Antibiotic Resistance: Thinking Laterally

Photo credit: mRio“Antibiotics are wonder drugs, but they face increasing problems with resistance by various types of bacteria, especially Staphylococcus aureus.”  Reports like this are being issued with alarming frequency by medical experts who are seriously concerned about a growing number of antibiotic-resistant superbugs spreading through hospitals, homes for the elderly and other institutions.  Antibiotic resistance is a BIG problem.

But it’s good news from researchers from the California Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre and the Linus Pauling Institute, University of Oregon, who have just published their findings on how very high doses of vitamin B3 (niacin or nicotinamide) might help kill off these superbugs.  This is a new way of focusing on the problem, and according to Dr Gombart from the Linus Pauling Institute, is “a way to tap into the power of the innate immune system and stimulate it to provide a more powerful and natural immune response”. Vitamin B3 significantly boosts the number and effectiveness of the body’s own white blood cells which fight infection. In fact it’s claimed that this vitamin can boost immune capacity by up to 1000 times.

The researchers seem cautious about not coming out in competition with existing antibiotic use, even suggesting that B3 megadoses might be taken in conjunction with  antibiotics.  It would be interesting to see  B3 examined in conjunction with a natural “antibiotic” such as Olive Leaf Extract, which has been shown to be effective against a range of viruses and bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, various pseudomonas and many strains of influcnza.  Such a combination might get around a major problem associated with antibiotic use, viz. they kill off all your good gut bacteria, leaving you exposed and vulnerable to ever more infections.

Read the original research here: http://www.jci.org/articles/view/62070?key=a39ce7efc2f764ede04

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