In the 1940s antibiotics were considered a majestic creation. Finally, we had the cure for horrible diseases that had tortured many American lives. Antibiotics conquered pneumonia and tuberculosis and many other bacterial infections.

The miracle drug may not be so miraculous today. Medical research has shown that in recent years that diseases such as meningitis and tuberculosis are returning, not because the antibiotics aren't doing what they were expected to do, but because the strains of bacteria that are forming of these diseases are different today than they were 50 years ago. These diseases are much more advanced. They have found ways around the antibiotics in order to trick them. And the diseases live on.

If you're prescribed an antibiotic, you need to use it properly. Be sure to listen to how your doctor says it should be used and read the directions on the bottle carefully. Follow those directions precisely: it's not that antibiotics aren't working, but you need to take them correctly.

When you are prescribed to take the antibiotics for a full week and yet you're feeling completely healed after three days, you still need to take the antibiotic for the next four days following your recovery. Also, be sure not to take antibiotics just any time you feel sick. Only take them when you're prescribed them by your doctor. If you take them on a casual basis, you subject your body to creating strains of bacterial and viral infections that fight the antibiotic, and new strains are formed. The next time you are prescribed a particular antibiotic, your body may not be cured by the medicine, because the strain your body is fighting is different from the strain that the antibiotic is meant to treat.