Medieval cure for MSRA

Off-topic
#1

Scientists at the University of Nottingham recreated a 1,000-year-old Anglo-Saxon treatment for eye infections and tested the treatment on a modern-day superbug: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

The recipe calls for garlic, onion or leek, wine and bile from a cow’s stomach, all brewed in a brass vessel.

Although the researchers were skeptical about the treatment’s effectiveness, they found that three identical batches of the solution created the same results. The solution killed up to 90% of MRSA bacteria in the infected mice.

Angelo Saxons might not have been backward clowns.
If only they had invented the horse…

7 Likes
#2

I read this same thing and thought it was pretty cool. What I’m more curious about is how they came up with it in the first place haha. Sounds more like a witches brew

#3

Then was Archimedes a witcher too… :open_mouth: Just Kidding… :wink:
In his Palimpsest he worte about math-Solutions in our modern time nobody can understand.
For me, one of the biggest treasures we found in the last Years…

It’s sad how much knowhow we lost in medieval times and before…

#4

It is sad to think how much knowledge has been lost and regained over the centuries. How much more advanced would we be now if it was never lost?

#5

We can only guess. However it was known that wine was slightly anti-bacterial because of the alcohol and whatnot.

Garlic lowers stomach pH (making it more acidic) when eaten reducing the chance nasty bacteria make you sick. This is a great travel tip for people going to less hygienic countries. Coca cola would also work however.

Stomach acid or bile (not sure which one they used) also kills off a lot of nasty stuff. I recall a story of a South African Boer who lost his finger in an accident sticking his mangled hand in a goat stomach to cure gangrene.
Perhaps they just kept mixing anti-bacterial stuff together until they found something that worked, trial and error.

1 Like
#6

Yes, who knows where we would be if the Christians hadn’t destroyed the Library of Alexandria.

Great posting OP!

#7

There were more than just Christians to blame for burning/destroying knowledge.

#8

Never said they were the only ones.

That’s just one of the most ancient examples we actually have a historical record of and not some ancient myth or superstition.

I could mention more modern sources like the Nazi’s but it has more relevance to go farther into the past don’t you think?

#9

On the other hand folks in the renaissance and enlightenment seemed to have forgotten Damascus steel, general anesthetics, antibiotics, fair trade and human values.

If we hadn’t had the renaissance/enlightenment we’d be colonizing mars now!

/sarcasm

Whoever says: “If X didn’t happen we’d be/have Y now” is talking excrement.

2 Likes
#10

Thus is why I worded as such.

It seems like a common trend in Human history to reach a “Peak” in technological and social development and then civilization collapses for one reason or another.

#11

Im pretty sure Julius Caesar and the Muslim commander Amr ibn al-`As weren’t Christians . Where would we be right now if those pagen Gauls hadn’t sacked Rome? Its interesting to think about. We might be more advanced in some areas but less advanced in others.

Yes and i’m worried we may be reaching that peak. We’re so dependent on technology now a days what would happen if all that tech stopped working.

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