Overview
Biofilms, which are specialized colonies of bacteria and/or fungi, appear in many human disease processes, and are particularly hard to effectively treat. Combination drugs and/or combinations of herbal products used simultaneously are particularly useful in treating these biofilms. For example, many biofilms consist of outer layers of aerobic bacteria with an interior core of anaerobic bacteria. Effective treatment of such a biofilm must target both varieties of bacteria, as well as targeting various processes required to build and maintain biofilms, such as quorum sensing, Multiple Drug Resistant Efflux Pumps (MDR).
Disorders associated with biofilms include [Bergner2016]:
- Chronic lung infections
- Cystic fibrosis
- Endocarditis
- Chronic osteomyelitis
- Chronic otitis media
- Chronic sinusitis
- Chronic (non-healing) wounds
- Infectious kidney stones
- Various implants - pacemakers, artificial joints, pins, heart valves, stents, vascular grafts
- Dental plaque
- Periodontal disease
- MRSA
- H. Pylori
- Tooth abscess
- Bacterial vaginosis [Machado2016]
- Bladder infections
-
Borrelia
Please see conventional, complimentary and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complimentary and Alternative treatments that may be considered include: