Ancient antibiotics

I was reading an article from 2010 in Wired about evidence the Nubians may have been making a sort of "beer" (described as a "sour, porridge like substance" in the article) that functioned as an antibiotic. I have to admit to not being any sort of expert in this area. Could this have been developed elsewhere? Is there any chance that the development of something equivalent could have mitigated any major epidemics, like the Black Death or the cholera outbreaks of the 19th century?
 
Greater carib immigration from Europe. Perhaps no slavery in new world in europeans can survive malaria.

I believe their was a treatment the spaniards kept under wraps.
 
The antibiotic properties of certain things (mould growing on leather, dirt from certain locations, mouldy bread etc.) were recognised quite frequently in many places, and used in medicine. The problem with scaling these up is that actually getting primitive antibiotics to work depends on too many factors outside the users' control. A mineral remedy can be traded, a medicinal plant cultivated with fairly basic technologies. But without a means of identifying specific fungal cultures, cultivating them is hard. People mostly depended on cultures that emerged naturally in certain locations, but these rarely travelled well. I wonder whether the Nubian recipe would have, but I doubt it.

What might have helped is a more empirical approach to medicine. After all, many people in many parts of the world knew that certain moulds and yeasts helped against inflammation. They wouldn't know why (you can't have a correct theory of antibiotics without a theory of infection), but to the empiricist, that does not matter. The evidence would suggest further research into moulds is warranted. Instead, the individual instances tended to be dismissed as superstitious nonsense because the theory didn't support it.

As to mitigating epidemics, that would require something like a public health system. The antibiotics you can make with primitive technology are very, very basic. They might not help much, or at all, and it is hard to see how people would think to use them against internal diseases at all initially. To make a dent, you will have to distribute a lot of them. Not sure how to do that.
 
The anglo-Saxons had a very effective antibiotic formula that is presently being studied for its effectiveness against antionitoic resistant superbugs.
 
Silver has some antibiotic properties, hence 'born with a silver spoon in the mouth' is not only class but likelihood of survival. Although we can not confirm who may or may not have known about anti-septic technique, Galen certainly seems to have been doing quite a bit of work consistent with it. Mercurials were among some of the first antibiotics, ironically the first recorded work to that effect was written by a Persian regarding a disease that matches the description of syphilis half a millennium before Columbus sailed for the Western Hemisphere, if it proves correct it would be interesting to learn how he saw it. Ancient Egypt provides the oldest known texts, but apparently there were mixtures made no later than the early Roman Empire that are known to have consistent antimicrobial effects. Makes you wonder how much we actually lost when the Library at Alexandria burned, or what the Byzantine treasures of the Kremlin might actually hold if they are salvageable (or not locked in a Russian vault).
 
The Greeks knew the mold of certain cheeses had an effect on disease, but as previously stated they didn't have the technology to identify the fungal sources. So it was just a known fact that sometimes random moldy stuff can heal people.
 
How about Magnesium chloride ?


Its medical discovery:
- Pierre Delbet is remembered for his advocacy of magnesium chloride. During World War I, Delbet was searching for a solution that could cleanse wounds but not damage tissue as traditional antiseptics did. -


Some early use:
- Magnesium chloride is an important coagulant used in the preparation of tofu from soy milk. In Japan it is sold as nigari (にがり, derived from the Japanese word for "bitter"), a white powder produced from seawater after the sodium chloride has been removed, and the water evaporated. In China, it is called lushui (卤水).-

A good ancient "mediterrane" source:
Magnesium in natural seawater values are between 1250 mg/L and 1350 mg/L. (approximately 3.7% of the total seawater mineral content.) Dead Sea minerals contain a significantly higher magnesium chloride ratio (50.8%).

A potential POD:
The first known references to mouth rinsing is in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, about 2700 BC, for treatment of gingivitis. Later, in the Greek and Roman periods, mouth rinsing following mechanical cleansing became common among the upper classes, and Hippocrates recommended a mixture of salt, alum, and vinegar. The Jewish Talmud, dating back about 1,800 years, suggests a cure for gum ailments containing "dough water" and olive oil.
Have someone notice that the bitter tasting sea/dead see salt seems to be especially effective in the treatment of mouth related infections. Then have this ancient doctor successfully apply it to other wounds/infections.

Source:
Wikipedia
 
As to mitigating epidemics, that would require something like a public health system. The antibiotics you can make with primitive technology are very, very basic. They might not help much, or at all, and it is hard to see how people would think to use them against internal diseases at all initially. To make a dent, you will have to distribute a lot of them. Not sure how to do that.

It is also worth pointing out that antibacterial resistance is likely to evolve if there is mass uses of antibiotics, just as it has in the real world. So even if these things start out effect, over time they are likely to become less effective.
 

Puzzle

Donor
It is also worth pointing out that antibacterial resistance is likely to evolve if there is mass uses of antibiotics, just as it has in the real world. So even if these things start out effect, over time they are likely to become less effective.

The nice thing about primative ones derived from fungal sources would that they would also evolve in concert to a degree. The problem of bacteria isn't new at all, an arms race has been going on for billions of years and it seems unlikely there's some perfect bacteria out there.
 
The nice thing about primative ones derived from fungal sources would that they would also evolve in concert to a degree. The problem of bacteria isn't new at all, an arms race has been going on for billions of years and it seems unlikely there's some perfect bacteria out there.

Penicillin was isolated from a natural source and is highly resisted, as are most derivatives...
 
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