because the rain stopped or skies cleared, that lightning cannot strike.
DO NOT drive through a flooded street. “Turn around, don’t drown!”
Steer clear of from storm-damaged locations thus avoiding putting yourself and others in your care at risk.
KEEP AWAY from downed power lines and be sure to report them right away.
Keep listening to a NOAA Weather Report Radio or to regional radio or TV for updated details and instructions, since accessibility to roadways or some other neighborhood components may be blocked.
Assist others who might need special care, such as babies, small children, parents of small children and the elderly or those with disabilities or special needs.

Spread the word. Share this post. Help keep your loved ones and others safe!

Severe Spring Weather Week: Tornadoes

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Severe Spring Weather Awareness Week continues. Today we focus on Tornadoes.

Tornadoes are fierce by nature. A tornado is a strongly revolving pillar of air extending from the base of an electrical storm to the ground. They are capable of completely damaging well-made frameworks, rooting out trees and also hurling things with the air like harmful missiles. Twister/Tornado intensities are identified on the Fujita Scale with ratings between F0 (weakest) to F5 (strongest). Although extreme tornadoes are much more usual in the Plains States, twisters of all ratings have been stated in every single state in America.

Watch or Warning – What’s the Difference?

A Tornado Watch Means – Tornadoes are most likely in, as well as near the area under the ‘watch’. This is the time to quickly evaluate and review your emergency situation strategies,as well as inspect your supplies and be sure they are readily available. Be prepared to move to your protected space with ample supplies and protection. Be prepared to act swiftly if this precaution is upgraded to a Warning or if you believe that a tornado is actually in your area. Early action saves lives!

A Tornado Warning Means – A tornado has actually been spotted or shown on radar in the Warning Area. Tornado warnings suggest impending threat to life as well as building, commercial, municipal and residential property. Instantly retreat under ground to a basement, storm cellar or an interior area such as a hall closet or storage room, a corridor, hallway or restroom away from windows.

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Know the Indications of a Tornado

There is no replacement for keeping a sharp on the sky. Weather forecasting and scientific research are not always ideal and some tornadoes do happen without a tornado warning. Besides an obviously noticeable tornado, here are some points to look as well as listen closely for during tornado season:

Solid, consistent turning in the cloud base.
Whirling dust or particles on the ground under a cloud base. Tornadoes sometimes have no channel!
Hail or hefty rainfall accompanied by either a dead calm or a quick, intense wind shift. Many twisters are covered in hefty rainfall and cannot be viewed.
Day or night – Loud, constant roar or roll sound, which doesn’t fade in a few secs like thunder.
Evening – Tiny, intense, blue-green to white flashes at ground level near a thunderstorm (instead of silvery lightning up in the clouds). These flashes mean that power lines are being snapped by quite sturdy wind, perhaps a tornado.
Night – Relentless lowering of the cloud base, brightened or silhouetted by lightning (especially if it is on the ground or there is a blue-green-white power flash below).

What to do?

Often deciding what to do depends on where you are at the time. Since tornadoes have little warning time proceeding the danger, you and your loved ones may be in a variety of places when danger strikes. We will try to list many potential places but this is likely not an all inclusive list.

A residence with a basement: Avoid windows. Get in the basement and also under some sort of sturdy protection (massive table or work bench), or cover yourself with a mattress or sleeping bag. Know where extremely heavy objects are located on the floor above (pianos, fridges, waterbeds, and so on) and be aware not to be located under them. They could fall down through a weakened flooring and crush you. Head protection, such as a helmet, can offer some additional security as things fall through floors or off walls in the basement.

A residence without a basement, a dormitory, or hotel or apartment: Avoid windows. Go to the lowest flooring. Locate a facility area (like a bathroom or storage room), or under a stairwell, or in an interior corridor without windows. Crouch to the floor, facing down; and also cover your head with your hands or another padded object. A bath tub might provide a covering of partial security. Also in an indoor room, you should cover yourself with some form of thick padding (cushion, quilts, and so on), to secure against falling particles in situation the ceiling and/or roofing system (which often contain pipes/sprinklers) were to fail. A helmet could offer some protection to avoid head injury.

