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Glossary |
Garlic Ingredient Wipes Out Hospital Superbugs In
Tests
By John von Radowitz
The Independent - UK
12-30-3
Planet Botanic Canada - Garlic Fact
Sheet
- An ingredient in
garlic may offer one of the
best defences against hospital superbugs, research shows. The
compound is said to be effective even against highly resistant
strains of the notorious MRSA bug, which has claimed many lives.
-
- Tests by Dr Ron Cutler, a microbiologist, showed
it can cure patients with MRSA-infected wounds "within days", he
said. Allicin, which occurs naturally in garlic, not only killed
known varieties of MRSA, but also new superbug generations resistant
to "last-resort" antibiotics such as vancomycin. The findings will
be published in the Journal of Biomedical Science in the new year.
-
- Dr Cutler, from the University of East London,
said: "Antibiotics are increasingly ineffective [against MRSA].
Plant compounds have evolved over millions of years as chemical
defence agents against infection. Garlic has been used in medicine
for centuries."
-
- MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus) causes 2,000 deaths in UK hospitals each year, mainly by
infecting surgical wounds. Dr Cutler is starting clinical trials.
-
- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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