Gonorrhea Now Resistant to Last Type of Antibiotics
by the 1980s the antibiotics penicillin and tetracycline were no longer effective against it. Next, gonorrhea resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics emerged, leaving only one class of antibiotic drugs, cephalosporins, left to treat it. Now, it looks like the sophisticated bacteria responsible for gonorrhea are mutating again and developing resistance to this last line of treatment. Although cases of cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea have not yet shown up in the United States, it is already circulating in Japan and Europe — a similar trend to what happened when the last widespread resistance developed.
another reason to be careful and have safe sex…
Intestinal Bacteria Can Influence Brain Development and Behavior
I know this is from “Science News for Kids,” but it reminded me of a talk I heard recently that included discussion of this research.
For every cell in your brain, bones, organs and blood, there are 10 bacteria. They’re not going anywhere, so you might as well get used to them.Not new news, but still interesting to think about.
Even more interesting are the experiments showing that germ-free mice, never colonized with normal gut bacteria, engage in more exploratory behavior than their normally-colonized brethren. If young germ-free mice are then colonized, their behavior reverts to the norm. But it they’re not colonized until they’ve reached maturity, they remain “bold and adventurous.”
More evidence that what you eat influences the bacteria in your intestine, which in turn, affects your brain.
(via talkingshrimp)
Natural deodorant alternatives
Baking soda and cornstarch: Using baking soda as a deodorant is a simple way to combat body odor without subjecting your pits to a variety of chemicals. Mix an eighth of a teaspoon of baking soda with a little bit of water — don’t dissolve it — and rub it under your arms. You can also create a baking soda and cornstarch mix to fight odor and help prevent wetness. Simply mix one part baking soda with six parts cornstarch and dust a little on your underarms.
Lemon juice:The citric acid in lemon juice can kill odor-causing bacteria, and there are people who swear by the lemon deodorizing method.
Rubbing alcohol:Rubbing alcohol is another inexpensive and easy deodorant that kills odor-causing bacteria. Simply fill a spray bottle with alcohol and spritz your underarms with it. You can even add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to give it a scent — witch hazel absorbs oil and is mildly astringent, and tea tree oil can help relieve body odor.
You can also make some combination of the above, adding coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, etc.
Interesting ideas.
What's in your navel? Hundreds and hundreds of types of bacteria
Scientists for the Belly Button Biodiversity project have done a little navel-gazing, studying the belly buttons of 95 volunteers and counting. So far they have turned up 1,400 different bacterial strains, 662 of which appear to be new to science. “We’re probably the only ones studying human belly buttons on such a large scale,”
US meat and poultry widely contaminated with bacteria including superbugs
According to a nationwide study released by the Flagstaff, Arizona-based Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), meat and poultry from U.S.grocery stores have an unexpectedly high rate of dangerous disease-causing bacteria, including antibiotic resistant superbugs. In fact, almost half (47 percent) of all meat and poultry samples tests were contaminated with S. aureus.
What’s more, 52 percent of these contaminated meats contained superbugs, meaning the bacteria were resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. That adds up to multi-antibiotic resistant Staph germs being present in about one out of every 4 samples of meat, chicken or turkey.
“For the first time, we know how much of our meat and poultry is contaminated with antibiotic-resistant Staph, and it is substantial,” Lance B. Price, Ph.D., senior author of the study and Director of TGen’s Center for Food Microbiology and Environmental Health, said in a statement to the media.
The research, published today in the journalClinical Infectious Diseases, is the first national investigation of antibiotic resistant S. aureus in the U.S. food supply.
The dirty truth many Americans — especially meat eaters — don’t want to face is that conditions on so-called industrial farms are not only often inhumane but downright sickening. Animals raised for slaughter are packed together densely and steadily fed low doses of antibiotics in their food. The new report concludes these industrial farms are the ideal breeding grounds fordrug-resistant bacteria that can move from animals to the human population.
I favor grass fed beef and pastured chickens.
Organic foods can contain pesticides…and some may be harmful
As NPR says….
When people are buying organic food, they often make the incorrect assumption that there are no pesticides. It’s true that organic production often uses fewer dangerous chemicals, but certain pesticides are allowed.
