Some experts have said that the treatment against eye infections that have been old for over 1,000 years could kill antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Some scientists created the Anglo-Saxon remedy in the 9th Century. For preparing this remedy they used part of a cow’s stomach onion and garlic.
They were “surprised” to discover it completely wiped out methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). They will present their discoveries at a national microbiology conference.
This remedy was found in an old English manuscript in the British Library that contains instructions for many treatments. The manuscript is called Bald’s Leech Book. The recipe against eye infections, which contains cow bile, onion, and garlic, was translated by Dr. Christina Lee an Anglo-Saxon expert from the University of Nottingham. The remedy was recreated and tested on large cultures of MRSA by the experts from the University’s microbiology team.
Bald’s Onion and Garlic Eye Balm
Take equivalent amounts of leek or onion and garlic. Chop them nicely and crush them for two minutes. Add 25 English wines from a historic vineyard next to Glastonbury. Add water with melted bovine salts in it, and keep it in a fridge for nine days.
Analysis
One of the earliest examples of a medical textbook is the Leech book. It might be that Anglo-Saxon physicians may have practiced something so close to the modern scientific method. Its emphasis is on experimentation and observation.
Bald’s Leech book contains significant lessons for the modern-day fight against antimicrobial resistance. They tested the ingredients against the bacteria, the remedy, and a control solution. While testing it was found that the remedy destroyed up to 90% of MRSA bacteria and it was believed that it was not the effect of one ingredient but of the recipe.
Dr. Freya Harrison claimed the researchers believed the eye balm may show a “small amount of antibiotic activity”. Dr. Harrison also said that they were surprised by how effective was the combination of ingredients.
Many similar medieval books contain treatments against bacterial infections. This leads to the fact that hundreds of years before bacteria were found, people were carrying out scientific studies.
The discovery of the research team will be presented in Birmingham at the Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology.
Via BBC