Researchers are constantly trying to find new ways to make antibiotics and medication more friendly to people, and more compatible with the human body. Although there have been significant advances, the idea is still the same: a material that is compatible with the human body but kills bacteria in the body, thus using a bit of overkill in order to fight off an infection. These are administered over a period of time, after which the body can more easily heal and regenerate. Titanates, or compounds based on Titanium may be the next brand of antibiotics, according to researchers.
Although current antibiotics are often very effective, there are two main problems with them. First of all, they work on the principle of overkill, meaning they kill some of the useful bacteria in your body. Your body has trillions of bacteria living inside of it, which make it work and function, without which you cannot digest food, break down carbohydrates, or cleanse the body of invasive foreign objects. When you take antibiotics, some of these useful bacteria are also killed in order to get rid of the infection at hand.
The second problem with them is that they create antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. This means that antibiotics are more effective the less you use them, and overuse makes them harmless and unable to protect you from infections, as the bacteria evolve very fast and react to the antibiotics, making them less effective each time around. Metals provide solutions to both of these problems.
Peroxo-titanates and monosodium metal-titanates are toxic compounds. They can be toxic even in extremely small quantities, and they kill all biological compounds, and also completely stop bacteria from proliferating. They can be applied locally where the infection is, and thus not kill all of the useful bacteria in your body theoretically, although an effective delivery mechanism is still yet to be developed. Not only will this kill the bacteria in question, but there is no chance for any kind of resistance, as the metals stop bacteria from reproducing. Titanium is a very special compound in that the human body does not see it as a foreign object, it is hypoallergenic, and will not be rejected by the body, thus it is a prime candidate for use in medical applications.
Although these new metallic compounds can indeed cure the antibiotic resistance problem that the world is developing, research still needs to be conducted into a safe and effective delivery system. Until this is developed and tested, the medical applications of this otherwise incredible metal will have to wait a bit.
