Antibiotics : What Everyone Needs to Know® (What Everyone Needs to Know)

A STIRRING EXAMINATION OF A LOOMING CRISIS Virtually everyone has taken antibiotics. They can be lifesavers -- or they can be useless. But what are they? How are they used? And what happens as the effectiveness of antibiotics begins to decline? Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® examines the personal and societal implications of our planet's most important -- and arguably most overused -- medications. In a question-and-answer format, it unpacks the most complicated aspects of this issue, including: · How antibiotics are used (and overused) in humans, plants, and livestock · The consequences to date, and the potential crisis ahead, as overuse of existing antibiotics breeds new resistance in bacteria · How the globalized world enables antibiotic resistance more quickly · Collateral damage, individually and societally, of antibiotic use · The difficult decisions ahead related to medical care and the food system Grounded in the latest scientific research and translated for general readers, Antibiotics: What Everyone Needs to Know® offers a clear-eyed overview of where we are, and what the future holds, as antibiotics lose their might.