Essential Oils Found to Fight
Bacteria MRSA
DALLAS (Reuters Health) - A pair of orthopaedic surgeons report
that two
essential oils―eucalyptus
and tea-tree oil
(Melaleuca)―are
surprisingly effective at treating methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Despite the
positive findings, though, others say it is too soon to consider
such oils an alternative to antibiotics.
The researchers presented their findings here at the 69th Annual
Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Dr. Eugene Sherry of the University of Sydney in Australia said
that, applied to the skin of infected wounds an antibacterial
wash derived from
Eucalyptus radiata and
Melaleuca
alternifolia―better
known as eucalyptus and tea-tree oil―can
work when modern antibiotics fail.
Essential oils like these are mostly used in
aromatherapy, Sherry noted.
He said that he used the combination "once a day for several
months" in a series of 25 patients with MRSA.
"Twenty-two of the infections resolved completely," Sherry
reported. In 19 patients, the infections resolved without the
use of antibiotics, while three patients required antibiotic
treatment, he said.
Before Sherry applied the solution, he removed dead skin and
infected tissue from the wound, a process called debridement.
Sixteen of the infections involved the bone and three had spread
to muscle.
In addition, 10 of the patients were diabetic, which "makes
healing of wounds very difficult," Sherry said in an interview
with Reuters Health.
Two years ago, Sherry attended a presentation about the
antibacterial properties of essential oils and decided to
research the subject. He said that he discovered a wealth of
50-year-old research concerning essential oils, but said "all
that research was abandoned when modern science discovered
antibiotics."
When Sherry decided to initiate a trial of
eucalyptus and
tea-tree oil
(Melaleuca)
in MRSA patients, he discovered that Dr. Patrick H.
Warnke, an orthopedic surgeon at the University of Kiel in
Germany, was pursuing a parallel study. So the two combined
their work to produce the 25-patient MRSA study.
Warnke said they are now studying an aerosolized version of the
compound in laboratory studies of tuberculosis. When they
sprayed the compound on tuberculosis cultures "we wiped out TB,
killed it, in 40 minutes. No antibiotic does that," Warnke told
Reuters Health.
Both doctors said that they have received no funding from the
makers of the
essential oils, nor do they have financial
interests in companies producing the substances.
Dr. Harris Gellman, professor of medicine at the University of
Miami and a spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons, said the new study is "interesting and exciting," but
the treatment is nowhere near ready for prime time.
Gellman pointed out that although the results are positive, the
authors have not provided enough information. For example, he
said, the information about the site of the infection, duration
before the
essential oils treatment, and comparison to a
"control" group are all missing from the study.
The bottom line, Gellman said, is that "we don't know if these
patients would have recovered irrespective of treatment."
But even with those caveats, Gellman said he is pleased that
orthopaedic surgeons are "finally going back" to evaluate
traditional therapies for infection.
"Most medicinals come from plants," he noted, "so the natural
progression is to look to more plants for more treatments."
Source: Reuters health:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=594&u=/nm/20020215/hl_nm/oils_1
Stock-up
on NingXia Red & Thieves products today - while
supplies last!
