Garlic could be use to cure pneumonia- Researchers

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have affirmed that garlic could be used to treat patients suffering from chronic infections such as pneumonia, cystic fibrosis and the superbug MRSA, all of which are caused by robust bacteria.

While pneumonia is a bacterial infection in one or both lungs, the “superbug,” MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a bacterium that can cause serious infections.

It is “super” because it is resistant to numerous antibiotics, including methicillin and penicillin, so it is harder to treat than many bacterial infections.

According to the study, which was published in the ‘Journal of the National Medical Association,’ garlic contains the important sulphurous compound ‘ajoene’, which stopped the Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria from working.

The sulphurous compound is able to tackle the bacteria behind the chronic infections. The bacteria are known to cause lung condition cystic fibrosis, as well as pneumonia, bone infections, and sepsis. One of the bacteria can also cause endocarditis – a heart valve infection – which leads to heart failure and strokes. Garlic is a plant in the Allium family.

It is closely related to onions, shallots and leeks. It grows in many parts of the world and is a popular ingredient in cooking due to its strong smell and delicious taste.

This study is not the first to try the usefulness of garlic in tackling bacterial infections. Previous studies claimed that garlic offered the most powerful, naturallyoccurring resistance to bacteria, the scientists said.

Similarly, the role of garlic in both diet and as a therapy in natural medicine has long been established. Researcher, Tim Jakobsen, who is an assistant professor from the Costerton Biofilm Centre at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology, said: “The two types of bacteria we have studied are very important.

“They actually belong to two very different bacteria families and are normally fought using different methods. “But, the garlic compound is able to fight both at once and therefore may prove an effective drug when used together with antibiotics.”

The scientists used garlic extracts to fight off the bacteria, as part of the study. The garlic compound stopped molecules inside the bacteria from working, the researchers found.