Tea, Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk For MRSA Superbug by RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
More than 5,500 Americans participated in a government study
that found that those who regularly drink tea or coffee were about
half as likely as non-drinkers to ward off methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, according to a published study in
the Annals of Family Medicine.
"Hot tea and coffee have been found to have antimicrobial
properties," lead researcher Eric Matheson at the University of
South Carolina, Charleston wrote.
"Consumption of hot tea or coffee is associated with a lower
likelihood of MRSA nasal carriage."
Reuters and IBTimes.com report that less research has been done
on coffee compounds, but there is some evidence of antibacterial
powers there as well.
About one percent of the U.S. population carries MRSA in the
nose or on the skin, but somehow they seem to dodge getting
sick.
The study showed that 1.4 percent of participants, overall, had
bacteria in their noses, but the odds were lowered by half among
those who said they drank hot tea or coffee, compared to those who
were non-drinkers.
However, results from the study do not make a direct link
between drinking coffee or tea and a lowered risk of MRSA, Matheson
says.
Instead, an association between the two is shown, "but you never
can conclude causation from an association," he says. "I can't tell
you that his finding isn't just a coincidence."
Several other factors were accounted for by the researchers
which included age, income or self-rated health, but coffee and tea
consumption still gave the lower odds of being a MRSA carrier.
"Our findings raise the possibility of a promising new method to
decrease MRSA nasal carriage that is safe, inexpensive, and easily
accessible," Matheson writes.
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Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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