Natural Weapon Against Urinary Tract Infections

If you suffer from a urinary tract infection (UTI), especially a drug-resistant UTI, this information may be very helpful. Doctors and researchers have known for quite some time that bacteria evolve and become resistant or “immune” to treatments such as antibiotics. One of the most commonly known and dangerous is Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), which is an infection caused by a strain of staph bacteria that’s become resistant to the antibiotics commonly used to treat ordinary staph infections. Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of the most common extra intestinal bacterial infections and the second most common infectious disease encountered in community practice. UTI alone poses a serious health problem affecting about 150 million people each year around the world. Antibiotics have revolutionized medicine in many respects and their discovery was a turning point in medicinal history. Regrettably, the misuse of these wonder drugs has been accompanied by the rapid appearance of resistant strains.

Because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria, there is an urgent need to explore alternative non-antibiotic treatments to help effectively manage these infections. Garlic (Allium sativum) has been traditionally used for the treatment of different diseases since ancient times. Researchers from the University of East London took aqueous extracts of allicin, a compound found in garlic, and formulated a simple cream. When the cream was applied to vast swathes of the so-called “superbug” MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), it eliminated them. In a study conducted at the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences in India, researchers found that “even crude extracts of [garlic] showed good activity against multidrug resistant strains where antibiotic therapy had limited or no effect.” This provides hope for developing alternative treatments which may be of help in fighting the menace of growing antibacterial resistance around the world.