Essential oils combat MRSA bacteria
22/12/2004 -
Essential oils usually used in aromatherapy have been
found to kill the deadly MRSA bacteria which is causing increasing numbers of
deaths in hospitals round the world.
Researchers at the University of Manchester say they have identified
three essential oils that killed MRSA and E. coli as well as many other
bacteria and fungi within just two minutes of contact.
The oils, which have not been revealed in order to protect the
university's rights to the findings, could be easily blended into soaps
and shampoos for use by hospital staff to stop the spread of the deadly
bacteria.
Peter Warn from the university's Faculty of Medicine said: We believe
that our discovery could revolutionise the fight to combat MRSA and
other ˜super bugs'.
The UK's National Audit Office estimates that infections such as MRSA
kill 5,000 people each year and hospital-acquired infections cost the
NHS around £1 billion a year.
Doctors have become increasingly alarmed over recent months by the
emergence in UK hospitals of new generations of resistant strains of
MRSA. The bacteria has also become endemic in many hospitals,
especially in London and the south-east of England.
Essential oils are chemical compounds found within aromatic plants,
which the plants use to fight off infections. Researchers tested 40
essential oils against ten of the most deadly bacteria and fungi. Two
of these oils killed MRSA and E. coli almost instantly, while a third
was shown to act over a longer period of time.
Scientists at the University of Sydney previously reported in 2002 that
eucalyptus and tea-tree oils were surprisingly effective at treating
MRSA when applied to the skin of infected wounds.
Jacqui Stringer, clinical lead of Complementary Therapies at the
Christie Hospital, who instigated the research said: The use of plants
in medicine is nothing new but some people regard the use of essential
oils as unconventional. Our research shows a very practical application
which could be of enormous benefit.
The reason essential oils are so effective is because they are made up
of a complex mixture of chemical compounds which the MRSA and other
super bug bacteria finds difficult to resist."
Current treatments are made of single compounds that MRSA quickly
becomes resistant to, she added, and reduces the success rate to only
50 per cent.
Essential oils also have the advantage of being well tolerated and
easily administered.
While a wide range of products currently exist to help prevent the
spread of MRSA these are often unpleasant for patients as their
application can cause skin irritation. MRSA is often carried inside the
nose which means that patients often have to insert treatments up their
nostrils, whereas these essential oils can simply be inhaled to prevent
the patient being at risk, added Stringer.
The Manchester researchers are now looking for funding to develop their
work and carry out a clinical trial but they are having problems
sourcing the required £30,000.
Essential oils cannot be patented as they are naturally occurring, so
few drug companies are interested in our work as they do not see it as
commercially viable, said Warn.
Obviously, we find this very frustrating as we believe our findings
could help to stamp out MRSA and save lives.
The garlic compound allicin has also been shown to fight MRSA and since
the first studies demonstrating this effect, the product has been in
strong demand.
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