Beyond Antibiotics: 50 (or so) Ways to Boost Immunity and Avoid Antibiotics

by Michael A. Schmidt, Lendon H. Smith, Keith W. Sehnert

Officials from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control have reported that the overuse of antibiotics in medicine has created an epidemic of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Doctors fear that if antibiotic use is not curtailed, we may soon approach the day when untreatable infections are rampant. In Beyond Antibiotics, Drs. Schmidt, Smith, and Sehnert explore the problems presented by the overuse of these drugs. More importantly, they show how to build immunity, improve resistance to infections, and avoid antibiotics when possible.

Genres: Health, Medicine

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[J & J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book made a clear point that antibiotics are overused but it didn't offer as many alternatives as I was looking for, such as Colloidal Silver, GcMaf, etc... This was a conservative "alternative" book that basically only cited vitamins and other healthy habits such as eating right, getting enough sleep, etc... I was hoping to see something more edgy with true alternative therapies.

[Diane Henry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish. I love listening to Schmidt on This Week in Microbiology (and I think this is the same guy). He's interesting and knowledgable about various microbes and their biology, and uses helpful analogies to understand their actions. This book feels like it overreaches, extrapolating from often scanty (or old) data. I don't have the time to look into the studies cited, and don't have the tools to "unpack" a study either. He mentions a "controversial" study that links antipyretic use with autism without comment (except for the "controversial" part) when, in fact, I think the data are extremely thin here. In short, I don't feel like I can trust this book.

[T.F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise and eye opener of sorts. But I would take what this book says with a pinch of salt. The book talks about holistic care of our body as against the piecemeal approach adopted by allopathy medicine. In philosophy I agree with most things the book says. But reading with an open mind, some of the arguments by the authors feel specious. The way they keep mixing anecdotal and obscure statistical evidence gives a feel of snake salesmen trying to convince clients with marketing gimmicks. I would have been convinced with theoretical arguments rather than trying to prove the point with empirical evidence that hardly seems convincing.