A gynaecologist has urged women to not put garlic in their
vagina to treat yeast infections.
Dr Jen Gunter, based in California, went on a Twitter rant
about the old wives' tale, which recommends putting a clove inside the vagina
for up to three days.
There are no studies to support the claim garlic has
antifungal properties – apart from in a petri dish – and it could be a serious
risk for further infections, Dr Gunter said.
The vagina is the ‘perfect’ environment for the botulism
bacteria to grow, which can be life-threatening and lead to paralysis.
It's not the first time doctors have busted similar myths,
including one claiming parsley in the vagina can induce periods.
Dr Gunter, a health columnist and author of a book called
The Vagina Bible, wrote on Twitter: 'My advice, do not take medical advice from
anyone recommending vaginal garlic for yeast or anything else.'
The now viral twitter thread started off by explaining that
garlic contains allicin, which in the lab has shown to have antifungal
properties.
'This is in a lab, not even in mice. Just a dish of cells.
Your vagina is not a dish of cells,' Dr Gunter said.
She delved into the serious risks of garlic, firstly because
it could have bacteria from the soil on it.
'Bacteria from the soil can be pathogenic - bad for the
body. That's why we clean wounds,' Dr Gunter wrote.
'If you actually happen to have an inflamed yeasty vagina
that soil bacteria would be more likely to infect.'
Garlic could also cause biofilms to form, which are a
collection of microorganisms such as plaque on teeth.
'You do not want them to form especially when you have
yeast,' Dr Gunter said.
But the most concerning risk Dr Gunter warns of is
clostridium bacteria, found in soil, which may be on the garlic.
The bacteria themselves aren't harmful, but they can produce
one of the most poisonous toxins when deprived of oxygen, such as in closed
cans or bottles.
Dr Gunter said: 'You know why you refrigerate home made
garlic vinaigrette? So any clostridium bacteria laying around on the garlic
doesn’t produce botulinum toxin. Right. The vagina is an anaerobic environment,
so perfect for clostridium.'
Botulism, a condition caused by clostridium botulinum
bacteria, can be caused when someone eats food containing the toxins because it
hasn't been properly canned, preserved or cooked.
It needs hospital treatment as the toxins attack the nervous
system and cause paralysis. This is fatal in five to ten per cent of cases,
according to NHS.
Part of the problem, Dr Gunter said, is women self
diagnosing and treating problems that may not be there, further throwing off
the balance of the vagina.
She said: 'As 50 to 70 per cent of women who self treat for
vaginal yeast never actually had a yeast infection you can't say much, except
half of them never had yeast to begin with so the irritation they had may have
been a temporary thing and resolving wasn't garlic relate [sic].'
Dr Gunter claimed many people who use the 'remedy' - who may
just experience a strong placebo effect - are doing it wrong.
Without crushing the garlic, the possible anti fungal
allicin is not released, Dr Gunter said.
One tweeter, Raquelle Jason, hit back at the expert in the
belief that big pharmaceutical companies are scaring people away from natural
remedies.
She said: 'You are wrong. Garlic has helped me and everyone
else I've told about it when prescription meds were not possible.'
She posted the recipe which she uses herself, requiring
garlic to be inserted in a gauze made of dental floss for 12 hours for three
days.
A vaginal yeast infection causes irritation, discharge and
intense itchiness. The most common are bacterial vaginosis or thrush.
It affects three in four women at some point in their lives,
according to the Mayo Clinic.
The vagina is designed to keep itself clean with the help of
natural secretions and there are lots of bacteria inside to protect it.
The bacteria help keep the pH balance, produce bacteriocins
(naturally occurring antibiotics) and produce a substance that stops invading
bacteria sticking to the vagina walls and causing damage to tissue, according
to the NHS.
If the balance of bacteria is disturbed, this can lead to
infection.
(Daily Mail)
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