French Dirt May Kill MRSA

Local 6 ^ | POSTED: 9:45 am EDT October 26, 2007 | Research Teams Study Ancient Practice

[poobear]

Researchers said that a type of French clay can kill several disease-causing bacteria, including M. ulcerans, which is known as a "flesh-eating" bacteria, and the so-called super bug, MRSA.

~snip~

[poobear]

While an interesting subject, the Title alone might provoke some interesting comments as well for those of you who may still be on lunch break.

[NYFriend]

Something like not showering, but still not getting a rash?

[Mountain Troll]

You have to admit, that does explain an awful lot about the French.

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

One antibiotic—I do not recall which—was developed from Norwegien mud; why not French dirt?

[poobear]

See, I knew the Title would pull out a few goodies.

[wayne_b24]

unshaven pits = disease-free

[gardengirl]

Sounds stupid, but there is a particular type of clay here that sick pigs can root in. Whatever is in the clay cures the pigs. Go figure!

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Packed clay probably also doesn’t allow oxygen to get through so that the bacteria can’t “breathe”.

[poobear]

“Packed clay probably also doesn’t allow oxygen to get through so that the bacteria can’t “breathe”.”

You know, you may have to ping chemical/medical expert FReeper. ‘Cause I don’t have a clue. I’ll try Neverdem.

[montag813]

Science continues to reveal how we are in the dark ages when it comes to using existing elements on this planet to defeat other elements. there was an interesting article about how Stuyvesant Park in New York City imported tens of thousands of ladybugs, in order to kill leaf eating caterpillars, instead of using toxic pesticides.

[Doc Savage]

Sure, but can it kill arrogant French waiters???????

[ishabibble]

Penicillin from moldy bread, too!

[mpackard]

I knew that there were jokes in that headline somewhere.

[poobear]

“Sure, but can it kill arrogant French waiters???????”

Best one!... So far. ;D!

[neverdem]

Packed clay probably also doesn’t allow oxygen to get through so that the bacteria can’t “breathe”.

That sounds reasonable. IIRC, Staph Aureus depends on aerobic respiration, as opposed to bugs that depend on anaerobic respiration.

The first thing that intrigued me was what genus the M. in M. ulcerans meant. It's Mycobacterium, the same genus in TB. Tuberculosis is the name of the species in TB.

Some practitioners maintain that the plant matter in French green clay has anti-inflammatory as well as antiseptic or bactericidal properties. It is interesting that a group of Italian researchers reported in 2002 that French green clay powder is as effective as salicylic sugar powder in preventing infection of the umbilical stump in newborns. The clay powder was found to be superior to powders containing colloidal silver, antibiotics, or fuchsine.

PubMed had 43 articles on French clay, but none had pertinent titles. There was nothing on French green clay.

[poobear]

Wow! Book marked for later and thank you very much! I find this research fascinating.

[tacticalogic]

Don’t know if it’s related or not, but it’s been shown that copper will kill many kinds of bacteria, including MRSA. Tests have shown that MRSA will survive on stainless steel surfaces at room temperature for up to 3 days. Under the same conditions on a copper surface it survives about 90 minutes.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

From this paper, I confirmed that MSRA is indeed an "aerobic isolate".

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

From this paper, I confirmed that MRSA is indeed an "aerobic isolate".

[Califreak]

I have to say it: Dirt don’t hurt!