Essential oils found to fight bacteria

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Essential oils found to fight bacteria

DALLAS, Feb 15 (Reuters Health) - A pair of orthopaedic surgeons report that

two essential oils--eucalyptus and tea-tree oil--are surprisingly effective

at treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections.

Despite the positive findings, though, others say it is too soon to consider

such oils an alternative to antibiotics.

The researchers presented their findings here at the 69th Annual Meeting of

the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Dr. Eugene Sherry of the University of Sydney in Australia said that,

applied to the skin of infected wounds an antibacterial wash derived from

Eucalyptus radiata and Melaleuca alternifolia--better known as eucalyptus

and tea-tree oil--can work when modern antibiotics fail.

Essential oils like these are mostly used in aromatherapy, Sherry noted.

He said that he used the combination " once a day for several months " in a

series of 25 patients with MRSA.

" Twenty-two of the infections resolved completely, " Sherry reported. In 19

patients, the infections resolved without the use of antibiotics, while

three patients required antibiotic treatment, he said.

Before Sherry applied the solution, he removed dead skin and infected tissue

from the wound, a process called debridement. Sixteen of the infections

involved the bone and three had spread to muscle.

In addition, 10 of the patients were diabetic, which " makes healing of

wounds very difficult, " Sherry said in an interview with Reuters Health.

Two years ago, Sherry attended a presentation about the antibacterial

properties of essential oils and decided to research the subject. He said

that he discovered a wealth of 50-year-old research concerning essential

oils, but said " all that research was abandoned when modern science

discovered antibiotics. "

When Sherry decided to initiate a trial of eucalyptus and tea-tree oil in

MRSA patients, he discovered that Dr. H. Warnke, an orthopedic

surgeon at the University of Kiel in Germany, was pursuing a parallel study.

So the two combined their work to produce the 25-patient MRSA study.

Warnke said they are now studying an aerosolized version of the compound in

laboratory studies of tuberculosis. When they sprayed the compound on

tuberculosis cultures " we wiped out TB, killed it, in 40 minutes. No

antibiotic does that, " Warnke told Reuters Health.

Both doctors said that they have received no funding from the makers of the

essential oils, nor do they have financial interests in companies producing

the substances.

Dr. Gellman, professor of medicine at the University of Miami and a

spokesman for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, said the new

study is " interesting and exciting, " but the treatment is nowhere near ready

for prime time.

Gellman pointed out that although the results are positive, the authors have

not provided enough information. For example, he said, the information about

the site of the infection, duration before the essential oils treatment, and

comparison to a " control " group are all missing from the study.

The bottom line, Gellman said, is that " we don't know if these patients

would have recovered irrespective of treatment. "

But even with those caveats, Gellman said he is pleased that orthopaedic

surgeons are " finally going back " to evaluate traditional therapies for

infection.

" Most medicinals come from plants, " he noted, " so the natural progression is

to look to more plants for more treatments. "

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