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https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=296313&org=NSF&from=news
Concept of using mud as medicine goes back to earliest times
Researchers unearth a natural clay deposit with antibacterial activity.
The use of mud or wet clay as a topical skin treatment, or poultice, is a common practice in many cultures. In fact, the concept of using mud as medicine goes back to the earliest times.
Now, Arizona State University (ASU) and Mayo Clinic researchers have found that one type of clay, Oregon blue clay, may help fight disease-causing bacteria in wounds, including treatment-resistant bacteria. Their findings appear in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
"The study is an important advance in understanding how clays, specifically blue clay from Oregon, have shown medicinal properties by attaching to pathogenic bacteria," says Enriqueta Barrera, a program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
The scientists identified certain clays that kill bacteria, including many drug-resistant pathogens.
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So we apparently keep rediscovering the wisdom of the ancients. I'd move to Oregon & start a blue clay business but dealing with the local, state & Federal governments would likely prove to more of a pain than the profit from selling the clay. And ASU likely has either a patent or the rights to the clay.
An effective treatment for topical MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) would be very welcome.
Concept of using mud as medicine goes back to earliest times
Researchers unearth a natural clay deposit with antibacterial activity.
The use of mud or wet clay as a topical skin treatment, or poultice, is a common practice in many cultures. In fact, the concept of using mud as medicine goes back to the earliest times.
Now, Arizona State University (ASU) and Mayo Clinic researchers have found that one type of clay, Oregon blue clay, may help fight disease-causing bacteria in wounds, including treatment-resistant bacteria. Their findings appear in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.
"The study is an important advance in understanding how clays, specifically blue clay from Oregon, have shown medicinal properties by attaching to pathogenic bacteria," says Enriqueta Barrera, a program director in the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Earth Sciences, which funded the research.
The scientists identified certain clays that kill bacteria, including many drug-resistant pathogens.
==============================================
So we apparently keep rediscovering the wisdom of the ancients. I'd move to Oregon & start a blue clay business but dealing with the local, state & Federal governments would likely prove to more of a pain than the profit from selling the clay. And ASU likely has either a patent or the rights to the clay.
An effective treatment for topical MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) would be very welcome.