ohhh wow, they say; Cleanliness is Godliness..sorry, i did not mean to offend the heathens !!..

Chemicals in Marijuana May Fight MRSA
via Web MD

Sept. 4, 2008 — Chemicals in marijuana may be useful in fighting MRSA, a kind of staph bacterium that is resistant to certain antibiotics.

Researchers in Italy and the U.K. tested five major marijuana chemicals called cannabinoids on different strains of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). All five showed germ-killing activity against the MRSA strains in lab tests. Some synthetic cannabinoids also showed germ-killing capability. The scientists note the cannabinoids kill bacteria in a different way than traditional antibiotics, meaning they might be able to bypass bacterial resistance.

At least two of the cannabinoids don’t have mood-altering effects, so there could be a way to use these substances without creating the high of marijuana. (NORML note: by this author’s count, four of the five cannabinoids tested in this study lack demonstrable psychoactivity.)

MRSA, like other staph infections, can be spread through casual physical contact or through contaminated objects. It is commonly spread from the hands of someone who has it. This could be in a health care setting, though there have also been high-profile cases of community-acquired MRSA.

It is becoming more common for healthy people to get MRSA, which is often spread between people who have close contact with one another, such as members of a sports team. Symptoms often include skin infections, such as boils. MRSA can become serious, particularly for people who are weak or ill.

In the study, published in the Journal of Natural Products, researchers call for further study of the antibacterial uses of marijuana. There are “currently considerable challenges with the treatment of infections caused by strains of clinically relevant bacteria that show multi-drug resistance,” the researchers write. New antibacterials are urgently needed, but only one new class of antibacterial has been introduced in the last 30 years. “Plants are still a substantially untapped source of antimicrobial agents,” the researchers conclude.

Read this http://www.technologyreview.com/biotech/21366/

Food, fuel, shelter, medicine, pleasure, Spirituality, Unity.

The Tree of Life! Kaneh bosm, cannabis, hemp

This guy, Garry Minor 3, what a kidder! He has posted this same thing on multiple sites! He says he is a priest, but I have serious doubts since all his posts have to do with pot.

I have a friend that had surgery 8/9/10 at Mercy Amderson in Cincinnati. After they sent her to rehab, not realizing she had MRSA, had to be taken back to Mercy Anderson in severe pain for the diagnosis, she is still in rehab getting heavy IV antibiotics daily for a minimum of 6 weeks. The infection caused a lumbar disc to get an abcess and probable lifetime damage to the disc. I agree their practices there are below average, saw it first hand. I actually watched her surgeon though her incisioon without any gloves on. Hello!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you. :)

katy - try this:

go to youtube and type in hospital hand jive. it should be the first one to come up.

Thank you...very kind :)

lito315

MRSA that is being spread publically may be airborn and very contageous!!!

REPEAT!!!
BE CAREFUL IT IS SPREADING LIKE SMALL POCKS DID WHEN IT KILLED MANY PEOPLE!!!!

If you leave your tinfoil hat on, you'll be protected.

Also, shouting in caps with lots of exclamation points doubles the effectiveness of the foil.

MRSA is contracted by contact. Not airborn. I believe you mean small pox.

LOL, Everyone, EVERYONE has MRSA on their bodies at all times. The news media needs to stop all the scare tactics. You don't have to be in a hospital or public place to contract it. You can prick your finger on a thorn bush and contract MRSA. So, please people, stop panicking.

MRSA is ALSO airborne!!!

mrsa stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It is a form of bacteria that is responsible for infections in humans. The word is actually Airborne MRSA. It is not a disease itself but it is one of the many modes of transmission of this infection. Airborne MRSA is a new concept about the spread of the disease according to which MRSA can be spread through the air. This is because the bacteria is usually found on the skin of patients and skin cells are replaced after 30 days. This shedding of skin can result in millions of skin cells in the air and if you have the infection, it will spread with the skin cells, causing someone else to suffer.

If the infection is shown to be a hospital aquired infection, medicaid/medicare does not cover the treatments. This is why many hospitals now require all admissions to be swabbed for MRSA.

