He further points out, "The essence of lemon is second to none in its antiseptic and bactericidal properties. The works of Morel and Rochaix have demonstrated that the vapors of lemon essence alone will neutralize the meningococcus in 15 minutes, the typhus bacillus in less than an hour, pneumococcus in one to three hours, staphylococcus aureus in two hours and hemolytic streptococcus in three to twelve hours. Applied directly, the essential oil itself neutralizes the typhus bacillus and staphylococcus in only five minutes and the diphtheric bacillus in just 20 minutes."

In tests conducted in France by Professor Griffon, Director of the French Police Toxicology Laboratory, the antiseptic effect of a blend of essential oils---including pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon---was studied in order to test the ability of the oils to purify the air of harmful disease-causing bacteria. First, Professor Griffon set up a number of Petri dishes approximately 15cm from ground level in an open room, allowing them to stand for 24 hours, the germs from the air being collected naturally as they settled into the open Petri dishes. After 24 hours he analyzed the dishes, finding them to contain 210 colonies of various microbes, including numerous molds and staphylococci. He then sprayed the mixture of essential oils in the form of an aerosol into the air in the room. After only 15 minutes, only 14 colonies of microorganisms out of the original 210 were left alive. After 30 minutes, only FOUR colonies of the original 210 were left. Importantly, ALL of the potentially harmful disease-causing molds and staphylococci had been killed within the first 30 minutes, 3) Peppermint--Known to dramatically and rapidly improve mental acuity and alertness, vanquish fatigue, soothe the respiratory system, relieve nausea, fever and vomiting, and quickly put a stop to acid indigestion and heartburn. It also kills intestinal parasites, as well as staphylococcus, the tuberculosis bacillus, and numerous other pathogenic

microorganisms. When diffused, it purifies the air and water, and is known to be a mild aphrodisiac, helping to relieve impotence. Peppermint is also often used as an inhalant for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis, and is known for its pain relieving properties.

**The above was taken from the Biotech Report

Doctors may not be able to stop Staphylococcus aureus, but you can. A simple blend of oils containing clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus and rosemary in clinical studies was found to dramatically inhibit the growth of many forms of bacteria...INCLUDING Staphylococcus aureus.

In their Annual Research Report for 1996, Weber State University cites 19 oils which displayed a 100% kill rate against T7 phage, and three oils which displayed a 100% kill rate against Staphylococcus aureus phage. In a world filled with so much

disease, it is this kind of information that should make essential oils a matter of FIRST IMPORTANCE to you and your family. They could literally save your life one day.

In his book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, Jean Valnet describes how oil of oregano is potent enough to sterilize sewage water! In 1995 Greek researchers at the University of Thessaloniki discovered that a 1/4000 dilution of fresh wild oil of oregano sterilized septic water.

Even in very watered down concentrations oil of oregano has been found to be "extremely bactericidal" in its action against 8 strains of bacteria including E coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus. At Cornell University research has shown it was effective against 30 different germs. A University of Tennessee study found oil of oregano to be useful against 9 different harmful food borne microbes. In Holland scientists found that carvacrol, one of oregano's components, did an excellent job in inhibiting food borne Bacillus bacteria.

DR NANCY SNYDERMAN (VO) Noble was experimenting with bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. Staph is a very common bacterium that lives on our skin and

generally causes no trouble. But if it gets into the bloodstream, say through a cut or

surgery, staph can very quickly damage the heart, lungs, brain, or poison the entire

system. Staph is also very easily spread by touch. It's found on doors, handrails,

counter tops, you name it. What made Noble's strain of staph so extraordinary, so frightening, was that it was resistant to the most potent antibiotic in existence, a drug called vancomycin.

"Oil pressed from oregano leaves that contain the active ingredient carvacrol may be an effective treatment against sometimes drug-resistant bacterial infection. Georgetown University researchers have found that oil of oregano appears to reduce infection "as effectively as traditional antibiotics." Oil of oregano at relatively low doses was found to be efficacious against Staphylococcus bacteria and was comparable in its germ-killing properties to antibiotic drugs such as streptomycin, penicillin and vancomycin." [Science Daily 10/11/2001]

The findings were presented by Harry G. Preuss, MD, professor of physicology and biophysics, Georgetown University, at the American College of Nutrition's annual meeting in Orlando, Florida.

