Note: this topic is from . Thanks SeekAndFind.
Posted on 04/01/2015 12:01:49 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
An ancient concoction for eye infections seems to really work. The potion, which contains cattle bile, kills the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, researchers at Britain's University of Nottingham report.
In fact, it worked better than the current gold standard for MRSA infections of the flesh, the antibiotic vancomycin, an expert at Texas Tech University found.
Now researchers are working to see just what's in the salve that kills germs so effectively.
It started with a joint project by two wildly different departments at the University of Nottingham.
Dr. Christina Lee, an Anglo-Saxon expert in the School of English, went to microbiologists in the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences with an ancient text — Bald's Leechbook. The 10th-century book has all sorts of remedies, detailed in Old English.
They picked a relatively simple eye salve calling for garlic, onions and cow bile, to be mixed with wine and aged in a copper vessel.
"We chose this recipe ... because it contains ingredients such as garlic that are currently being investigated by other researchers on their potential antibiotic effectiveness," Lee says in a video released by the university. "We also looked at a recipe that was relatively straightforward."
It didn't look exactly sanitary, even if onions and garlic are known to have some antimicrobial activity, and even if wine might kill some germs if the alcoholic content is high enough. Copper, also, has some antimicrobial properties. As for bile from a cow's stomach — maybe not so much.
Nonetheless, said Nottingham microbiologist Freya Harrison, "we recreated the recipe as faithfully as we could."
They even went to a vineyard that's been around since the 9th century for some wine, said the university's Steve Diggle.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Why is it witchcraft.
Like maybe I do! Whatchu goin do about it??
“Whatchu goin do about it??”
Mock. Ridicule. Throw shade.
Just a joke. Back then pretty much any attempt at medicine was often considered witchcraft.
Note: this topic is from . Thanks SeekAndFind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