An office structure, healthcare facility, nursing house or skyscraper: Go directly to an enclosed, windowless location in the center of the structure– far from glass and on the lowest flooring feasible. Then, crouch down and cover your head. Inside stairwells are normally excellent areas to nestle, and if not crowded, allow you to get to the bottom level swiftly. Avoid the escalators and elevators; you might be caught in them if the power is lost.

A mobile home: Get out! Even if your home is tied down, it is not as secure as an underground shelter or long-term, sturdy structure. The majority of twisters can damage even tied-down mobile houses; and also it is best not to play chance given the low probabilities that yours will make it. As soon as conditions appear to for tornadic activity, plan to go to one of the are shelters, or to a close-by long-term structure early enough.

At school: Follow the drill! Go to the interior venue or area in an organized way as you are told. Crouch low, head down, and protect the back of your head with your arms. Steer clear of from home windows as well as huge open areas like gyms and amphitheaters.

A vehicle: Cars and trucks are very unsafe in a twister. There is no safe alternative when caught in a tornado while in a motor vehicle, just somewhat less-dangerous ones.

If the tornado shows up, from far away, and the traffic is light, you might be able to drive out of its course by moving at right angles to the twister. Drive in this manner to seek shelter in a solid, permanent structure, or underground if possible.
If you are caught by extreme winds or flying particles, park the car as promptly and safely as feasible off of the main traffic or street. Remain in the auto with the safety belt on. Put your head down below the front windows; cover your head with your hands as well as a blanket, jacket or extra shirt if possible.
If you can safely get your body lower than the level of the highway, (such as a ditch) leave your vehicle and lie in that location, covering your head with your hands, blanket, jacket or pillow. Avoid seeking shelter under bridges, which can collapse or produce dangerous traffic hazards while providing almost no security against flying particles.

The Great Outdoors: If possible, look for shelter in a strong structure. If not, lie flat and face-down on the lowest point of ground you can quickly find, protecting the rear of your head with your arms. Find a position, lower than ground level if possible, as far away from trees and vehicles as you possibly can; they might be blown into you during the tornado.

A shopping mall or large department store: Do not panic. Expect others to panic. Move as rapidly as you are able to an indoor bathroom, storage room, stairwell or any other tiny encased location, away from windows.

At church or a movie theater: Again do not panic. Ideally, relocate yourself and others quickly but in an organized fashion to an indoor bathroom or hallway, far away from any windows. Crouch face-down and also secure your head with your arms. If there is no time at all to do that, get under the seats or pews, securing your head with your arms or hands.

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Are Tornadoes the same as Hurricanes?

The short answer to this is: “No” It is essential to not ever confuse a tornado with a hurricane or any other type of tropical cyclone since tornadoes and hurricanes are extremely different weather disasters. Quite possibly the only resemblance between the two is that they both consist of strong revolving winds that could create excessive damage and bodily harm.

For a Quick Reference about the vast differences, we’ve included the image below.

Image found on HurricaneScience.org

But we’re still a few weeks away from Hurricane Season.

Let’s stay focused…there’s always more for which we can prepare.

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Please share so we can all help each other be better prepared! Thank you!

Severe Spring Weather Week: Flooding

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Severe Spring Weather Week is something that rolls around each year. You may or may not have been aware that this focus existed, but many regional branches of Homeland Security focus on the natural disasters that often affect their area in the spring.

We will be taking one typical Spring Severe Weather occurrence per day and focusing on it in hopes of keeping you safe. Please join us on our Facebook Page to read even more articles and share them with friends who may live in areas that are prone to the disastrous effects of Spring Severe Weather.

Today’s topic is Flooding.

One reason that Spring traditionally brings the heightened potential for flooding is that the ground in many areas is already saturated from the melting snows. The melted snow makes the ground less absorbent, because it is already ‘full’, much like a sponge.

