Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium that is the aim for all living things. When a living thing is sick, the healing part of it bursts in to action, in an attempt to return things to normal. We have created drugs to help us achieve this quickly, but at what price? With almost every drug that helps you, it has a side effect that is harmful, even if we don’t recognize this effect immediately. Take the problem of antibiotic resistance for one thing. Even if there were no other harmful side effects of antibiotics, we have disrupted the genetics of bacteria, making them stronger and more difficult for our bodies to handle themselves. We did not see this effect when we were taking the antibiotics, but boy do we see it now.

(more…)