Brilio.net - Antibiotics have been one of the most important medical discoveries in human history. Since they were first discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, antibiotics have saved millions of lives around the world and continue to play a vital role in medicine.

Antibiotics work by stopping the growth or killing the bacteria that cause infection. Antibiotics allow the immune system to finish the job of fighting the infection.

There are different types of antibiotics designed to fight specific bacteria, from minor skin infections to more serious illnesses such as pneumonia and meningitis. Understanding how antibiotics work is important for all of us, especially when facing diseases that require antibiotic treatment.

However, inappropriate use of antibiotics following expert advice can cause serious problems, such as antibiotic resistance. Patients often neglect to finish antibiotics on the basis that they feel they have recovered.

In fact, antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria mutate and become resistant to the effects of antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat and increasing the risk of disease spreading. Therefore, it is important to always follow the doctor's prescription and recommendations for using antibiotics.

When seeking treatment, doctors definitely require their patients to complete antibiotics. This doctor's order is not just mere talk, because antibiotics have a vital function in healing.

Unfortunately, quite a few people understand and ignore the doctor's orders to finish antibiotics. It turns out, if you don't finish your antibiotics, you will experience side effects.

Here, brilio.net has reported on the side effects when you don't finish the antibiotics prescribed by your doctor based on summarized results from various sources, Thursday (13/6).

1. Antibiotic resistance

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Antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon in which bacteria become resistant to the effects of antibiotic drugs that were previously effective in killing or stopping their growth. This often happens when you don't finish the antibiotics prescribed by your doctor.

This phenomenon occurs when bacteria experience genetic mutations or acquire resistance genes from other bacteria through a horizontal gene transfer mechanism. As a result, antibiotics commonly used to treat certain bacterial infections are no longer effective.

The impact of antibiotic resistance is very serious, causing increased mortality rates, longer hospital stays, and higher health costs.

2. Accompanying side effects appear directly

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Antibiotics not only kill pathogenic bacteria but also good bacteria that are important for digestive health. This imbalance can cause side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, and fungal infections.

In some cases, this microbiota imbalance can lead to serious conditions such as colitis caused by Clostridium difficile, which requires further medical treatment and can be fatal if not treated properly.

3. Disease healing is not optimal

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Antibiotics are designed to work for a certain period of time to ensure that all infection-causing bacteria are completely eradicated. If treatment is stopped too quickly, some bacteria may survive and reproduce again.

These remaining bacteria are often stronger and have the potential to develop resistance to antibiotics, making infections more difficult to treat in the future. This causes the patient to actually worsen his health condition.

4. The bacteria in the disease are not killed

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Stopping antibiotic use before the prescribed treatment period is complete can cause remaining bacteria to become stronger and more resistant to the drug. When antibiotics are not finished, some of the weaker bacteria may die, but the stronger, more resistant bacteria may survive and reproduce. As a result, diseases have become more difficult to treat because bacteria have developed resistance.

5. The body is easily infected with viruses

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Bodies that have antibiotic-resistant bacteria are more likely to experience recurrent and more difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, which can weaken the immune system. When the immune system is constantly working against resistant bacterial infections, the body's resources and energy are depleted, so that immune function against other pathogens becomes impaired.

As a result, a person with antibiotic resistance is more susceptible to being infected with a virus because a weakened immune system cannot respond effectively to a new attack. This makes the body more susceptible to viral illnesses, lengthens the recovery period, and increases the risk of other health complications.

Author : mgg/Robiul Adil Robani