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Infection Fighting Mud

Researchers are always looking for alternatives to traditional antibiotics — especially in this day and age of resistant “superbugs”. Last week, it was compounds in alligator blood. This week? It’s mud. Scientists from the Arizona State University Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology are looking at anti-microbial minerals in mud. Why? Because mud and clay have a long history of use in healing. Ancient people around the world used mud for wound healing, skin soothing, and more. These days, mud and clay are mainly cosmetic products… but that may change within the next few years. The Arizona State University team … Continue reading →

Antibiotics: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

I’m currently taking two different types of antibiotics to treat an infected cat bite (ah the joys of working with animals). Here’s a fun fact: the doctor told me that eighty percent of cat bites end up infected. I guess I’ve been lucky so far — I’ve only had two bites get bad. Antibiotics come from two basic places: molds and bacteria. They work in one of two ways: by killing bacteria outright or by stopping their ability to reproduce (so they die out). Different antibiotics work against different types of bacteria — so taking one type of antibiotics for … Continue reading →

Why Vaccinations May Fail

I’m a big fan of vaccinating pets. Immunization has successfully prevented disease in millions of pets for years. But once in a while, a vaccine doesn’t work for a particular animal. Vaccine failure is pretty rare, but it can happen. Here are a few reasons why: Different strains of the same disease. Most of the time, the strain of a disease used in a vaccine protects your pet against other strains of the same disease. Sometimes, a new strain evolves that is resistant to the vaccine. (Drug-resistant diseases are a problem for humans, too.) The vaccine was spoiled. Many vaccines … Continue reading →

Fight Arthritis with Ants

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Researchers from the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University are looking at a traditional folk remedy to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic diseases. A certain type of Chinese ant (Polyrhacis lamellidens for you scientific types) has long been used in Chinese folk medicine to treat chronic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and hepatitis. For centuries, the little ant has been used as a painkiller and an anti-inflammatory agent to help reduce the symptoms of various chronic diseases. The study from the School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University looked at extracts made from the ants. … Continue reading →