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There is a unique smell to hospitals, composed of equal parts
illness, rubbing alcohol, fear. and hope. Few of us who have been in a
hospital can forget that smell or the feelings it engenders. But
underneath those memory-laden smells and feelings is the belief
that in this place, this hospital, there is an army of men and women
fighting for our lives, working to bring us back from the brink of
death. We have learned, been taught, know, that this army is winning the
war against disease, that antibiotics have made an end to most bacterial
diseases. It is a comforting belief. Unfortunately, what we "know"
couldn't be more wrong.
Late in 1993, as Newsweeks Sharon Begley reported,
infectious disease specialist Dr. Cynthia Gilbert entered the room of a
patient with a long-term kidney condition. Her face was set in the mask
that physicians have used for centuries when coming to pass sentence on
their patients.
The man was not fooled; he took it in at a glance. "You're
coming to tell me I'm dying," he said. She paused, then nodded curtly
"There's just nothing we can do. They each paused, then. One
contemplating the end of life; the other, the failure of her craft and
the loss that goes with it.
Dr Gilbert took a deep and shuddering breath. "I'm
sorry, she said. The man said nothing; for what he was contemplating,
there were no words. His physician nodded sharply as if settling her
mind. Then she turned and left him, facing once again the long hall
filled with the smells of illness, rubbing alcohol, fear, hope and
questions for which she had no answer........
Stephen
Buhner has arrived at (and shares with you, the reader) the frightening
truth you won't find in the Journal of the American Medical Association:
We are running out of weapons in the war on germs.
Since germs can go through a
generation in 20 minutes or so, instead of the 20 years or so it takes
us humans to reproduce ourselves, it's no small wonder that the germs
are evolving resistance to our chemical weapons as rapidly as we develop
them.
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James A.Duke, PH.D , author of The Green Pharmacy
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Serving Since 2002