It turns out that a key factor in chemicals being cleared for use on organic crops is whether they occur naturally. Spinosad, for example, comes from the soil bacterium Saccharopolyspora spinosa. It can fatally scramble the nervous systems of insects. It’s also poisonous to mollusks.
In the USDA tests, there was ten times as much spinosad on organic lettuce than was found on conventionally cultivated fruits and vegetables.
The USDA maintains an official list of substances that can and can’t be used for organic farming.
This is interesting, but not alarming. This is a bacterium in the soil that has been producing this pesticides probably for hundreds of thousands of years. It’s reasonable to assume that it might produce more of this pesticide if synthetic pesticides were absent. Still, however, I don’t appreciate farmers applying extra pesticides - I feel that the spirit of organic products is pesticide free, and this is frustrating to me…
More here:
When you test synthetic chemicals for their ability to cause cancer, you find that about half of them are carcinogenic.
Until recently, nobody bothered to look at natural chemicals (such as organic pesticides), because it was assumed that they posed little risk. But when the studies were done, the results were somewhat shocking: you find that about half of the natural chemicals studied are carcinogenic as well.
A recent study compared the effectiveness of a rotenone-pyrethrin mixture versus a synthetic pesticide, imidan. Rotenone and pyrethrin are two common organic pesticides; imidan is considered a “soft” synthetic pesticide (i.e., designed to have a brief lifetime after application, and other traits that minimize unwanted effects). It was found that up to 7 applications of the rotenone- pyrethrin mixture were required to obtain the level of protection provided by 2 applications of imidan.
Unless you know your grower personally, there is no guarantee that your produce has been grown without pesticides or other chemicals.
More info:
Rotenone is a slow-acting organic compound derived from a number of subtropical shrubs from the Lonchcarpus, Derris and Tephrosia plant families. The compound poisons the system of targeted pests through ingestion or by contact and retards electron-transport in the nervous system. Rotenone breaks down rapidly in sun and is most effective when used during evenings. The insecticide has shown consistently good results in the control of a wide range of insects including whiteflies, melon aphids, rosy apple aphids, grape leafhoppers, mealybugs and a number of beetle species.
Pyrethrum is an organic compound with insecticidal properties obtained from a number of flowers from the Chrysanthemum group, mainly C. cinerariaefolium, C. marshalilli and C. coccineum. The organic insecticide is rapid acting and has a knock-out effect on targeted pests by affecting the nervous system and leading to nerve discharges that cause paralysis and eventual death. Pyrethrum is often used in combination with rotenone to increase efficacy of control over greater number of pests such as flea beetles. Pyrethrum is highly effective in controlling a number of beetle species, leafhoppers and whiteflies. The insecticide is also used for beet armyworms, black cutworm, thrips and sawflies.
More here:
However, Cox (2002) cites several studies indicating the possibility of a connection between pyrethrins and cancer, including one study showing a 3.7-fold increase in leukemia among farmers who had handled pyrethrins compared to those who had not. In 1999, a USEPA memo classified pyrethrins as “likely to be a human carcinogen by the oral route” (Cox 2002). Currently EPA is undertaking a review for pyrethrin, which is scheduled for completion and issuance of a Reregistration Eligibility Decision (RED document) in June 2006. The RED summarizes the risk assessment conclusions and outlines any risk reduction measures necessary for the pesticide to continue to be registered in the U.S. (EPA 2004).
So I see that Pytherin and rotarone have been removed from the USDA database of allowed organic pesticides/fertilizers - either that or they are listed under a different names…spinosad is still there….
Still, there may well be other pesticides used in the “organic” produce you eat, so I hope that more of these so called organic pesticides are better regulated.
British dentists are now recommending that people, especially small people between the ages of five and 10, not brush their teeth after every meal. The reason is that the acidity in food and beverages causes tooth enamel to soften, and brushing right after eating an acidic meal strips enamel from the teeth, leaving them vulnerable to cavities. … brushing twice a day is generally still believed to be the best practice. But you should do it away from mealtimes to give your teeth time to recover from acid wear … Studies show that flossing is much more important than brushing. Dental floss actually removes the bacteria that clump together between your teeth, without scrubbing and stripping layers off them.
showering or bathing daily… wreaks havoc on something hilariously called the horny layer. … damaging this protective layer of skin makes us more susceptible to disease. … Studies have shown that there are no measurable differences in the number of microorganism colonies a person is host to regardless of how frequently that person showers. … There’s no magic number of showers each week, though it’s generally agreed that the number would fall somewhat shy of seven. Skipping showers, or, if you’d like a fancy French term, celebrating sans douche days, gives your skin time to repair some of the damage that the last shower caused.
