Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that antibiotic resistant bacteria could pose a catastrophic threat. CRE, or carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, has become more common over the last decade due to the overuse of antibiotics with the bacteria evolving and developing the ability to fight these drugs. They pass on the ability to resist treatment to bacteria that follow, forcing new antibiotics to be developed in order to fight infections that were previously treated quite easily.
CRE infections are said to kill about half of patients who have bloodstream infections- more than twice as many who die from similar infections with antibiotic-susceptible strains, taking the lives of 23,000 people in the U.S. each year.
Despite this dismal news, research has found that drinking tea and coffee may be linked to reducing antibiotic resistant bacteria carried by healthy people in their noses. A 2011 study found that because of the potent antimicrobial properties of tea and coffee, consuming it can lead to a lower likelihood of MRSA nasal carriage.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, can live in one’s nose without actually infecting them. It grows and multiplies there through colonization. Colonized people can then spread the bacteria to others, or become infected through a break of the skin.
The study found that:
- About 2.5 million persons or nearly 1.5 percent of the population, carry MRSA in their nasal cavities.
- Those who reported drinking hot tea were half as likely to have MRSA nasal carriage relative to individuals who drank no hot tea.
- Those who reported consuming coffee also had about a 50 percent reduction in the risk of MRSA nasal carriage relative to those who didn’t drink the beverage.
MRSA takes 6,500 lives in the U.S. every year, with hundreds of thousands hospitalized due to MRSA-related infections.
Western medicine has had a near exclusive emphasis on pharmaceutical medications, often criticizing the use of herbal remedies; however, most people drink coffee or tea on a regular basis anyway, inadvertently reaping the benefits.
Instead of continuing to pour billions upon billions into the pharmaceutical industry, research continues to point to the answer that was there all along: nature has provided us with numerous substances that can encourage healing and even allow us to achieve optimal health without the extensive list of side effects and nightmare problems that come with synthetic drugs.
– The Alternative Daily
Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/media/dpk/2013/dpk-vs-hai.html