The Mouthwash Listerine May Help Treat Gonorrhea

Listerine was first invented in the late 19th century, and as early at 1879, manufacturers claimed the disinfectant was effective at both cleaning floors and curing gonorrhea. Now, 137 years later, scientists have published the first ever randomized controlled trial testing Listerine’s gonorrhea claim in the medical journal Sexually Transmitted Infections. The verdict: the bad-breath mouthwash does indeed kill gonorrhea bacteria, both in petri dishes and in people’s throats. Gonorrhea is a mild, sometimes asymptomatic bacterial infection that can cause infertility, sterility and even death if left untreated. And if further trials show that Listerine’s immediate effectiveness against gonorrhea translates into a long-term preventive tool, then public health officials and people at high risk of this STI have a cheap, easy way to prevent the disease, said the researchers. Scientists led by lead study author Eric Chow, a research fellow at the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre in Australia, first tested various concentrations of Listerine to see if it was effective at reducing bacterial counts of gonorrhea in a petri dish compared to saline solution. They found that Listerine dilutions of up to one in four resulted in significant growth inhibition of gonorrhea when exposed for one minute, while saline solution prompted no change. In the second study, a randomized controlled trial, Chow’s team recruited 58 gay or bisexual men who tested positive for gonorr...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news