Very dry ground is also quite susceptible to flooding. In areas that may not have received snow, the melting ice and snow from higher elevations and upcoming spring rains and thunderstorms cause run-off and flooding where the ground may have been too dry and thus the surface is too hard to absorb the water.

We want to hear from YOU… so please leave a comment and connect with us on Facebook .

Below is an excellent post written by one of the regular writers for PREPARE Magazine. We hope that his information is found timely and informative for you to keep you and your loved ones aware and prepared.

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Flood Safety
by Joe Alton, M.D., aka Dr. Bones

We frequently discuss the risks associated with storms such as hurricanes and tornadoes, but not as much about the complications that occur as a result. Just about any storm can cause a deluge of water, and this can cause a deluge in the biblical sense. Last year in Boulder, Colorado, it happened when 6 months of rain fell during a week’s time. As such, it’s important to know flood safety precautions.
What is a Flood?
The definition of a flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is normally dry. Flooding may occur as an overflow of water from water bodies (such as a seacoast, river or lake) in which the water runs over or breaks levees, resulting in the escape of large amounts of water into populated areas. It may also occur due to an accumulation of rainwater on saturated ground.
Some floods develop slowly, while others (called flash floods), can develop in a very short time and affect areas where it wasn’t even raining. As a result, it often catches the population downriver by surprise, causing severe damage and loss of life

FLOOD TYPES

There are several types of floods:

Areal Floods

Floods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when the ground is saturated and water cannot run off quickly enough to stop accumulating. This may be followed by a river flood as water moves into local waterways. Floods related to rainfall can also occur if water falls on an impenetrable surface, such as concrete, asphalt paving or frozen ground, and cannot rapidly be absorbed into the ground. In urban areas, it usually takes at least 1 inch (25 mm) of rainfall per hour to start significant ponding of water on impermeable surfaces.

Riverine Floods

Floods happen in rivers when the flow rate exceeds the capacity of the river channel, particularly at bends in the waterway. These are some of the most dangerous, as people tend to live and work by rivers due to access to fertile soil, irrigation, and trade routes.

River flows may rise to flood levels at different rates, from a few minutes to several weeks, depending on channel width and the source of the increased flow.
Slow rising floods most commonly occur in large rivers, like the Mississippi, that have large catchment areas. The increase in flow may be the result of sustained rainfall, rapid snow melt, monsoons, or tropical storms.

Coastal Floods

Flooding on the coast is commonly caused by a combination of sea tidal surges caused by winds and low barometric pressure. Coastal areas may be flooded by storm events, such as hurricanes, resulting in waves over-topping seawalls and levees.

(left) Aftermath of dam collapse in Johnstown, PA 1889

Failures of infrastructure such as the collapse of a dam may cause catastrophic flooding, as in the Johnstown, Pennsylvania event in 1889 that took 2,200 lives. Major flooding may also be caused by the effects of an earthquake or volcanic eruption. These events often occur at sea, hundreds of miles from the area affected, but result in tidal wave floods called Tsunamis. The penetration of salt water causes widespread failure of fresh water delivery systems and may make farmland unusable, sometimes for many years.

Flooding often causes a failure of the power grid. Once this happens, the aftermath of the disaster may have more severe effects than the flood itself. These effects include loss of the water supply due to contamination by sewage. As a result, water-borne illness such as diarrheal disease may take a major toll on the population. Cholera and Typhoid are just some of the diarrheal/dysenteric diseases which may be life-threatening. Other issues include the inability of aid to get to flooded areas and the inundation of farmland causing loss of entire crops. Some industries may fail, leading to depression in the affected area. Once water and food shortage combine with the inability to receive help and/or make a living, economic collapse and civil unrest are likely to follow.

