Re: Beds/infections

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I'm sorry to be so late in responding to your post. I hope you will

get your right hip sore checked by your doctor, because infections

can be deadly for those of us with CMT. Can you sleep on your back,

with pillows under your knees and feet? This would take the pressure off your

hip and perhaps then it could heal.

The newstory below may be of interest to you.

Gretchen

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Honey making a medical comeback - Potent type used as antibiotic

amid fears of drug-resistant superbugs

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22398921/

Amid growing concern over drug-resistant superbugs and nonhealing

wounds that endanger diabetes patients, nature's original

antibiotic — honey — is making a comeback.

More than 4,000 years after Egyptians began applying honey to

wounds, Derma Sciences Inc., a New Jersey company that makes

medicated and other advanced wound care products, began selling the

first honey-based dressing this fall after it was approved by the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Called Medihoney, it is made from a highly absorbent seaweed-based

material, saturated with manuka honey, a particularly potent type

that experts say kills germs and speeds healing. Also called

Leptospermum honey, manuka honey comes from hives of bees that

collect nectar from manuka and jelly bushes in Australia and New

Zealand.

Derma Sciences now sells two Medihoney dressings to hospitals,

clinics and doctors in North and South America under a deal with

supplier Comvita LP of New Zealand. Derma Sciences hopes to have its

dressings in U.S. drug stores in the next six months, followed by

adhesive strips.

Comvita, which controls about 75 percent of the world's manuka honey

supply, sells similar products under its own name in Australia, New

Zealand and Europe, where such products have been popular for over a

decade.

" The reason that Medihoney is so exciting is that antibiotics are

becoming ineffective at fighting pathogens, " said Derma Sciences CEO

Ed Quilty.

Another big advantage, he said, is that the dressings' germ-fighting

and fluid-absorbing effects last up to a week, making them

convenient for patients being cared for at outpatient clinics or by

visiting nurses. They also reduce inflammation and can eliminate the

foul odors of infected wounds.

Since receiving FDA approval, Medihoney has brought in sales of

$150,000 in 10 weeks and Quilty plans to nearly double his 15-person

sales force in 2008 thanks to the two new Medihoney products.

Honey dressings and gels, as well as tubes of manuka honey, have

been gaining in popularity overseas, fueled by scientific reports on

their medical benefits and occasional news accounts of the dramatic

recovery of a patient with a longtime wound that suddenly healed.

Regular honey can have mild medicinal benefits. A study published

Dec. 3 showed it helps to calm children's coughs so they can sleep.

But manuka honey is far more potent, research shows.

Dr. Frykberg, chief of podiatry at the Veterans Affairs

Medical Center in Phoenix, said the Medihoney product has worked on

about half the patients with diabetic foot ulcers who have used it.

He said the Medihoney dressing can also prevent the dangerous drug-

resistant staph infection known as MRSA from infecting open wounds.

" It's been used on wounds where nothing else will work, " said

biochemist Molan, a professor at the University of Waikato in

New Zealand who has researched honey and other natural antibiotics

for 25 years.

He's found manuka honey can kill the toughest bacteria even when

diluted 10 times and recommends it especially for people with weak

immune systems.

" There's more evidence, clinical evidence, by far for honey in wound

treatment than for any of the pharmaceutical products " for

infection, Molan said. However, it won't work once an infection gets

in the blood. " It's not a miracle. "

Some U.S. hospitals and wound care clinics are already using

Medihoney dressings to treat patients with stubborn, infected wounds

from injuries or surgical incisions and nonhealing pressure ulcers

on diabetics' feet, which too often lead to amputations.

Kara Couch, a nurse practitioner at town University Hospital's

Center for Wound Healing in Washington, said it works well for

patients who have " wound pain " or infected wounds.

One patient who had an open wound that didn't heal for a few

years " healed 90 percent in three weeks, " she said, adding that the

usual rate for chronic wounds is barely 10 percent a week.

Crosby, a retired insurance claims examiner from Hanover,

Massachusetts, began using Medihoney two months ago on a 2 1/2-year-

old burn on his leg after high-tech treatments did not help. The

burn's size has shrunk by half and it continues to heal.

" At this stage, any improvement's better than nothing, " Crosby said.

Dr. Craig Lambrecht, a North Dakota emergency physician, started

using a paste version of Medihoney while serving with the National

Guard in Iraq last winter.

At a military clinic for Iraqi children, he used it on patients with

severe burns from cooking fuels, open fires and explosions. He said

Iraqi families soon preferred the honey over other treatments

because it was natural and because the honey dressings don't need to

be changed as often as traditional ones. The children also healed

more quickly and with fewer complications, he said.

After seeing its success in Iraq, Lambrecht, who has five children

of his own, is a fan.

" I would use the Medihoney on burns on my children, as the first

choice, without question, " he said.

[Guest guest]

Thank you Gretchen and for your help