Do you know these “brass bracelets” that you have seen for years? As is often the case with many “old wives,” it turns out that probably more than an element of truth for potential health benefits of copper! Not necessarily in the form of protection against arthritis or "rheumatism", but good old copper, apparently, is a super, inexpensive protector from harmful and even sometimes deadly bacteria!
Medical research, which returned within a few years, was able to show that bacteria and copper do not get along with each other. Copper has a damaging effect on the membranes of bacterial cells - an effective weapon against bacteria, which is actually similar to how our most expensive antibiotics work. There are other metals — such as silver — that have similar antibiotic properties and are currently used as an antibacterial strategy for special wound dressings and catheters. But copper is much richer and much cheaper than metals such as silver.
Dr. Kassandra Salgado of the University of South Carolina conducted a study on the potential use of copper as an inexpensive bacterial killer at a university hospital. The study included the re-equipment of some areas of the ICU room surface (counters, tables, etc.) with copper. Only about 10% of the total available space was converted to copper in some specific areas. The other rooms of the ICU remained uncured for comparison over time. The hypothesis was that, because bacteria would have more difficulty staying around and living on copper surfaces than more standard building materials, one could see a decrease in hospital-acquired infections (often fatal in patients with ICU).
A nearly one-year study recently completed and demonstrated that there is a dramatic overall reduced risk — 45% less chance of getting a dangerous infection in the “copper” rooms! This means that patients placed in copper rooms will be much less likely to acquire a potentially deadly bacterial infection without any other changes made to their care. Lower rates of infection will also lead to faster, less complex recovery, reduced hospital stays, and potential savings in the millions of dollars a year of health care costs currently associated with infections acquired in hospitals.
The “copper” effect will need to be studied further, as these important finds require a closer and more intense look at the good old copper. As a result, over the next few years you can see several completely different hospital rooms!
