"We've reached the end of antibiotics"

[GoldenBrain]

This is a question to all the traditional medicine folks out there. What type of concoction would you advise to treat blood and skin infections of superbugs like MERSA?

Of course western doctors and others are also welcome to comment.

Below is the headline, which pretty much sums it up, and link to the article.

"We've reached the end of antibiotics": Top CDC expert declares that 'miracle drugs' that have saved millions are no match against 'superbugs' because people have overmedicated themselves.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...hemselves.html



Below is a recipe I found for Thieves Oil, which is a blend of essential oils. Essential oils are said to be effective because they move past the blood brain barrier. It's called Thieves Oil because during the black plague years thieves and grave robbers would consume this as well as apply a diluted version liberally externally which was said to keep them from contracting the plague. Is there any validity to using this against the superbugs?

Thieves Oil recipe:
• 40 drops organic Clove Bud essential oil
• 35 drops organic Lemon essential oil
• 20 drops organic Cinnamon Bark essential oil
• 15 drops organic Eucalyptus essential oil
• 10 drops organic Rosemary essential oil
Mix all of these together and store in a dark, apothecary-style bottle. You could also mix these with about 2 tablespoons carrier oil to use as massage oil. (1 drop essential oil to 4 drops carrier oil is a good ratio.)

It's also recommend to include ‘lemongrass’ and ‘geranium’ into your mixture (as these have proven highly effective against MRSA and other bacterial strains.) Some other oils to incorporate if you want are Tea Tree, Oregano, Thyme, Sage, Ravensara, Lavender, Juniper Berry, Hyssop, Bay Laurel, or Scotch Pine. (Be mindful of oregano, it is very powerful and can irritate sensitive skin.)

[Scott R. Brown]

Do a Google search on Honey and MRSA. They are using it very successfully in Britain.

[Scott R. Brown]

BTW, we have known we have been coming towards the end of antibiotics for 20 years or so, so that article is more for sensationalism rather than reporting something new.

We also are still coming up with new antibiotics, but they tend to fall under rule of diminishing returns. Every year we start using antibiotics of which I have never heard. Most of the new ones are channeled to the MRSA infections.

[GoldenBrain]

Do a Google search on Honey and MRSA. They are using it very successfully in Britain.

Roger that! We use Manuka honey here. It's potent stuff. That's good for topical and stomach bugs, but what about internal for blood infections? I'm also interested in other topical treatments so if anybody has other suggestions then please add them.

I read a study recently where they discovered green tea is extremely antiseptic. It works great for cleaning surfaces that may harbor MRSA and other nasties. I don't know if the following link is the exact study I read but it showed up in a quick google search…
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763290/

[David Jamieson]

Do a Google search on Honey and MRSA. They are using it very successfully in Britain.

Honey is the age old bacteria barrier. Put honey on an open wound in the field, no infection will set in. Amazing stuff.

[taichi4eva]

i'll take vancomycin over honey any day.

[breeze]

In a german center for heart-thorax-surgery we use medical honey as "osmotic débridement" in wound therapy , but of cause also Vancomycin as systemic antibiotic. (sorry for my poor English).

[GoldenBrain]

Breeze, is medical honey a form of royal jelly? Please explain how it's different than regular raw honey. Thanks!

Thanks to taichi4eva and breeze! I've learned a new one…vancomycin. I had to look it up, but found it basically comes from the dirt.

[taichi4eva]

med student, so it's nice to see there are alternatives to MRSA treatment. i'll have to look up if we use honey in the US, but i wouldn't bring it up with my attending.

[Faux Newbie]

Honey is the age old bacteria barrier. Put honey on an open wound in the field, no infection will set in. Amazing stuff.

I'd never heard that before. Interesting.

[Scott R. Brown]

Thats why it works on MRSA.

I think Alexander the Great was packed in honey after he died to preserve his body for transport. If it wasn't him it was another ancient leader.

This has been known about honey for millenia.

[Faux Newbie]

I think I saw this once in a Kim Bassinger film.

[SoCo KungFu]

Antibiotics have not reached their end, nor will they. You won't be treating sepsis with honey.

1) People are freaking over this issue in recent years, but this is just evolution at work. We are simply selecting for the most resistant to what we have been using. But an organism can only do so much to compensate. And every evolved trait also means something has to give somewhere else, you can only do so much with limited chemistry. Any change in membrane structure one way, opens a potential target somewhere else.

2) Natural remedies are, well we know what I think of them. Actually, in terms of "natural" antibiotics, I think this is really one of the better strengths of natural remedies. Its really just chemistry, less refined, but chemistry. You can't put much stock in it though outside certain narrow circumstances. Salves are good and all, but really topical uses aren't really that big a deal. Soap and water gets you a long way in that situation. Certainly not the type of thing that matters in an emergency scenario, systemic. Unfortunately, the main issues we are having is in treating infections that have gone systemic. That said, a number of powerful antibiotics we use are based on of naturally occurring compounds. They've just been isolated, made more effective and concentrated in a pill.

3) This is only really hitting a few diseases (MRSA being the big one). You have to ask yourself who this impacts the most. That being the immuno-compromised, particularly the elderly. Most of us can tolerate a majority of the more harsh, older antibiobitics (we use them because of what I said above, any evolved resistance means a give somewhere else). The problem is the elderly that are already facing organ complications and are likely already taking a number of drugs, meaning their risk of toxicity is far higher than most of us here.

Basically, this is getting blown up by articles like this. It is an issue, no doubt. But its not the beginning of the end.

[GoldenBrain]

That's good to know SoCo. It's hard for people outside of the medical field to understand exactly what is going on especially when somebody from the CDC makes sensationalized statements like what is in the article.

[GoldenBrain]

Here's one for the outdoor survivalists. Pine sap will seal wounds like super glue and has the added bonus of being antiseptic.

This next use of pine sap probably deserves it's own thread. Indians have been making carbon fiber for thousands of years. Take pine sap, heat and mix with wood ash and coat that on the sinew that is wrapped around an arrow head which is affixed to an arrow shaft and you have carbon fiber. The same pine sap/wood ash mix can be used to glue a stone knife blade into an antler handle as well. Heat the handle a bit and jab the tang of the blade into it with the pinen sap/wood ash mix and when it cools it's solid. Spears can also be made like the arrows but with a larger point.