Absolutely NOT true, except in the case of certain infections related to open-heart surgery. My mother was never "swabbed for MRSA", and it wouldn't have mattered if she had been; as both infections she acquired in the hospital were not "resistant" strains of their respective infections.

ALL infections acquired during a hospital stay are "HOSPITAL ACQUIRED" infections. Proper handwashing, proper sanitization protocol, and proper administration of antibiotics--both pre- and post- surgery--can eliminate 99 out of 100 potential infections. Yes, we all carry bacteria and viruses on our skin, which is why such protocols are necessary in the first place.

A lot of people don't realize how crucial the role of properly-timed antibiotics is where surgery is concerned. Hospitals very often help their bottom lines by starting antibiotics too late before surgery and stopping them too early after surgery. This is especially prevalent where Medicaid/Medicare patients are concerned, who ARE treated like second-class citizens because of "low" reimbursement rates. A myriad of information is available on this subject via any search engine.

My mother was self-employed much of her life and worked her ass off to support her family; but like many self-employed people, she couldn't afford private insurance and so had to put off "getting things fixed" until she was 65 and eligible for Medicare. She was then treated like she was on welfare/Medicaid because the reimbursement rates are the same.

I truly feel for the elderly who end up hospitalized with no advocate to watch out for them, to make sure they're being treated fairly, to make sure their medicine is actually given to them, etc. There are WONDERFUL nurses and techs in our hospitals, and I pointed them out to administration when it was appropriate. There are also nurses and techs staffing our hospitals who should not be tasked with FLIPPING A HAMBURGER. It takes multiple dedicated healthcare workers to offset the damage caused by just one who's incompetent. The balance is NOT there.

It's become fashionable to blame the insurance companies for the state of our healthcare system, but all that system really needs to do to identify the problem is to look in the mirror.

The bottom line is that the Hippocratic oath has become a casualty in a system that has evolved to serve greed first and foremost.

Exactly!!! Nicely put, Joe Tarner :-)

Dentists autoclave the end of the "spit sucker" a new one is placed with each patient.

You're exactly right; there's NO excuse for contracting MRSA in a hospital.

I'm so sorry...I know EXACTLY what you're going through as it happened to my mother also, and I was involved every step of the way during her suffering. It's been almost a year since my mother was murdered by indifference, sloppiness and greed, and the more I learn about how EASY it would be for hospitals to have near-zero infection rates, the angrier it makes me.

Good luck, friend...my thoughts are with you.

Gracies mom...that is a very sad story, but so generous of you to share with us. I wish you God Speed Recovery..in all area's of need. Thank you for sharing :-) +

Medical professionals do study how diseases are transmitted. Not all MRSA or VRE is hospital aquired. A vast amount of people come into the hospital colonized with these illnesses and are not even aware of it. Have you had a nasal/rectal swab? You could be colinized and spreading it right now.

If they come in with it, then they should be treated for it prior to the procedures.

Exactly. And they can be if it is an elective procedure. But if you come in colonized with MRSA and are also having a major coronary you are going to go ahead and have a heart cath done. Prevention must start at home. We must cut down on the amount of antibiotics being used. If we are prescribed medications, we must take them as directed.

Redhead, you are exactly the kind of person who--instead of doing actual research--perpetuates the myths that allow hospitals to keep doing business as usual.

God forbid you or someone close to you loses their life because the average hospital does only what is minimally necessary in order to skirt the law and/or maximize profits.

When the time comes that you need a procedure in a hospital, there's a solid 25% chance that your hospital will cut corners to save money, even if you're on insurance. If you're on Medicaid/Medicare it's closer to 50%.

Good luck.

