One of the super-bugs, the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that have arisen through the overuse of antibiotics, is on the loose. This one is called MRSA, which stands for "methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus." MRSA staph infections first arose in hospitals in the 1960s. It is now in the news because of its escape from hospitals and other healthcare institutions, into the community at large. Life-ruining and even fatal infections are increasing among otherwise healthy people, from high school and professional athletes, to housewives, children, and employees. The first time I heard of this super-bug was in an article in Sports Illustrated about the spread of infections among young athletes. The saddening stories in this article included one about a high school football player who contracted a seemingly minor skin infection and died within 7 days from the spread of MRSA.
Numerous articles are appearing in the news about this deadly bacterium. I have cited links to comprehensive descriptions of medical details and symptoms of MRSA staph infections at HerbScientist.com. What is missing from virtually all of these articles is sound advice on solutions to this growing problem. I offer some below. What brings me to writing this article, however, is that modern medicine is launching an all-out blitz against MRSA, which is surely going to make matters worse.
New Research, Same Old Stupid Science
An article in our local newspaper on March 4, 2009, trumpets a brand new study in the search for a solution to MRSA. This study will cost $9 million in grants from government agencies, will take 5 years, and will involve about 3,000 patients. The core of this study will be to resurrect older antibiotics in hopes that something will work.
Keep in mind that methicillin resistance arose because of the over-use of methicillin. The current treatment of choice for MRSA is an antibiotic by the name of vanomycin. Hospital treatment entails using high levels of vanomycin intravenously for several days. It should be no surprise at all that, as of 1996, a new form of staph infection has started to appear in hospitals, first in Japan and now in the U.S. It is resistant to vanomycin and called VRSA.
Staphylococcus aureus is a wiley pathogen. Pathogenic bacteria typically are. Very few life-killing toxins will keep them down for long. It is only a matter of time before the latest mega-project to eradicate staph infections will enable the appearance of newer, even more resistant and increasingly deadly forms of this bacterium. This is stupid. Indeed, it fits the classic definition of insanity: Doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different outcome.
Natural Products to the Rescue
All plants produce antibiotics. They have to, because they are sitting ducks for infection without them. Modern medicine has failed to capitalize on this cornucopia of natural treatments because antibiotic herbs are not sources of patentable drugs. Nevertheless, almost every herb that has ever been tested for antibiotic activity shows a positive effect. Some herbs are more powerful than others against human pathogens.
The neat thing about natural antibiotics is that bacteria do not develop resistance to them when these natural products are in a mixture of at least three substances. Whole herb extracts, of course, typically contain dozens of substances that have some level of antibiotic activity. The failure to develop resistance to mixtures is a general biological principle that applies not only to microbes but also to insect pests and to malignant tumors.
If medical researchers would spend a fraction of the time and money on evaluating antibiotic herbal preparations instead of old antibiotics for treating MRSA staph infections, we would have a much better chance of controlling this growing problem. In fact, the top 5 antibiotic herbs are already well known in botanical research, so the stage is set for quickly finding several good, cost-effective solutions. I've provided more details about these herbs on my HerbScientist.com blog in my article, "MRSA Staph Infections - Antibiotic Herbs Against Bad Medicine."
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