E. Coli

Do natural medicines work as well as over the counter medicines? This question has been argued about for quite a while. In my experiment, I will compare natural medicine’s effectiveness on Escherichia coli to over the counter drugs, to finally decide if herbal remedies are better than E. coliEscherichia coli (E. coli) is a common bacteria in your stomach and intestines. E. coli is a gram negative rod bacteria(Fundamentals of Microbiology). E. coli bacteria make up 0.1% of the total bacteria in an adults stomach. E. coli has recently been in the news due to several cases of food poisoning by E. coli 0157:h7. This is a specific strain of E. coli and this particular strain causes a life threatening illness. Infections by this strain are rare. (http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html) E. coli was discovered in 1888 by Theodor Escherich.(fundamentals of microbiology 3rd edition) He first called it bacterium coli. It was later changed to Escherichia coli to honor its discoverer. (http://ag.arizona.edu/classes/plp428/lecture/lect2/lect2_17jan.html) E. coli is normally found in animal and human intestine(Fundamentals of Microbiology 3rd Edition). This is the ideal habitat for E. coli, because it is damp, dark, and has a good food supply. Since E. coli grows very fast, the abundance of food is necessary for the bacteria’s survival. (http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html)Some strains of E. coli can make a person very sick. One strain is E. coli 0157:H7, which is a member of the enterohemorrhagic E. coli. This bacteria’s genetic code contains information for the production of a Shiga-like toxin, or Vero toxin. This toxin mixes in the stomach and intestines, and causes damage to the cells in your intestine. This damage is so severe that the body loose water and salts, blood vessels are damaged, and bleeding occurs. This may be lethal to humans and especially small children and elderly people, for they cannot tolerate that much blood loss. (http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html) The symptoms of an E. coli 0157 inefection are what you might expect from a stomach bug. The symptom’s are: vomiting, fever, and diarrhea. The bacteria does so much damage to your intestines that they bleed, so the diarrhea may be bloody . If someone has any bloody diarrhea then the person should be taken to the doctor immediately. It is important that a doctor sees them. (http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html) There are many ways to kill E. coli. In meat one way is by nuclear radiation. If E. coli is exposed to radiation from cobalt 60 or other nuclear materials, the E. coli will die (Golden, Frederic). Heat will also kill E. coli. If it is cooked to 160 degrees the E. coli dies. Pasteurizing products also kills the E. coli. coli.(http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~jbrown/ecoli.html) E. coli is used in many experiments because of the fact that it is so abundant and readily available. It is also the cause of a lot of infections in humans.Natural Medicines Natural medicines are a part of our world. They’re natural remedies to many everyday illnesses. Natural medicines have been used through out the history of the world. There are records of the Egyptians using them in 1,600 BC. There are scriptures that date back to the Yin dynasty in 1,500 BC. The Old Testament also has many references to herbal medicines. The ancient Chinese were experts at natural medicine. They were experts on using plants, animals and minerals to heal themselves. The Chinese’s natural medication didn’t start diffusing over to Europe until the 2nd century, but there were many similarities in the Chinese’s and the Egyptian’s natural medicines. (Polunin, Miriam) Most countries medicines have changed over the years, but China and India still utilize many naturally based medicines. These medicines are called Ayurvedic and is compose mainly of plant remedies, because many Indians are vegetarians and will not use animal products. Most of these remedies were the same as China’s for they are next to each other. (Polunin, Miriam) There are many different natural medicines. The medicines that will be used in this experiment are: garlic, ginger, cinnamon, juniper, chamomile, and peppermint. I chose these specific herbs because they, with the exception of chamomile, all specifically remedy an illness in the digestive tract, which is where E. coli lives. The reason I chose chamomile is because it is antibacterial. Another