Joe Tarner, after reading some of your blogs I agree that you are angry and frustrated with the system, but you are the one spreading misinformation. Redhead is right. You are right also abouts some things but the over-use of antibiotics on everyone who comes in with a cold has led to bacterial resistance as much as anything. Doctors in clinics and patients that see them and want a shot for every little thing are at least as responsible as the hospitals. Ever ask your doctor if he has cultured any of his exam tables or chairs. Staph lives on them and can easily be eliminated with a mild bleach solution or other cleanser. On the other hand, I challenge the 25% and 50% figures you mention as being untrue. Most of the infections are brought in by family members or the patient. I cringe every time I see a family come in with a toddler that is allowed to crawl on the floor of a hospital room. Think about the overuse of antibiotics by livestock farmers and the unsanitary way that supermarkets lay out bloody meat products. These issues need to be addressed. Plain old rubbing alcohol kills MRSA on surfaces. Hospitals have recognized this. However dialysis units and hospitals to a lessor degree do not keep the floors and chairs clean enough, or even the pillows and beds. The fallacy of the logic of treating Medicar/caid patients differently is that if their infection is not handled the same as everyone elses, it will be spread so that statement by you is untrue also. On the other hand, if you think that patients who are uninsured or on Medicaid practice the same personal hygiene as most people, you are wrong too. They cannot afford to buy items that prevent staph infections- even things like soap. That leads to their increased risk of developing and transmitting infection.

Get over you anger. I know it's hard, but do it. It's not God, but you, who needs to forgive.

Jack.... I think you missed what Joe Tarner's point was.....yes, of course, this staph infection is everywhere, but it's not the common strain that hurts us, because of the natural resistance, but for THE ELDERLY, it is quite fatal...and it just seems many forget that "they are our everything"!! and because they are on "Medicare/Medicaid", they are treated as 2nd class citizens.
We put ENTIRELY too much trust in these doctors (lawyers, politicians, preachers, etc), and we ALL need to questions their practices, when it comes to the treatment of ourselves, or our loved ones. Lighten up...this is a sensitive subject, and obviously, some very intelligent people having intelligent conversations..ok?

Linda, you are wrong. MRSA is no longer a rare strain. You only have a limited amount of natural resistance to it or any other staph. but it is harder to cure in everone. It is rapidly becoming the "common strain" because of overuse of antibiotics and it is frequently brought in to the hospital from outside. There is a new comment on the increased incidence or MRSA in infants and toddlers that has just been posted on this website. My point is that when children are allowed into a hospital great care should be taken so that they are not exposed to virulent bacteria. Don't let them get down and play on the floor in a hospital or any other public place where you cannot be certain the floors are clean. Take off your shoes when you come home and keep them away from toddlers. They put everything in their mouths.

I agree with the lack of trust in politicians and lawyers, but if you read the polls the trust a person has in their preacher or doctor is always pretty high. I also agree that 'care/'caid patients are treated as second class citizens. That is the fault of the government. Our senators wrote the last health bill with the help of big PHARMA and the private insurance companies. (Go to you tube and look at the report from FRONT LINE, a fairly liberal source.) Doctors were removed from the senatorial committee meeting in handcuffs. There was not a single doctor who testified. Yes, the AMA partly supported the health care bill but the AMA does not even represent 20% of doctors any more.

Yes MRSA can be fatal but more often it is a chronic infection that requires a lot of time and expense to clear up. The government impedes the process in Medicare patients by paying for only a few days of hospitalization when it may take weeks of antibiotic therapy using meds that reuire close monitoring to cure the infection. Often the patient is too sick to get these meds at home and in rural communities an agency often cannot be found that is capable or competent to give these meds at home. Some of the U.S. Senators want to shut down the bottom 25% of hospitals that have the worst outcome in treating this infection and other problems that the government is closely monitoring. They want to do that every year. That does not make sense. If they shut down the bottom 25% the first year, then 25% of the remaining 75% each following year there will eventually be no hospitals left, OR the hospitals will quit taking Medicare and Medicaid patients. Why not get the government funded Center for Disease Control to appropriately monitor this problem instead? That would be doctors monitoring other doctors and teaching them to do the right thing.

Lignten Up? This is a dangerous disease. It will be better cured by enlightening than by lightening up.

Maybe you should hire someone in each ward of the hospital to monitor hand washing/sanitation for both the public and health-care workers. It would be a lot more cost effective to have someone monitor the public and health-care workers hand washing/sanitation, than to treat a hospital acquired infection. You can't just have one or two infection control person(s) for the whole hospital.