The scenario above is not purely hypothetical: Disasters related to flooding have sometimes caused millions of short- and long-term casualties. In both 1887 and 1931, major flooding of the Yangtze river in China ended up costing 1-2 and 3-4 million lives, respectively. If you take out war, famine, and pandemics, flooding is, undeniably, the deadliest of human tragedies.

Most people have heard of hurricane or tornado watches and warnings, but the U.S. weather services also tries to warn the populace of flooding. A “flash flood watch” means that flash flooding is possible in the near future; a “flash flood warning” means that flooding is imminent in the area. Many people ignore these warnings at their own peril.

If you live in a low-lying area, especially near a dam or river, then you should heed warnings when they are given and be prepared to evacuate quickly. Rising flood waters could easily trap you in your home, and you don’t want to have to perch on your roof waiting for help.

FLOOD SAFETY TIPS

Get Out Early
Make the decision to leave for higher ground before extensive ponding occurs.

Be Careful Walking Through Flowing Water
Drowning is the most common cause of death during a flood, especially a flash flood. Wilderness experts know that rapidly-moving water can knock you off your feet even if not that deep.

Don’t Drive Through a Flooded Area
As many people drown in their cars as anywhere else. Cars stall and roads/bridges could easily be washed out. Try to figure out now if there is a “high road” to safety, before a flood occurs.

Beware Of Downed Power Lines
Electrical current is easily conducted through water. Watch for downed power lines; you don’t have to touch them to be electrocuted, only step in the water they’re in.

Turn Off The Power
If you have reason to believe that water will get into your home, turn off the electricity. Don’t use appliances or motors that have gotten wet unless they have completely dried. You might have to take some apart to clean debris out of them.

Watch Out For Intruders
Critters that have been flooded out of their homes may seek shelter in yours. Snakes, raccoons, and other unfriendly creatures may decide your home is now their territory. Human
intruders may also be interested in your property.

Look Before You Step
After a flood, watch where you step; there is debris everywhere. The floors of your home may be covered in mud, causing a slip-and-fall hazard.

Check for Gas Leaks
Don’t use candles, lanterns, stoves, or lighters unless you are sure that the gas has been turned off and the area has been well-ventilated.

Exhaust Fumes Can Kill!
Only use generators, camping stoves or charcoal grills outside. Their fumes can be deadly.

Clean Out Saturated Items Completely
Floodwaters are not clean! Don’t use floodwater as drinking water or to cook food unless you have thoroughly sterilized and filtered it. Make sure you have food storage in waterproof containers.
Floods are just one of the many natural disasters that can endanger your family. Pay close attention to storm and flood warnings and you’ll have a head start on keeping them safe.

For more tips on Health & Medical Safety and Preparedness please visit Dr. Alton’s Website mentioned in his bio below. For more encouragement to a lifestyle of Preparedness and articles that span a variety of topics subscribe to the free digital issues of PREPARE Magazine.

Look for more topics about Spring Severe Weather Natural Disasters. Please share this post with friends. Let’s help keep everyone aware and prepared!

___________________________

Joe Alton, M.D. (aka: Dr. Bones) is a member of Mensa, collects 19th-century medical books to gain insight on off-grid medical strategies. He is the co-author, along with Amy Alton, A.R.N.P. (aka Nurse Amy), of the #1 Amazon Bestseller in Survival Skills “The Survival Medicine Handbook“. The opinions voiced by Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy are for post-apocalyptic settings only; in normal times, seek modern and standard medical care from qualified professionals.

Does a Church have any roll in Preparedness?

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Regardless of your own personal belief system, there are obviously church buildings, church denominations and organizations out there that are doing something about the preparedness of their own parishioners. Some denominations are more known for this than others. But as a whole, what is or should be the church’s roll in preparedness?

This topic is not posted here to be a catalyst for religious debate, denominational ‘one-up-manship’ or an attempt to proselytize anyone. This is a real question of what is or should be the roll of the church (or organized religious entities) in preparedness.

