Ever notices that people that consider themselves 'beach bums' never seem to battle against the dreaded toe nail fungus? Medical students at the University of Southern California noticed this connection and decided to research it further.
(prHWY.com) May 5, 2012 - Seattle, WA -- Ever notices that people that consider themselves 'beach bums' never seem to battle against the dreaded toe nail fungus? Medical students at the University of Southern California noticed this connection and decided to research it further.
"I work at the free clinic and I noticed that a vast majority of the people who came in for toe nail fungus treatment often didn't spend time at the beach", said medical student Michael Moony. "So I went and conducted some interviews of fellow surfers and beach bum labeled people and noticed they didn't have any cases of toenail fungus. This led me to believe that the sand was what was warding this fungus away."
Michael Moony and a group of medical students proceeded to continue down this avenue of research. They interviewed several hundred people who have never experienced toenail fungus, and talked to people who had chronic bouts of the fungus. They also bottled the sand and brought it back to the science labs to study its qualities.
"What I am finding is that there is something soothing and relieving about digging your toes into the sand", said Moony. "The close contact of the sand with the toenail forms some sort of bonding agent that prevents the fungus from growing on the toenail."
Michael Moony is currently conducting clinical trials in regards to the sand and its healing qualities for toenail fungus. The clinical trials require individuals who have a certain type of toenail fungus to soak their feet in warm salt water for 30 minutes, and then slowly dip their feet into the sand for another 30 minutes. This treatment happens 3 times a day for a week, and the fungus is eventually treated.
"It sounds insane but it seems to be working", said Dr. Gring. "I am sending some of my patients over to this clinical trial and they come back raving about the results that they are seeing. I'm impressed who knew!"
The medical students at the University of Southern California have already been approached by a leading drug manufacturer who is interested in purchasing the sand solution that is used in the clinical trials.
"At the moment we have no interest in selling it to a drug manufacturer", said Moony. "We just want to
treat toenail fungus once and for all. Making it a drug would make it hard for people to gain access to it. Who knows maybe I'll make it into a cosmetics line!"
###