Earlier this year researchers at the Department of Food Science at the University of Tennessee reported that, among various plant oils, oil of oregano exhibited the greatest antibacterial action against common pathogenic germs such as

Staph, E. coli and Listeria." [Journal Food Protection, Volume 64, July 2001]

Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to tea tree oil and mupirocin J Antimicrob Chemother 1999; 43: 427-428 G. K. F. Elsom* and D. Hide

Department of Life Sciences, University of East London, Romford Road, London E15 4LZ,UK

Sir,

The antimicrobial properties of essential oils of plant origin have been recognized for centuries. Carson & Riley demonstrated that the antimicrobial activities of one such compound, tea tree oil, which is obtained from Melaleuca alternifolia, are attributable to its hydrocarbon and terpine constituents, including terpinen-4-ol, -terpineol and linalool.

With the increasing prevalence of methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as pathogens in both hospitals and the community, the eradication of the carrier statehas become an important control measure. Mupirocin has been used widely for this purpose but, recently, there have been reports of clinical isolates of MRSA exhibiting either high- or low-level resistance to it. This has prompted a search for alternative agents and this search has extended to natural oils. The present study was undertaken in order to evaluate the in-vitro activities of tea tree oil and mupirocin against 100 recent clinical isolates of MRSA.

Tea tree oil (batch no. 3691) was obtained from Thursday Plantation Laboratories Ltd (Ballina, NSW, Australia); the batch complied with the International Standard (ISO 4730) in that the 1,8-cineole content was 15% and the terpinen-4-ol content was 30%. Mupirocin was provided by SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Harlow, UK). The strains of MRSA were 100 non-replicate clinical isolates collected from laboratories throughout England and Wales. S. aureus NCTC 7447 was used as a control.

The susceptibilities of the strains to tea tree oil and mupirocin were determined by amicrobroth dilution method described previously by Carson et al., except that the medium used was nutrient broth (Oxoid, Basingstoke, UK); the medium was supplemented with 0.1% Tween 80 (Sigma Aldrich Ltd, Poole, UK) when susceptibility to tea tree oil was determined. Doubling dilutions were performed in 96-well microtitre plates (Greiner Laboratories Ltd, Dursley, UK), giving tea tree oil concentrations ranging from 0.039% to2.5% (v/v) and mupirocin concentrations ranging from 0.25 mg/L to 2048 mg/L. An overnight culture of each isolate was

adjusted and inoculated into the wells to give suspensions containing c. 2.5 x 10 9 cfu/L. The plates were incubated in air for 24 h at 30°C (chosen because of the volatility of the oils at higher temperatures). MICs were read with a programmable microtitre plate reader (Titertek Multiscan, Flow Laboratories, High Wycombe, UK) at 540 nm. MBCs were determined by withdrawing 5 µL aliquots from wells in which there was no visible growth and inoculating into 100 µL of nutrient broth supplemented with 0.1% Tween 80 in microtitre wells. The plates were incubated at

30°C for 24 h and scanned with the microtitre plate reader. This method of determining MICs and MBCs was chosen because it overcomes the inhibitory carryover effect of tea tree oil which can be a problem when methods involving determining viable counts are used.

The median MIC of tea tree oil for the MRSA isolates was 0.32% (range, 0.16-0.32%), while the median MBC was 0.64% (range, 0.32-1.25%); the median MIC fell within the range of previously published values. The median MIC of mupirocin was 16 mg/L (range, 2->2048 mg/L) and the median MBC was 32 mg/L (range, 4->2048 mg/L). According to the definition of Poupard, 5 23% of the MRSA strains were categorized as susceptible to mupirocin, 45% as exhibiting low-level resistance and 32% high-level resistance. The isolates exhibited remarkably uniform susceptibilities to tea tree oil, whereas the ranges of the MICs and MBCs of mupirocin were much broader. There was no difference between isolates that were susceptible or resistant tomupirocin in terms of their susceptibilities to tea tree oil-data which are in accord with those of Carson et al.

