Natural remedy offers solution to drug resistance
natural head lice remedy is more effective than the commonly-used
conventional medication. The study is published in the October
issue of the Journal of the Israel Medical Association.
A Hebrew University parasitologist claims to have shown that a natural head lice remedy is more effective than the commonly-used conventional medication.
Dr. Kosta Mumcuoglu, reports in the October issue of the Journal of the Israel Medical Association, that a natural remedy, sold in the US as HairClean 1-2-3 Lice Kit, is more effective than a chemical spray preparation which contains Malathion.
Mumcuoglu and colleagues from the Jerusalem District Health Office and the Hadassah-University Hospital dermatology department studied 940 children aged six to 14 from six Jerusalem schools. Of these, 21 per cent had lice and eggs, and 17 per cent had only eggs. Of the 119 children treated, half were given the natural remedy and the rest the chemical spray - three times during a 15-day period. Girls were much more likely to be infested with lice than boys, and younger children aged six to nine more likely to have lice than teenagers.
The natural remedy, composed of coconut oil, anise oil and ylang ylang oil, killed lice and nits on 92.3 per cent of the children, reported the team. The chemical spray's active ingredients are permethrin and Malathion. The spray was effective on 92.2 per cent they said.
They explained that the chemical's effectiveness may be attributed to the ingredient Malathion, which is available by prescription only. Permethrin, the other chemical ingredient, has, in many cases, been shown to fail due to lice resistance. Permethrin is found in most drug store head lice products.
Several trials conducted by Professor Terri Meinking of the University Of Miami Medical School preceded the Israeli study, showing that HairClean 1-2-3 was more effective than products containing permethrin and pyrethrum.
New generations of head lice are becoming resistant to preparations that were previously effective. Thus, Mumcuoglu concluded, parents will welcome the news that the natural remedy can kill lice, its eggs and larvae, as efficiently as the chemical preparations, and causes no serious side effects.
