I forgot to record this one. Instead, I have written out what I said below. Thank you for understanding. Doc T

The title of this is “Antibiotic Use In Horses,” but to begin with, this requires a different approach. Rather than assume that all bacteria are harmful, I want to discuss what bacteria are, where they are, why they exist, and finally, when bacteria cause damage.

Bacteria are microscopic organisms ubiquitously found in everything on this planet. Individually, they are only seen with a microscope, but in groups, they can be seen with our eyes, smelled with our nose, or felt with our touch. According to some research on humans, there are 38 trillion (38,000,000,000,000) bacteria living in, on, and around us. This represents about 50% of all the cells and is called the “holobiome.” When identifying a selection of bacteria living in a location of the body, scientists call that group of bacteria the microbiome or microbiota. Much research has been done on the gastrointestinal tract microbiome (the gut). Still, other specific places include the oral microbiome, lung microbiome, armpit microbiome, skin microbiome, nasal microbiome, etc.

A unique microbiome is the bacteria living inside every body cell. Billions of years ago, when we were just one-cell organisms, the atmosphere of Earth changed from pure methane (carbon plus hydrogen) to a mix we find today in the air of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. The one-cell organisms called prokaryotes were unable to live with this new air. To survive, two prokaryotes learned to live together, one inside the other, forming the first eukaryote. All animals living on Earth today are prokaryotes formed from collecting individual prokaryotes into colonies and bodies we see. But there is more. The bodies consist of highly organized cells, but eukaryotes are inside and outside these cells. Together, these populations of cells create the total living body.

All animal bodies share themselves as an ecosystem. In other words, all of the body’s cells coexist with all the bacteria inside and outside the body. In this ecosystem, all bacteria are “good” and assist us in thriving within an otherwise hostile world. It is hostile because there is a constant and never-ending attack to return all things to a base state of complete randomness. This process is called entropy: the movement from high organizations of atoms, molecules, and cells returning to the unorganized chaos of sub-atomic particles’ vibrations. To overcome entropy, energy is required. (CONTINUED IN MEMBER AREA)

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