Writing Exercise #6

So far, I only took antibiotics for twice. First time I took antibiotics, I was about 2 months old. I got pneumonia after a bad cold. The situation was totally out of control because I had a high fever at the same time. My mom had no choice and took me to the hospital. I took antibiotics for few days and the pneumonia got controlled.

The second time I took antibiotics was due to serious bacterial infection of a wound on my leg. I had a physical education test two weeks later, I needed to make sure the infection would not affect my final grade so I took antibiotic injection for one week. The infection get cured quickly, and I did not get any side effects after the injection.

From these experience, I learned that antibiotic treatment is a high-efficiency way to control most bacterial inflammation. For patients who do not use antibiotics frequently, it will take effect in a short time. My parents do not support the usage of antibiotics in daily life, they believe antibiotics are harmful to gut microbiomes.  To them, they will never choose antibiotic treatment unless in urgency. For example in my second experience, they brought me some external anti-inflammation ointment to see if they could work. After we found the inflammation was getting worse and worse, they finally took me to the hospital.

Writing Exercise #4

 

  • usage of probiotics – Probiotics play an important role in the immunity system. They can compete with pathobionts by consuming nutrients they need, and they can exclude pathobionts from colonizing in the gut. Probiotics also produce beneficial bioactive compounds, such as butyrate, vitamins or growth substrates. They can secrete compounds that inhibit or kill pathobionts.
  • usage of antibiotics  – Antibiotics is widely used as a treatment for a large range of diseases, especially in developing countries. People can get access to antibiotics easily in the grocery store pharmacy. Antibiotics quickly kill most of bacteria and destroy the balance of our inner environment. Frequently exposure to antibiotics will it harder for us to restore our gut microbiome.
  • diet  – Food we consume will affect the gut microbiome. For example, consuming more food riched in insoluble fiber will stimulate the growth of probiotics.
  • exposure to bacteria – Especially for babies, the exposure to the outside world can help them to set up their own microbiome system quickly.

Writing Exercise #3

Based on my reading of the Sarid and Gao 2011 article, I do not think we need a new treatment for the HPV treatment. According to the article, the HPV vaccines “are expected to limit the spread of HPV infections and the incidence of HPV-related cancers over time.” It means we can prevent HPV infection by getting vaccination. It  does not cost a lot of money, and it is efficiency. I recommend every teenagers to receive vaccines as early as possible.