Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/3DvjA_Fh_Kk   An antioxidant compound found in green tea can rearm a powerful antibiotic after its deactivation by the nefarious, multidrug-resistant bacterium Pseudomonas.  British and German pathologists and microbiologists collaborated on this discovery.   Epigallocatechin or EGCG is a natural anti-oxidant found in green tea.  The researchers found that EGCG works in synergy with the antibiotic aztreonam to restore and significantly boost the antibiotic’s ability to kill Pseudomonas aeruginosa in both the test tube and in living test systems.   With news that our antibiotics are running out of steam, medications derived from plants both common and esoteric may come to our rescue.  Meanwhile, the best defense is timely and repeated handwashing.     Jonathan W. Betts et al. Restoring the activity of the antibiotic aztreonam using the polyphenol epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Journal of Medical Microbiology (2