Garlic wards off TB

Garlic is effective in treating tuberculosis, especially the kind which is resistant to antibiotics, claim scientists P Ratnakar, D Srilatha and P S Murthy of the University College of Medical Sciences and the Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital in Delhi.

The researchers obtained extracts from fresh garlic cloves, using alcohol as a solvent. These extracts contain a compound -- allicin -- which the researchers say is active against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the TB-causing bacterium. The researchers found that the garlic extract effectively blocks the production of lipids, proteins and even DNA by the bacterium.