Many churches teach differing beliefs about the days ahead; they differ from the rapture of escaping before tribulation to a testing and threshing of the ‘wheat from the chaff’ (true believers tested trust) in the last days. There is still no denying that trouble, emergencies and disasters have always, and still will always beset a congregation. Regardless of theological belief taught within a denomination, a parishioner may loose his/her only income, a flood or tornado may hit the area, quarantine or mass power outages may besiege their community for an extended period of time. How are the organized religious entities in an area preparing to respond to these highly potential realities?

As one who believes, personally that the buildings and hierarchy of the ‘church’ organization is not without flaw, if you or I are part of a church body, you or I are both part of the problem and part of the solution at the same time.

Have you quietly prepared out of fear of being ostracized or looted?
Have you felt it was not your place to interject because it seemed to challenge the doctrinal belief system?
Do you perhaps just not feel that you are your ‘brother’s keeper’ after all?

I’d like to encourage you, if you belong to a church and no one within it seems to you to be prepared for much. You have the ability to help them, but only if you will.

Below are a few ideas to help empower you to open the opportunity of helping your church see the need:

Talk to your Pastor/Father/Leader. “About what?” you may ask. I’d rather suggest what not to talk about first. Don’t have a theological debate of the rapture or God’s protection. Don’t talk about governmental, FEMA or other conspiracy theories. Remember to be as grounded in the well-being of the community/body as possible as you speak on topics of preparedness. The ideas to follow may give you some ideas of what to talk about. Listen to your community needs at large and see what your leadership is open to begin at your church.

Start a Food Pantry that also Stocks Other Needs. This can be actually easily done and the additions of candles, toilet paper, first aid supplies etc are often not noted as panic stock but rather realistic items of need when caring for parishioners and reaching a community in an emergency.

Offer to teach or Organize Speakers for Classes/Seminars. From home canning or scratch food preparation to fire prevention and gardening – the ‘do it yourself’ trend is on the rise everywhere – a church congregation is not immune to this new trend. Thankfully you can use this to your (and their) advantage to help them gain skills they may not ever realize are preparedness skills.

Attend, Lead or Join a Mission Trip. Really, there are mission trips within your own country because people in need are EVERYWHERE. In my county alone, the number of homeless and starving children would astound you! We live just outside of one of the countries fastest growing, and economically stable areas – however the soup-lines and shelters are full of families who have fallen on hard times. So if foreign travel is not an option, you don’t have to take your willing congregation members far to see how life could be for them. The Mission truly may be in your own back yard. This is usually a very eye opening experience for most people. It often causes us to not only see and meet the needs of others but realize the fragility of our own situations as well.

Connect with and Bring in Your Denomination’s Response Team. You may be surprised to know that most denominations have a branch of an Emergency Response Team. Your denomination may not call it that, your Pastor/Father/Leader may not even be aware of the roll of this team (or aware OF it) but they are there. This team is your back up. They will help to guide you in ways to involve your local congregation (and hopefully reach out to the whole community) in ways that are least offensive to the leaders of your church.

With these few ideas, and more that may spring forth from you, you will hopefully open the eyes of those around you to some preparedness needs. They may never quite see it the same way you do, but you will know they are better prepared because of their involvement.

On an author’s personal note, my belief is that a church organization is made up of flawed individuals who can as easily as anyone, become self-absorbed and miss the opportunity to serve those who do not believe as they do. But by being well prepared to serve an entire community at large, regardless of belief system, the door of outreach will be flung wide open. This Door could be The Way to the Ultimate Preparedness for something we all face, and I’m not talking about taxes.

Are your church doors wide open or shut tight?

Are Antibiotics Really the Bad Guys?

by Prepare Magazine | Apr 5, 2025 | Blog

Are Antibiotics really the ‘Bad Guys’ that they now seem to be? Well, the answer may surprise you.

There are many different kinds of antibiotics. There are antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics. Each fight different types of (potentially) harmful organisms. The word antibiotics actually means “against life”. Which makes sense, because the life thing it is against is, in these cases, are living microbes.