As the proportion of MRSA isolates that are resistant to mupirocin increases, topical agents, such as tea tree oil that might be used as alternatives to eradicate MRSA carriage, will assume greater importance. However, as Nelson has already pointed out, the widespread use of tea tree and other essential oils in sub-inhibitory concentrations in cosmetics and other topical formulations could undermine the potential efficacies of these compounds as antiseptic agents.

References:

1. Nelson, R. R. S. (1997). In-vitro activities of five plant essential oils against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 40, 305-6.[Free Full Text]

2. Carson, C. F. & Riley, T. V. (1995). Antimicrobial activity of the major components of the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia.

Journal of Applied Bacteriology 78, 264-9.[ISI][Medline]

3. Eltringham, I. (1997). Mupirocin resistance and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Journal of Hospital Infection 35, 1-8.[ISI][Medline]

4. Miller, M. A., Dascal, A., Portnoy, J. & Mendelson, J. (1996). Development of mupirocinresistance among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus after widespread use of nasal mupirocin ointment. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 17, 811-3.[ISI][Medline]

5. Poupard, J. A. (1995). Update on mupirocin resistance. Journal of Chemotherapy 7, Suppl. 3, 71-4.[ISI][Medline]

6. Carson, C. F., Cookson, B. D., Farrelly, H. D. & Riley, T. V. (1995). Susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus to the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 35, 421-4.[Abstract]

Among the compounds having a wide spectra of anti- microbial effectiveness is thymol from thyme. Of 50 plant essential oils examined by Deans and Richie (1987)

thyme oil was the most inhibitory against 25 genera of bacteria. Eugenol, a major constituent of clove oil, possesses significant antimicrobail activity. Farabood et. al. reported that a rosemary spice extract substantially inhibited the growth of S. typhimurium and Staph. aureus.

--University of Georgia

Essential oils, such as thymol, menthol, and eucalyptol (a key element in Eucalyptus radiata), have been used in mouth rinses for over 100 years. These ingredients have been documented to be antimicrobial in laboratory tests. With the scientific association of microorganisms and plaque formation and the suspected involvement of this process with carious lesions (tooth decay) and gingivitis, the effect of essential oils on these processes takes on new interest.

--Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists

Vapors of 133 essential oils were screened in vitro for antimicrobial activity against six test organisms (staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, streptococcus

fecalis, Salmonella typhosa, and Mycobacterium avium). The following oils produced

the largest zones of inhibition on all test organisms: Thyme, cinnamon, origanum (oregano).

--Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association.

******************

At convention, Prof. Cates reported on the findings of an essential oil study they have already completed, which shows the essential oils of Melissa and Turkish

Oregano are considerably more effective than the antibiotic Gentamyacin in

fighting the bacteria staphylococcus aureus!!!

*********************

Recap:

Herbs:

1.  Oil from thyme:  Destroys the anthrax bacillus, the typhoid bacillus, the glanders bacillus, staphylococcus, the diptheria bacillus, meningococcus, and Koch's.

2.  Essence of Lemon:  Neutralize the meningococcus, typhus bacillus, pneumococcus, staphylococcus aureus and hemolytic streptococcus.  Neutralizes the typhus bacillus, staphylococcus and the diphtheric bacillus

3.  BLEND:  pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves, cinnamon:  Antieptic effect of a blend of essential oils---including pine, thyme, peppermint, lavender, rosemary, cloves and cinnamon-0--was studied in order to test the ability of the oils to purify the air of harmful disease-causing bacteria, and many forms of bacteria ---INCLUDING Staphylococcus aureus.

4.  Peppermint:  Improve mental acuity and alertness, vanquish fatigue, soothe the respiratory system, relieve nausea, fever and vomiting, and quickly put a stop to acid indigestion and heartburn.  It kills intestinal parasites, staphylococcus and tuberculosis bacillus.  Inhalant for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis.

5.  BLEND:  Eucalyptus, clove, lemon cinnamon rosemary:  dramatically inhibit the growth of many forms of bactera---INCLUDING Staphylococcus aureus.

6.  Oil of oregano:  Potent enough to sterilize sewage water!  It is "extremely bactericidal" against 8 strains of bacteria including E Coil, Salmonella and Staphylococcus.  Reduces infection "as effectively as traditional antibiotics and exhibited the greatest antibacterial action against common pathogenic germs such as Staph, E. Coil and Listeria.

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