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by jimrandomh 4102 days ago
"They found the remedy killed up to 90% of MRSA bacteria"

I don't think that's strong enough to be useful. This might be interesting if they can figure out the mechanism and use it to create a stronger antibiotic, but for the stage this is actually at, they're really overselling it.

4 comments

> but for the stage this is actually at, they're really overselling it.

What exactly is it you think they're "selling?" I thought the article was focusing more on the historical significance of this, in particular how good medical knowledge was 1,000 years ago.

You seem to be under the impression that they're suggesting this as a possible cure for MRSA. But the article never stated that. They might be able to look at the mechanism and develop something which could help us fight MRSA, but I highly doubt they would use this exact 1K year old recipe 1:1 in a modern hospital (and, again, the article never stated otherwise).

Seems like your criticism is largely based on things they never said nor claimed. Essentially you're critical of a strawman.

> how good medical knowledge was 1,000 years ago.

Survivor bias.

If it could be employed - it is much better than nothing. So if the immune system is somewhat functioning it may be enough. And with the amount of garlic eaten - the LD50 of the stuff will be insanely high.

And the antibiotic properties of garlic are wildly known.

Although it might not be the 99.99% that we expect from our antibacterial products, this is part of that 0.01% that it doesn't kill. It is pretty amazing to me how we find such amazing things that were discovered during what most often think of as a lesser time. Although they didn't talk about it, I am sure that they are going to research it further to find out what part of it is so effective against MRSA. They probably got this published so someone who has the money to support the research further could provide funding.
Opposed to antibiotics which are not currently working at all? I think 90% is better than 0%. It could be the difference between life and death. Killing most of the MRSA bacteria could actually reduce its severity. Obviously I am not a scientist though and I am purely assuming things here based on my own logic.