Those Nasty White Chunks That Sometimes Come From Your Throat
Those foul smelling, small, white-ish, chunks that you can sometimes feel at the back of your throat are called Tonsilloliths or Tonsil Stones.
tonsil stones are stinky little globs of mucus, dead cells, debris and bacteria that form in the tonsil crypts which are simply small pockets or divots that appear in everyone’s tonsils. When the trapped dead cells, mucus, and debris harden or calcify, they form white/yellow ball in the tonsil pockets.
The strong unpleasant odor is caused by a build-up of sulfur-producing bacteria that feeds on the tonsil stones collected in the crypts of the tonsils and is a combination of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and other stinky substances that form in it.
tonsils play a role in the immune system and are meant to function like nets, trapping incoming bacteria and virus particles that are passing through your throat.
I get these when I’m sick.
Ulcer bacteria may contribute to development of Parkinson's disease
In Guam, a study of why some populations had a high risk of developing a Parkinson’s-like disease discovered that a specific compound in cycad seeds eaten by these populations was neurotoxic. The compound, which resembles a cholesterol with an attached sugar group, is almost identical to a compound produced by H. pylori.
interesting.
via @mocost
Coconut Oil as a Hair Conditioner and Anti-Dandruff Product
What coconut oil can do for your skin it can do for your hair. It is wonderful to use as a hair conditioner. Beauticians who are familiar with coconut swear by it. It softens the hair and conditions the scalp. Using the coconut oil as a pre-wash conditioner can rid a person of dandruff better than a medicated shampoo.
Our skin is home to many tiny organisms, most of which are harmless; some are beneficial. At least one variety of bacterium is essential to the healthy environment on our skin. It feeds on the sebum, breaking down the tryglycerides into free fatty acids.
The bacteria actually feed on the glycerol part of the triglyceride. This leaves fatty acids which are now “freed” from the glycerol unit that held them together. Medium chain fatty acids which are bound to the glycerol unit as they are in coconut oil have no antimicrobial properties. However, when they are broken apart into free fatty acids, they become powerful antimicrobials.
So these bacteria convert the medium chain triglycerides (in the sebum or on the skin) into free fatty acids that can kill disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The combination of the slightly acid pH and medium chain fatty acids provides a protective chemical layer on the skin that prevents infection from disease-causing organisms. Due primarily to the action of bacteria, the oil on the surface of your skin and hair is composed of between 40 and 60 percent free fatty acids. The medium chain fatty acids in the sebum provide the protective layer on the skin that kills harmful germs. Coconut oil is nature’s richest source of medium chain fatty acids.
So I’m going to try coconut oil on my hair as a conditioner. I may cut out using apple cider vinegar, as I don’t really want to inadvertently dye my hair red and I’m also concerned about the harsh acidity of vinegar curling or otherwise funking my hair.
Of course I hate traditional shampoos because most contain SLS which causes all sorts of health problems. Shampoos also contain other compounds which might be just as damaging but just haven’t been well studied yet. Your skin is like your second mouth, so if you wouldn’t eat it, don’t put it on your skin.
Add sugar to your antibiotics and crush superbugs
“Persisters” are bacteria that shut down their metabolism when faced with antibiotics, so they don’t die and then after you’re done taking your antibiotics, they re-grow…
Researchers discovered a weakness: persisters have a sweet tooth. Adding some ordinary sugar to the antibiotic helps it kill off persisters. Bacteria, persister and not, feed on sugars. Persisters survive by shutting down their metabolism when antibiotics strike, but if they’re stimulated by sugar, they just keep feeding. This allows the antibiotics to destroy them exactly the way ordinary bacteria are destroyed.
Doctors believe that this discovery will help treat urinary tract infections, staph infections, and strep throat, but its most life-saving application may be against the age-old disease tuberculosis.