Agreed. Unfortunately it will never happen.

Yes, perhaps.

However after a nearly (2 days short) of 2 month's hospital stay at a MAJOR Norfolk, VA hospital system, my mother died of MRSA and THREE OTHER hospital acquired infections. She "swabbed" NEGATIVE for 3 weeks in a row while in ICU, and then when transferred to another unit "swabbed" positive for MRSA. She died in April of raging infections they could never control, of heart failure.

NO ONE will ever convince me that they did not KILL my mother. Ever.

When an ICU nurse blatantly drops a glove onto the floor, then PICKS it up and starts to put it on ... are you KIDDING me??!! If a very attentive family member had not been there to STOP her ... make her wash her hands and then re-glove ... she would have put that glove on anyway. And OBVIOUSLY, this hospital has a record of doing just THAT ... if we, who KNOW better had not been there to stop her, ... what are they doing in patient rooms whose family members do not know better, or in rooms where there are no "witnesses"?

It is sickening!

I do not believe ONE WORD of this article that these infections are on the decline! HA!!

And I WORK in a hospital and KNOW what I see every day! People should be held criminally liable for these actions!

People should be held criminally liable for these actions!

You're exactly right; they should be. When someone dies unnecessarily due to poor sanitation protocol/hospital greed, the official(s) who set the policy have at best committed involuntary manslaughter and--at worse--committed depraved indifference homicide.

AMEN!!!!

You're right; Medicaid/Medicare patients ARE treated differently in hospitals. Please feel free to read my posts above.

.....and mine right behind ya, bud!
This topic can really rile up some anger, can't it?? Maybe we should all get together and start some kind of petition to stir up some compassion within the industry....This is with regard to the treatment of (our elderly) Medicare/caid patients

Medical staff do not suffer as a result of their failures to follow the rules and failure to think about what they are doing. Medical professionals are trained to be impervious to death and loss. I believe most give little thought to the incredible inconvenience caused to family members taking care of needlessly sick people for extended times, of the constant battle with insurance companies and billing departments, of lost income of a wage earner not able to go back to work, and lost income of someone who must change jobs to take care of the sick victim, of first losing a job and then the health insurance because of extended sickness, of losing the home to pay for medical bills, and of children growing up without a parent. All caused by the negligence you described that caused the avoidable infection.

In an aircraft crash the pilot can die with the passengers. An airline crash is dramatic and sudden. Yet many more die from avoidable infection every year (88,000) than those who died in accidents in probably in the entire history of commercial aviation. Each medical victim dies slowly, may die alone, and the doctor or nurse simply turns the page and silently moves on.

There may have been many sources of infection among those who failed to wash hands or sterilize instruments correctly, but the actual person responsible for a particular death remains unknown. This is how a firing squad works, because among the group no one knows who fired the real bullets and who fired blanks, so nobody has to take responsibility.

One hospital invested a whole $16,000 to get their infection rate to near-zero. Don't propogate the myth that it can't be done. Please.

There is a huge difference between reported rates and actual rates. Where I live (and I am speaking from direct personal experience) when a person acquires MRSA in the hospital setting, with the one-day hospital stays that are common nowadays, the hospital-acquired infection does not have time to manifest under the hospital roof and is therefore not a "reportable" incident--just like reportable surgical accidents are handled: "if it doesn't manifest under the hospital roof, it never happened". That is the agreed-upon method of skirting malpractice liability and the high cost of proper treatment in many communities. When the infection or surgical accident finally manifests the injured party is deliberately ignored and left untreated to service the needs of the malpractice insurers.

My doctors sat and watched hospital-acquired MRSA blow through my body, eat up my heart valves, light up evey joint in my body, damage my kidneys and all the while denied knowing what was wrong, told me "if we don't know what is wrong we can't treat it, can we?". Lots of tests to stonewall; no actual treatment. Even a child knows where there is pus there is infection. Ohio has a Statute of Repose and the doctors here, under the control of their insurers, really know how to work it. Two years later I got copies of my medical records from that time, at least the ones the hospital allowed me to have, and learned MRSA was cultured. So they knew all along. And wantonly ignored it.