Page 10 - SAM September 2019

PUBLIC HEALTH

HERBALISM

Garlic and Ginger Show Promise

Combined with Gentamicin

By Abdullah Ghali, MSII

he World Health Organization as Chinese medicine that have been associ- sess potency against staphylococcus epi-
reports an alarming increase in ated with treating bacterial infections and dermidis by measuring the zones of inhi-
pathogenic bacterial antimicro- providing pain relief. This prompted me to bition. The experiment concluded that the
bial resistance. This has prompted the need conduct an experiment in 2012 to assess the efficacy of gentamicin showed a positive
for new versions of antibiotics but also has potency of these extracts when combined increase in inhibition when combined with
diverted a portion of the population’s at- with an antibiotic – gentamicin. This was garlic and ginger.
tention away from antibiotics and towards designed to answer the question of “Do Traditional Chinese medicine is derived
Herbalism. natural plants increase the antimicrobial from the application of several therapeutic
This clinical therapy aspect has been on strength of antibiotics?”. agents extracted from various plants that
the rise and stems from old traditions such I used the disk diffusion method to as- are grown in the wild and which are univer-

10 San Antonio Medicine • September 2019