Oregano Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria

[Guest guest]

Butch. will oregano capsule work also. The taste of oregano gives me

heartburn.

 

Vickie

[Guest guest]

October 6, 2001

Press Release:

 

Georgetown University Medical Center: Oregano Oil may protect against

drug resistant bacteria.

 

Washington, D.C. — Oil from the common herb oregano may be an effective

treatment against dangerous, and sometimes drug resistant bacteria, a

Georgetown researcher has found. Two studies have shown that oregano

oil — and, in particular, carvacrol, one of oregano's chemical

components — appear to reduce infection as effectively as traditional

antibiotics. These findings will be presented at the American College of

Nutrition's annual meeting October 6 and 7 in Orlando, Fla.

 

Harry G. Preuss, MD, MACN, CNS, professor of physiology and biophysics,

and his research team, tested oregano oil on staphylococcus bacteria—

which is responsible for a variety of severe infections and is becoming

increasingly resistant to many antibiotics. They combined oregano oil

with the bacteria in a test tube, and compared oregano oil's effects to

those of standard antibiotics streptomycin, penicillin and vacnomycin.

The oregano oil at relatively low doses was found to inhibit the growth

of staphylococcus bacteria in the test tubes as effectively as the

standard antibiotics did.

 

Another aspect of the study examined the efficacy of oregano oil and

carvacrol, which is believed to be the major antibacterial component of

oregano, in 18 mice infected with the staph bacteria.

 

Six of the mice received oregano oil for 30 days, and 50% of this group

survived the 30-day treatment. Six received the carvacrol in olive oil,

not oregano oil, and none survived longer than 21 days. Six mice

received olive oil alone with no active agents (the control group) and

all died within three days. A repeat study corroborated these findings,

which demonstrates that there are components of oregano oil other than

carvacrol that have antibiotic properties.

 

" While this investigation was performed only in test tubes and on a

small number of mice, the preliminary results are promising and warrant

further study, " Preuss said. " The ability of oils from various spices to

kill infectious organisms has been recognized since antiquity. Natural

oils may turn out to be valuable adjuvants or even replacements for many

anti-germicidals under a variety of conditions. "

 

Georgetown University Medical Center includes the nationally ranked

School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Health Studies, and a

biomedical research enterprise. For more information, please visit

www.georgetown.edu/gumc.

 

4000 Reservoir Road NW Building D Suite 120 Washington DC 20007

202 687-5100 telephone 202 687-5213 facsimile

www.georgetown.edu/gumc