More from the linked article in Nature
Here we show that specific metabolic stimuli enable the killing of both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) persisters with aminoglycosides. This potentiation is aminoglycoside-specific, it does not rely on growth resumption and it is effective in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. It proceeds by the generation of a proton-motive force which facilitates aminoglycoside uptake. Our results demonstrate that persisters, although dormant, are primed for metabolite uptake, central metabolism and respiration.
This is an important qualifier as this seems to only work with some antibiotics - aminoglycoside … examples below…
amikacin, arbekacin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, netilmicin, paromomycin, rhodostreptomycin,[2] streptomycin,tobramycin, and apramycin.
More here:
Researchers found that glucose and fructose — types of sugar found in plants — make deadly bugs behind chronic infections more vulnerable to drugs.
More here:
Researchers conducted laboratory tests to examine the effectiveness of taking antibiotics with sugar and discovered that glucose and fructose, a type of sugar found in plants, encouraged bugs and made them more susceptible to drug treatments. The researchers have claimed that taking antibiotics with sugar not only makes it easy to swallow them but also increases their effectiveness against severe infections such as tuberculosis.
Related story here:
The latest lab work showed that a sugar can make MRSA some-more supportive to antibiotics such as oxacillin – effectively reversing antibiotic resistance.
Professor Cooper said: “This indicates that existent antibiotics competence be some-more effective opposite drug-resistant infections if used in multiple with manuka honey.
Semi related story here:
Daniel Kahne, Min Ge and others synthesized analogs of vancomycin by modifying the sugar groups that are attached to the drug’s peptide backbone. These analogs turned out not only to be effective against vancomycin-resistant bacteria, but also more effective than their parent compound against strains that are normally sensitive to the drug
So what’s the big takeaway. As I see it, it’s this : eat your antibiotic together with fruit, assuming that your antibiotic is an aminoglycoside.
via @mjdub
The Dangers of Meat Glue
Meat glue is an enzyme called transglutaminase. Some meat glues are produced through the cultivation of bacteria, while others are made from the blood plasma of pigs and cows, specifically the coagulant that makes blood clot.
When sprinkled on a protein, such as beef, it forms cross-linked, insoluble protein polymers that essentially acts like a super-glue, binding the pieces together with near invisible seams.
bacterial contamination of meat glued steak is hundreds of times higher than a solid piece of steak
cows are fed grains (oftentimes genetically modified grains, which make matters even worse), when their natural diet isplain grass. Grain diets create a much higher level of acidity in the animal’s stomach, which E. coli bacteria need to survive.
Weaves, braids may speed hair loss in black women - CNN.com
Weaves and braids may contribute to a type of permanent hair loss that appears to be common among black women, a new study has found. More than one-quarter of the 326 black women who participated in the study had hair loss on the top of their scalp, and of those women, 59 percent had signs of central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia, or CCCA, a poorly understood form of baldness that begins at the crown of the head and leads to scarring.
The average age of the women with CCCA was 58. The condition often presents itself when women are in their 40s, but it’s sometimes seen in women as young as their 20s and 30s.
Black women often maintain these styles for long periods of time, and the stress they exert on the scalp can lead to the development of pus-filled bumps, says the lead researcher, Angela Kyei, M.D., a dermatologist and chief resident at the Cleveland Clinic’s Dermatology and Plastic Surgery Institute. “Over time, these bumps can develop bacteria” that can lead to scarring, she explains.
“Blood type, meet bug type.”
In the early 1900s, scientists discovered that each person belonged to one of four blood types. Now they have discovered a new way to classify humanity: by bacteria. Each human being is host to thousands of different species of microbes. Yet a group of scientists now report just three distinct ecosystems in the guts of people they have studied.
Enterotype 1 produces more enzymes for making vitamin B7 (also known as biotin), for example, and Enterotype 2 more enzymes for vitamin B1 (thiamine).
People with type 1, for example, had high levels of bacteria called Bacteroides. In type 2, on the other hand, Bacteroides were relatively rare, while the genus Prevotella was unusually common.
I think this is in the stay tuned category in terms of how it impacts health, but it’s interesting.
via effyeahmicrobiology:
(via themicrobiologist)
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