The fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria (so called "superbugs") is increasingly in our minds as reports of hospital-based infections flood the media. What’s not often reported, however, is research showing that a few natural remedies have shown promise.
A compound in garlic, called allicin, "blows holes through MRSA," says one researcher.
One of the major superbugs is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), which occurs most frequently among patients who undergo invasive medical procedures or who have weakened immune systems. Hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers are the major transmission sites. MRSA can cause serious and even life-threatening infections, such as bloodstream infections, surgical site infections or pneumonia. MRSA can also infect otherwise healthy people in the community, typically as a skin infection.
Tea treatment?
Egyptian scientists have recently shown that drinking green tea helps vital antibiotics in their fight against resistant superbugs, making them up to three times more effective. While testing 28 disease-causing bacteria to see if green tea would have any negative interaction with antibiotics, they found the quite the opposite.
"In every single case green tea enhanced the bacteria-killing activity of the antibiotics," says Dr Mervat Kassem from Alexandria University.
Green tea also made 20% of drug-resistant bacteria susceptible to one of the cephalosporin antibiotics. These are important antibiotics that new drug resistant strains of bacteria have evolved to resist.
"Our results show that we should consider more seriously the natural products we consume in our everyday life," says Dr Kassem.
Sweet but strong!
Another such "everyday" natural product is honey. For several years now medical experts from the University of Bonn have been clocking up largely positive experience with what is known as medihoney. Even chronic wounds infected with multi-resistant bacteria are often healed within a few weeks. It has already been proved that medihoney is effective against multi-resistant germs such as MRSA. So far, trials suggest the superbug does not develop resistance to the natural product. In a recent study, Irish scientists reported that honey was able to reduce the MRSA cultures to a non-detectable level within only 24 hours. One type of honey, known as Manuka, appears to be particularly affective against a broad range of bacteria.
More against MRSA
Other common remedies showing promise against MRSA include garlic and tea tree oil. A compound in garlic called allicin is extremely effective in this regard, according to Ronald Cutler, a UK lecturer in microbiology at the University of East London.
"Allicin simply blows enormous holes through MRSA," says Cutler, who has formulated allicin into skin products such as creams and soaps and has achieved success in destroying the microbes in laboratory tests.
In another small experiment, a tea tree oil nasal ointment and a body wash were compared to similar standard antibiotic treatments against MRSA. The researchers concluded that "the tea tree oil combination appeared to perform better than the standard combination," although larger trials are necessary to establish effectiveness and treatment protocols.
Sources: Society for General Microbiology, Mar 30, 2008; University of Bonn, July 27, 2006; Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2008 May;14(2):77-82. Epub 2008; J Hosp Infect. 2000 Nov;46(3):236-7
