Antibiotics gain strength with natural compound:
More and more common antibiotics are losing their effectiveness because they are used too often, allowing bacteria to develop resistance to the drugs. A University of Rhode Island researcher has found a solution to this problem with a natural compound that boosts antibiotic strength from 100 to 1,000 times. While conducting research on infection prevention, URI Microbiology Professor Paul Cohen stumbled upon a compound — lysophosphatidic acid — that is naturally produced in the human body in great quantities wherever there is inflammation.According to Cohen, bacteria are divided into two groups — Gram-positive and Gram-negative — based on the structure of their cell walls. When lysophosphatidic acid is administered in small amounts (80 micromolars), it sensitizes the Gram-negative bacteria 100 to 1,000 times so only small quantities of antibiotics are needed to kill the bacteria. When administered to fight Gram-positive bacteria, the compound kills the bacteria without needing any antibiotics.
(Hat tip to Mercola’s Health Blog.)