Dear Dave,
I looked up oregano oil and vancomycin fist of all in Google and found myself confronted by reams and reams of stuff by Naturopaths, Herbalists and a site entitled
"Scientists find no Genetic Evidence for Evolution", which title reminded me of the mother whose children I used to tutor, who thought that fossils were put in rocks by the devil, to confuse mankind. I did find this piece in Urban Legends, though:
http://www.snopes.com/rumors/garlic.htm
Quote:
According to a study performed by Dr. Harry Preuss at Georgetown University, tests on mice appear to prove that oregano oil (in particular, carvacrol, one of oregano's chemical components) reduce infection as effectively as traditional antibiotics. The oil was tested against the antibiotics streptomycin, penicillin, and vancomycin.
Preuss presented his findings in October 2001 at the American College of Nutrition's annual meeting in Orlando. His study was paid for by North American Herb and Spice, a company admittedly with a vested interest in herb production and sale.
It's at this point that science and the claims made about garlic and oil of oregano part ways. Nowhere in the study now so often pointed to does Preuss make claims about oil of oregano being effective against anthrax.
Preuss and Georgetown University say claims arising from this study that oil of oregano is a natural antibiotic "that is proven to be active against anthrax..." are grossly misleading. The study doesn't say that. Likewise, we've yet to locate any study done by anyone that makes this claim, either about oil of oregano or garlic.
Current assertions that either of these substances are effective against anthrax have yet to be substantiated and are based on overstatements of what has so far been studied. It's a far reach from "garlic is a nice little home remedy for an infected finger" to "garlic will save you and yours from anthrax," yet that is the reach those intent upon vending herbal remedies or soapboxing about natural solutions have resorted to.
So, I looked up the same in PubMed and what did I find? Nothing, as I expected. The Georgetwn research dates back to before 2001. Vancomycin is still the antibiotic of last resort when all else has failed and Dr. Preuss has been much misquoted. Just looking up oregano oil, though, you can find plenty about its action against intestinal pathogens. Dave, I am not ridden with intestinal pathogens running riot, I have MS and I don't hold much truck with people who say that Medical research shows that yeast overgrowth is connected with multiple sclerosis without citing any references, especially when you choose to completely ignore Marie's excellent post in your thread "I feel abx caused my MS, & now I think I'm nearly cured" and now copied here:
Quote:
OK I can help clear up some stuff in this thread.Early on in my MS I was given "the Yeast Connection" by my Aunt. I was treated aggressively for candida in '93-94. It did not help me at all. I have kept an interest in things related to this since then though and have seen the fungal theories of MS out there on the net. I did not use diflucan all those years ago and I wondered from time to time if more should have been done.
But I've learned more since then and am sharing it here:
First off, this site
http://tinyurl.com/rhvgc is showing the brain MRI of someone with invasive candidiasis. This is a known disease and it is not MS your neuro could tell. None of you have MRI's that look "exactly like" that one cause if you do you will not be here long. IC is seen mostly in immunocompromised people like HIV .
Two, gliotoxin in the brain IS NOT CANDIDA GLIOTOXIN. This is sort of like the word antibiotic meaning a whole lot of things from grapefruit seed extract to penicillin. Gliotoxin means something that harms nerves, like the heat resistant factor in the brain of MS patients and also like the candida gliotoxin but they have different structures and are not the same.
I did not figure this out on my own, I asked Dr Wheldon who is a consultant microbiologist -for Americans that means same thing as an MD with a board certified specialty in germs- if there was a possibility that the fungal connection which this thread also discusses could be another way that MS can be reached, thus leaving people on abx at risk if they triggered more candida by using antibiotics, and he immediately said I bet they used the Menard reference to make that supposition and the structures are different. He got back to me the next day and sure enough, gliotoxin made by candida and gliotoxin found in MS BRAINS are two completely different molecules, and on reviewing the fungal site and theory I see that it is Menard (it was posted in this thread too) that was used to support the idea.
This is a mistake and a very basic error. It should never have gotten to print. There is no evidence of candida in MS brains nor of their by-products. Thanks to Dr Wheldon for whom these things are every day ho hum stuff who took his time to evaluate this.
It was however a great relief to me to know that there's one theory I need not worry about, and people using abx need not be concerned. If you look on his site on the NAC page, you can read this from him and not use my hearsay
http://www.davidwheldon.co.uk/NAC.html As different from Candida, which has no investigators anywhere in the world publishing data that shows oligoclonal bands are actually candida reactive, or that the MS brain does indeed have it there, CPn has a number of studies that directly tie CPn to MS brains. Not every study does but many do, in contrast to candida which has absolutely none whatsoever.
The whole theory is based on the gliotoxin mistake described here and it is a theory only. Marie
Now back to work,
Sarah
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
