Researchers Tested Water From Ancient Roman Baths And Found It Really Did Have Healing Properties

Oliver Taylor - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only
Oliver Taylor - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purposes only

One of the most popular Roman structures still standing in what is now England are the Roman baths located in the city of Bath, Somerset.

These bathing facilities were meticulously designed and contained grand architectural features. They served as places of hygiene, socialization, and even healing.

Researchers from the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Plymouth tested the water from the ancient baths and found that it really did have healing properties of a sort.

The water contained microbial lifeforms that produced antibiotic substances that destroy deadly bacteria such as E. coli and Staphylococcus Aureus, which are common today and pose as threats to human health.

According to the researchers, these healing substances can be used to create effective medicines to treat antimicrobial resistance if they are collected on a large scale.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when parasites, viruses, bacteria, and fungi no longer respond to treatment involving the same drugs, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of the spread of severe illness.

“Antimicrobial resistance is recognized as one of the most significant threats to global health, and the hunt for novel antimicrobial natural products is gathering pace,” said Dr. Lee Hutt, a biomedical sciences lecturer at the University of Plymouth.

“This study has for the first time demonstrated some of the microorganisms present within the Roman baths, revealing it as a potential source of novel antimicrobial discovery.”

Roman baths have been discovered in other places as well, including Austria, Spain, Croatia, and Lebanon.

Oliver Taylor – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only

The locations that Romans chose for their baths were where they believed that the water had genuine medicinal powers.

To come to the conclusion that the baths in England had healing properties, the research team collected samples of water, sediment, and biofilm from different areas within the bathing complex.

The King’s Spring, known for its high water temperatures of up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Great Bath, with a maximum temperature of 86 degrees, were among the areas studied.

The scientists separated and isolated microbes with the antibiotic properties by utilizing genetic sequencing technology and bacterial culturing.

Overall, they managed to identify approximately 300 types of bacteria. Fifteen of the bacteria, or five percent, showed signs suggesting that they could prevent the spread of human pathogens like E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus, and Shigella flexneri.

Some of the healing microbes grew the most in water with higher temperatures, while others thrived in water with lower temperatures.

Before these microbes can be used to create medicines, much more research needs to be done about the way they work.

Nevertheless, the discovery is pretty significant, especially since antimicrobial resistance is becoming more and more of a concern.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that antimicrobial resistance kills at least 1.27 million people worldwide.

The study was published in The Microbe.

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Emily  Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a ... More about Emily Chan
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