Most head lice now resistant to common insecticides, new study finds

Friday, August 05, 2016 by: L.J. Devon, Staff Writer
Tags: insecticides, head lice, drug resistance

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(NaturalNews) The most popular insecticides used to treat head lice are no longer getting the job done. A new comprehensive study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology finds that 98 percent of chemical treatments no longer kill lice. The now ineffective treatments include pyrethrins, pyrethroids and permathrin insecticides.

This is not just an isolated occurrence. The study included head lice samples taken from school nurses and professional lice combers at 138 sites spanning 48 states. In 42 of the 48 states the researchers noticed that the lice had become resistant to the insecticides through an evolutionary process of gene mutations.

Evolution of pathogens renders man's chemical treatments ineffective over time

In 1980, the over-the-counter solution to head lice that was "nearly 100 percent effective" was Nix, a permathrin-based product. However, after 20 years, head lice drastically evolved, mutating to survive.

By 2001, 37 percent of the lice sampled across the United States showed gene mutations. Head lice could no longer be controlled by these insecticide chemicals. Increased use of the insecticides only encouraged the head lice to evolve further.

By 2009, head lice were out-evolving Nix 3 to 1. The effectiveness of Nix had fallen to just 25 percent at that time. It only got worse from there. In 2015, head lice from 48 states were resisting the three most popular insecticides 98 percent of the time. Scientists have found out exactly how the head lice are surviving – through the kdr-type mutation observed throughout the U.S. over several years.

Super STDs are developing increased resistance to the best antibiotics

Efforts to control head lice through chemical insecticides have only caused the organisms to evolve and become much stronger and more pervasive as they resist the chemicals over time. This same tragedy of modern medicine is also occurring for all antibiotic treatments of bacterial infections.

Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are no longer responding to the best antibiotics. STD treatments are no longer effective either, giving rise to highly evolved, infectious strains such as super gonorrhea. The CDC is now reporting that even the most broad-spectrum antibiotic used to control gonorrhea (azithromycin) is starting to fail. Resistance to that antibiotic alone quadrupled between 2013 and 2014. To hold the STDs back, doctors are now combining drugs to keep infections at bay for as long as possible. The same tragedy can be seen in waning vaccine effectiveness, as viruses mutate to survive.

Medical science must acknowledge the evolutionary process, incorporate full spectrum natural compounds that help mankind adapt to pathogens

When a chemical is isolated and used to fight against nature's pathogenic forces, it is only inevitable that nature will find a way to evolve and overcome the singular attack. The chemical being used over and over again as a treatment cannot adequately respond to the evolving pathogen through the evolutionary process of survival. Over time, the singular effectiveness of the chemical wears out, and is out-evolved by the pathogen's intelligence to mutate and survive.

On the other hand, when multi-faceted anti-microbial, anti-fungal and anti-viral substances are kept in their natural form, they can be used with greater effectiveness over time, because these natural compounds can respond through evolutionary processes, allowing humans to more properly adapt to the pathogens in their environment. Substances such as raw honey, apple cider vinegar, echinacea and a plethora of other great plant-based medicines allow humans to adapt to the pathogens in their environment, without encouraging spiking mutations.

One way to kill head lice working with the natural evolutionary process it to combine apple cider vinegar with extracts of tansy herb, chaparral, wormwood and neem oil. Combined with essential oils of cinnamon, eucalyptus, tea tree, oregano and lavender, this natural remedy can be used directly on the scalp to rid the person of lice. Through personal observation, I have seen a variation of these natural substances used as an effective remedy for getting rid of head lice.

Sources include:

DailyCaller.com

Inverse.com