A case for antibiotics:

“Even though the body’s disease-fighting immune system can often successfully fight off bacterial infections, sometimes the germs (microbes) are too strong and your child can get sick. For example,

Before antibiotics, 90% of children with bacterial meningitis died. Among those children who lived, most had severe and lasting disabilities, from deafness to mental retardation.
Strep throat was at times a fatal disease, and ear infections sometimes spread from the ear to the brain, causing severe problems.
Other serious infections, from tuberculosis to pneumonia to whooping cough, were caused by aggressive bacteria that reproduced with extraordinary speed and led to serious illness and sometimes death.” According to – http://www.healthychildren.org/

A case against antibiotics:

In our recent history, antibiotics were prescribed far too frequently. Now, many physicians will wait for symptoms to improve or worsen on their own before prescribing an antibiotic. Why? Because the microbes adapt. When offered antibiotics frequently they ‘learn the code’, so to speak, and become resistant. When dosing improperly such as taking someone else’s prescription or not finishing a full prescription in it’s entirety, the microbes also adapt and resist the next attempt to use an antibiotic.

Another case against antibiotics is their use in animals we consume as food. This injection of antibiotics, though indirect, still has the same effect on the microbes that attack our body’s system. Meat or dairy raised with antibiotics – pass those antibiotics on to us when consumed.

A case for new antibiotics:

Once thought of as miracle drugs, antibiotics now are a treatment to be handled with more precision and care than previously thought. Gone is thought process that there is a blanket cure of “one drug kills all. We’re just not doing that anymore. Or are we? Below is a short article written by Dr. Joe Alton (aka: Dr. Bones) that introduces us to a new antibiotic that is not yet released.

Teixobactin, A New Antibiotic

by Joe Alton, M.D. of www.doomandbloom.net

There is an epidemic that I’ve mentioned in past articles, and it has spread to every continent: the epidemic of antibiotic resistance. Overuse of antibiotics in both humans and livestock (80% of antibiotics go to animals we eat) has resulted in drug-resistant strains of various microbes, including tuberculosis and salmonella.

80% of antibiotics go to livestock

In the last few years, no new antibiotics have come down the pipeline. Some current drugs are in their fourth generation, as pharmaceutical companies tweak existing medicines to gain time before the next resistant bug appears. This standstill bodes badly for a world that’s accustomed to technology moving at a faster pace every year. The era of totally drug resistant diseases may be dawning: A variant of tuberculosis in India that defies every method of treatment already exists.
A rare bit of good news, however, on the antibiotic front is the discovery of the first truly new antibiotic in decades: Teixobactin. It wasn’t born in a laboratory; it was found in the dirt beneath your feet. Researchers have suspected that the soil’s bacteria might have much to teach us regarding how to fight disease. Different species of bacteria battle each other every day. Most bacteria, however, don’t grow well in laboratories.

Now, the journal “Nature” reports that scientists have figured out how to grow previously un-culturable bacteria using an electronic “isolation chip”. They report that they have isolated a new antibiotic, Teixobactin, which they claim has no detectable resistance issues. It apparently works well against organisms that have become hardened to standard antibiotics, like Staph. Aureus and Tuberculosis.

There are millions of uncultured bacteria in the soil that are yet to be grown and investigated. This new method of isolating these bacteria may lead to a number of new antibiotics. As well, other medicines for treatment against cancer, inflammation, and immune issues may one day be developed; it’s been described as the “tip of the ice berg”.

Teixobactin and other drugs are still in the FDA pipeline, so it’ll be a while before you’ll be given a prescription for it. Serious side effects have to be ruled out before it goes to the general public. Let’s hope that this new method will lead to more breakthroughs.

by Joe Alton, M.D. of www.doomandbloom.net

No matter what the future holds or the past may have taught us, it’s clear to see that how we use or misuse antibiotics plays the bigger roll in their effectiveness for our health. Be sure to treat yourself, your medications and your loved ones in need of medical attention with respect.