Staphylococcus is a genus of gram-positive bacterium (see GRAM’S STAIN; BACTERIA) which under the microscope appears in small masses like bunches of grapes. It is one of the most common infectious micro-organisms and is found, for example, in the PUS discharged from BOILS (FURUNCULOSIS). (See also MICROBIOLOGY.)... staphylococcus
Also called NIDDM (Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes) and Type II (Type II), it generally means you make your own insulin, you eat too many calories, your storage cells are filled and are taking no more fuel, your liver is stuck in a rut and keeps making more glucose out of everything you eat, your brain has no control over its consumption of glucose, but you have run out of places to put it so you pee it out, sweat it out, etc. etc. Also called Adult-onset Diabetes. An Internist may cry out in dismay at this simplification, and there are many subtle distinctions between the various types, as well as a number of distinct hereditary considerations. This, however, is the glossary of an herbalist, and this is the common picture of the Type II person that herbs will help.... insulin-resistant diabetes
Most staphylococci (see STAPHYLOCOCCUS) have now evolved resistance to benzylpenicillin (see PENICILLIN) because of their ability to produce PENICILLINASE. Cloxacillin and ?ucloxacillin are antibiotics still e?ective against most staphylococci; at one time methicillin was used to combat resistant strains, but in hospital environments bacteria acquired immunity to this powerful drug (now withdrawn from use) and to cloxacillin. RIFAMPICIN, VANCOMYCIN, TEICOPLANIN and temocillin are still active against most penicillinase-producing gram-negative bacteria (see GRAM’S STAIN). There is, however, a growing threat to health because of the rise in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, particularly in hospitals. The bacteria themselves are not more virulent than others, but the di?culty in treating them with a safe and e?ective antibiotic mean that they are more dangerous. It is likely that lapses in normal hygienic practice – such as frequent hand-washing – has resulted in an increase in MRSA disease.... methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (mrsa)
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