MRSA killed by 1,000-year-old herbal antibiotic: hospital superbug MRSA subdued by British folk remedy

(NaturalNews) An herbal remedy used to treat styes in the 9th Century has been used successfully to kill MRSA.

MRSA or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus 9, is an antibiotic resistant bacteria that kills tens of thousands of people every year. Researchers at the University of Nottingham and Texas Tech University experimented with a lost Anglo-Saxon remedy for eye infections that combined onions, wine, garlic and a cow's stomach, left to stand in a brass vessel. The resulting mixture killed 90% of MRSA. The recipe was found in an Anglo-Saxon medical book, used over 1,000 years ago to treat eye infections.

Research with 1000-year old remedy for MRSA

Researchers at the University of Nottingham, lead by researcher Freya Harrison, conducted the study. Anglo-Saxon expert, Christina Lee, translated the recipe text in Bald's Leechbook, one of the oldest known books on medicine and healing in the British Library. The idea for the research began at an infectious disease meeting at the university, when Lee discussed the remedies in Bald's book. The team had difficulty finding some of the ingredients. They used modern types of garlic and leeks, hoping they would have a similar medicinal effect. The wine they added was sourced from a historic English winery that had an organic vintage. Because brass vessels cannot be sterilized to modern standards, the researchers used glass bottles with small squares of brass inside. They purchased cow bile salt (bullocks gall) over-the-counter, as it is now used as a nutritional supplement to treat gall bladder disease and to replace gall bladder enzymes after the removal of gall bladders. The researchers discovered that the herbal mixture was "self-sterilizing" after nine days, when they found that the soil bacteria from the leeks and garlic was completely destroyed. Information about the findings were presented at the Society for General Microbiology in Birmingham, England, and will be published in the journal Nature.

Recipe for MRSA killing remedy

The recipe says to take "cropleek and garlic, both of equal quantities, pound them well together." The next step is to "take wine and bullocks gall, mix with the leek... and let it stand nine days in the brass vessel." Brass contains copper, which is known to kill microbes. Individually, the ingredients each have a minimal effect on antibiotic activity. For instance, copper and bile salts are known to kill bacteria, and garlic can stop bacterial action on infected tissue. But researchers found that the ingredients together have a much more powerful effect than any of the ingredients singly. Harrison is quoted as saying, "...we were absolutely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was."

What is MRSA?

The hospital superbug MRSA is a drug resistant strain of Staph, and has become a "serious health concern" according to the U. S. National Institute of Health. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria infect 2 million people a year and kill more than 23,000 in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Traditional Folk Medicine and MRSA

Using this herbal formula to treat MRSA shows the value of herbal and folk medicine. The evolving field of Traditional World Medicine has discovered another wonderful remedy that was hiding in front of our eyes for centuries. Natural remedies from the past can treat incurable diseases in our modern health care system.

Sources:

http://www.ibtimes.com

http://www.newscientist.com

http://www.archaeology.org

About the author:
Talya Dagan is a health advocate and health coach, trained in nutrition and gourmet health food cuisine, writing about natural remedies for disease and nutrition and herbal medicine. You can follow her blog at www.talyadagan.com