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Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Persistent Bacteria Go Down [good news!]
Slashdot ^ | 5/16/11 | samzenpus

Posted on 05/16/2011 6:21:17 PM PDT by Clint Williams

Doctors have discovered that adding sugar to antibiotics increases their ability to knock out persistent staph infections (abstract). Certain types of bacteria called persisters shut down their metabolic processes when exposed to antibiotics. Adding sugar keeps the bacteria feeding, making them more susceptible to drugs. From the article: "Adding such a simple and widely available compound to existing antibiotics enhances their effectiveness against persisters, and fast. One test showed that a sugared up antibiotic could eliminate 99.9 percent of persisters in two hours, while a regular antibiotic did nothing. Doctors believe that this discovery will help treat urinary tract infections, staph infections, and strep throat, but its most life-saving application may be against the age-old disease tuberculosis. This infection of the lungs kills many people, and is hard to fight off. A little sugar could help save a lot of lives."


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: antibiotics; bacteria; sugar
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1 posted on 05/16/2011 6:21:23 PM PDT by Clint Williams
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To: Clint Williams

Interesting!


2 posted on 05/16/2011 6:28:15 PM PDT by FrdmLvr (Death to tyrants)
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To: Clint Williams

Very interesting. What about a diabetic though? Why not use honey. Tupelo honey, for example, is a honey that a diabetic may consume. I wonder if these researchers used or considered honey?


3 posted on 05/16/2011 6:28:49 PM PDT by miele man
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To: Clint Williams

But Mary Poppins knew this 45 years ago-

`A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way`


4 posted on 05/16/2011 6:31:41 PM PDT by bunkerhill7
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To: Clint Williams; neverdem; DvdMom; grey_whiskers; Ladysmith; Roos_Girl; Silentgypsy; ...

Ping


5 posted on 05/16/2011 6:33:55 PM PDT by decimon
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To: miele man

Honey is still sugar, but may not have the same metabolic effects curve. I’ll have to look up Tupelo honey (I’m diabetic).


6 posted on 05/16/2011 6:36:11 PM PDT by MortMan (What disease did cured ham used to have?)
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To: miele man

>>>Very interesting. What about a diabetic though?

1 tsp. sugar = about 5g. carbs. Meh. Easy to compensate for.


7 posted on 05/16/2011 6:38:23 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (FR Class of 1998 | TV News is an oxymoron. | MSNBC = Moonbats Spouting Nothing But Crap.)
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To: miele man
Very interesting. What about a diabetic though? Why not use honey. Tupelo honey, for example, is a honey that a diabetic may consume. I wonder if these researchers used or considered honey?

Perhaps you should forward your medical knowledge to the Mayo Clinic. Seems they are giving out different advice to their doctors and patients.

8 posted on 05/16/2011 6:39:17 PM PDT by SeeSac
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To: miele man
I will be surprised to learn there is ANY honey a diabetic can eat without running their blood sugar way up.
9 posted on 05/16/2011 6:41:42 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: Clint Williams

One of the treatments we use in the jungle (since there is a paucity of medical professionals) to treat jungle ulcers on the skin is to pack the ulcer with table sugar. It is amazing how quickly it works.


10 posted on 05/16/2011 6:53:36 PM PDT by Jemian (Obamas approval ratings are so low, Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the USA)
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To: Ditter

Honey, dextrose, is a monosaccharide sugar. It will elevate blood sugar levels.


11 posted on 05/16/2011 6:54:40 PM PDT by Rudder (The Main Stream Media is Our Enemy---get used to it.)
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To: Jemian

Back in the old days of American medicine we used straight sugar on the wound to treat bedsores. Very effective.


12 posted on 05/16/2011 6:57:15 PM PDT by Rudder (The Main Stream Media is Our Enemy---get used to it.)
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To: MortMan
Honey is still sugar, but may not have the same metabolic effects curve. I’ll have to look up Tupelo honey (I’m diabetic).

Honey is still sugar. Honey is Honey. Tupelo Honey is Honey is sugar.

13 posted on 05/16/2011 6:57:38 PM PDT by SeeSac
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To: Clint Williams

Oh ! Gosh ! It appears mom’s advice makes sense after all !!! >PS


14 posted on 05/16/2011 7:06:26 PM PDT by PiperShade
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To: Jemian

Sugar at very high concentrations is a bacteriacide.


15 posted on 05/16/2011 7:07:15 PM PDT by Free Vulcan (Vote Republican! You can vote Democrat when you're dead.)
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To: SeeSac

I looked up some info and saw that no particular honey scored a lower glycemic index than others. Honey may still be better than table sugar (it’s sweeter, and therefore less is needed, plus it has other properties that recommend it over refined sugar), but it’s not “free sweetness” for us extra sweet types.


16 posted on 05/16/2011 7:07:58 PM PDT by MortMan (What disease did cured ham used to have?)
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To: Rudder
Honey, dextrose, is a monosaccharide sugar. It will elevate blood sugar levels.

It is a mixture of fructose and glucose. Those are the same sugars obtained by hydrolysing the disaccharide sucrose (table sugar) into its component monosaccharides.

I think the only sugars safe for a diabetic would be those we can't digest at all. Unfortunately, I don't remember which sugars those are.

17 posted on 05/16/2011 7:08:43 PM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: Jemian
One of the treatments we use in the jungle (since there is a paucity of medical professionals) to treat jungle ulcers on the skin is to pack the ulcer with table sugar. It is amazing how quickly it works.

That would work because the osmotic shock of exposing the bacteria to the high sugar environment would kill them. (In simple language: the sugar would "pull out" the water from inside the bacteria, killing them.)

18 posted on 05/16/2011 7:10:51 PM PDT by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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To: Jemian

I’ve used sugar for years on cuts and scrapes and it speeds healing measurably. The old remedy was honey and I hear that works well too.


19 posted on 05/16/2011 7:20:18 PM PDT by singletrack (..................................................................)
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To: exDemMom
I think the only sugars safe for a diabetic would be those we can't digest at all.

Glue, plastic? (humorously).

You are right, it's mixture of fructose and glucose---thanks.

20 posted on 05/16/2011 7:28:15 PM PDT by Rudder (The Main Stream Media is Our Enemy---get used to it.)
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