What did people use to heal prior to the invention of antibiotics?

Before the advent of commercial antibiotics, there was a "common sense" approach in treating infection by doing a little treatment at first, let the body fight the infection naturally. By doing this the body's natural resistance will increase. When the body is obviously not winning the battle until then an intervening action is taken.

Before, generally, people depended on herbs and folk cures. Doctors also depended on natural substances like iron, mercury, and antimony. The first prescription for treating infections cam from the Egyptians around 1550 BC.

They have this "mrht," "Byt," and "ftt," which was a mixture of lard, honey, and lint ans was used as an ointment for cleaning and dressing wounds. Honey is antibacterial since it kills cells by drawing water out of them and an enzyme called inhib- ine if found in honey. It converts glucose and oxygen into hydrogen peroxide which is a known disinfectant.In Roman times, Tincta linamenta is a regular prescription which is essentially the same ointment that Egyptians use with honey as an active ingredient.

Greeks also made use of honey in dressing wounds combining it with copper oxide. During World War II in Shanghai, an ointment of honey and lard was used to treat wounds and skin infections and often with good results. Fragrant resin like frankincense and myrrh were used to preserve human remain while onion are also used to fight infection because of its antibacterial properties.

Aside from onions, they also use garlic in killing bacteria. Another herb used by Egyptians is the radish.It has an anti-infective property. During the time of vinegar was used as antiseptic substance to kill germs that can cause disease.

Inorganic substances were also used like copper which was used by Greeks and Romans used honey.

The previous answers have provided a fascinating and informative insight into the more traditional ways of treating infections. It seems that at least one method, honey, specifically Manuka honey from New Zealand is still being used most effectively. I have used this honey for many years and although it is expensive, it works so well that it is worth every penny.

I use it for occasional stomach upsets, but among other things,it is used to heal leg ulcers, a horrible condition and notoriously difficult to treat. This quote from the BBC website will give you a good insight into the many benefits of this superb honey. "Working in his Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato, in the central North Island, biochemist Professor Peter Molan has identified one particular type of honey with extraordinary healing qualities.

Professor Molan has shown that honey made from the flowers of the manuka bush, a native of New Zealand, has antibacterial properties over and above those of other honeys. M "In all honeys, there is - to different levels - hydrogen peroxide produced from an enzyme that bees add to the nectar. "In manuka honey, and its close relative which grows in Australia called jellybush, there's something else besides the hydrogen peroxide."And there's nothing like that ever been found anywhere else in the world.

" That "something else" has proved very hard to pin down. Even now, after more than twenty years of research, Peter Molan admits he still has no idea exactly what it is. But he has given it a name: unique manuka factor, or UMF.

And he has found a way to measure its antibacterial efficacy, by comparing UMF manuka honey with a standard antiseptic (carbolic, or phenol) in its ability to fight bacteria. The results are a "We know it has a very broad spectrum of action. "It works on bacteria, fungi, protozoa.

We haven't found anything it doesn't work on among infectious organisms." Resistant strains A satisfied user "I got bitten by an Alsatian. It grabbed my hand and gave me a five-stitch bite.

So I went off to the doctors, and they solely used manuka honey, nothing else, no other treatment. I've got barely a scar now, and that's only three weeks ago. Now in the medical kit I carry in the truck, I have manuka honey and bandages, and that's all.

" Chris Graham In fact, he says UMF manuka honey can even tackle antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria - a growing problem for hospitals around the world."Staphylococcus aureas is the most common wound-infecting species of bacteria, and that's the most sensitive to honey that we've found. "And that includes the antibiotic resistant strains - the MRSA - which is just as sensitive to honey as any other staphylococcus aureas. " Clinical trials at the Waikato Hospital have shown that even out of the lab, UMF manuka honey has amazing healing properties.

Nurse practitioner Julie Betts has successfully used honey to treat leg ulcers and pressure sores. And she says it helps healing after surgery - particularly for diabetic patients. "It has an anti-inflammatory effect as well, so if I want to do several things apart from actually controlling the bacteria in that wound, then that's when I'll use honey."

Cancer treatment Cancer specialist Dr Glenys Round has also found honey to be an effective treatment. Beekeeper The honey is exported widely "We've been using honey to treat fungating wounds, where the cancer has broken through the skin," she said. "The results in that situation have been excellent."

Most recently, she has had success in using honey dressings on patients with wounds or ulcers resulting from radiation therapy. "Most of these patients in the past had tried various other conventional treatments without good success, and that is the reason why at least initially honey was tried. " Most patients seem happy to try the honey treatment."They don't have a problem with it at all," said Julie Betts.

"Humans in general have a fondness I think for natural remedies, so they're quite happy to use them. " "I think the problem we encounter is when people don't understand how it works."They think that sourcing any honey will achieve the same outcome, and that's not always true. " Worldwide export That's a view shared by beekeeper Bill Bennett a few kilometres up the road from the hospital.

He and his wife Margaret run the Summerglow Apiaries, one of just a handful of registered suppliers of UMF manuka honey in New Zealand. They produce between eight and twelve metric tonnes of manuka honey every year, and sell it across the world. The honey is rigorously tested three times during production for that elusive unique manuka factor; only then can it carry the label "UMF manuka honey".

"It just seems that manuka from a few areas within New Zealand produces a nectar that has this special property," said Bill Bennett."There is a lot of manuka honey out there that doesn't have this special property. That's why it's so important to look for the name UMF. " Now, a New Zealand natural health products company Comvita is taking UMF manuka honey one step further.

Dressings Comvita has set up a new medical products division to take hi-tech honey dressings developed by Peter Molan to the international market. The new dressings have been designed to take the mess out of honey. "It's like a sheet of rubber, you can touch it without it being sticky at all," he said.

Comvita has high hopes for the new product. "Previously untreatable wounds of many types are now found to be treatable by honey," said Comvita's Ray Lewis. "The global market for wound care is in the range of two to six billion US dollars.So if we can capture just a small percentage of that, we will obviously be doing very well.

" If you want to get away from prescribed antibiotics, give it a try, I recommended it to a young man who has Crohns disease, he has achieved excellent results with it and has been able to regain some much needed weight.

Silver was used during ancient times as a cure against bacteria and illness, just like modern day antibiotics. Silver was also as a prevention against bacteria causing illnesses. Scientists have confirmed that bacteria, fungi and virus' are not able to survive once they have been in contact with silver.

The Ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans as well as other civilisations used silver containers to protect their personal drinking water, keeping the water clean and free from bacteria. They also used silver plates and cutlery to prevent bacteria from forming and when someone became sick, silver was used as an ingredient in their medicinal mixtures to kill germs and/or bacteria that could be causing the illness. Although the FDA confirm all of this they also confirm that that have been no recent studies to confirm the safeness of silver.

Yet, Silver sulfadiazine ointment is the number one treatment for burns in U.S. Burn centers, which aids against infection forming over the burn wound. Silver has been continued to be used since ancient times for the same thing, the killing of bacteria and for protection against food poisoning, silver particles are now being put in cutting boards, table tops, surface disinfectants, washing machines, and refrigerators. Silver is also used as an antibacterial and infection protection as a thin layer on catheters and I.V. 's still today.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.