The Sunday Times

 Susan Clarke — What's the alternative?

The Sunday Times Style Magazine  - August 07, 2005

Q. My reasonably healthy 60-year-old husband is due to have minor surgery for the removal of varicose veins. I have worked as a medical social worker for 12 years in an acute hospital and am all too familiar with hygiene standards and the risks of cross-infection. Is there any natural product or foodstuff he could take prior to surgery to boost his immune system enough to fight off any infection?

 M Drury, by e-mail

A. Brazilian scientists have investigated the potential of plant extracts in the battle against antibiotic-resistant hospital superbugs, including the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and they suggest that the herb pau d’arco could have a role to play in protecting hospital patients from these infections. They identified active agents known as naphthoquinones which, in laboratory tests, demonstrated not only good antibacterial activity against three different strains of the superbugs, but also more potency than similar, semisynthetic chemicals that were investigated against the same strains.

The research, conducted at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, highlighted pau d’arco as the most promising of 14 traditional plants that were investigated, prompting the scientists to say that it could be used to treat MRSA.

Rio Health Pau D'Arco (also called Lapacho)