Thank you Kim; article - Sweet healing through honey

[Guest guest]

Dear Kim,

Once again, thank you so much for the information.

While surfing the net I came upon this interesting

article on honey. Thought it might be of interest to

the group.

Mindy

website -

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010301/science.htm#2

Sweet healing through honey

Harender Raj Gautam

For treating your wounds, you can skip surgery and

swallowing of bulk of antibiotics.

In future, when you visit a doctor for treating your

wounds he may offer you a poultice of honey. Honey

has been used to treat wounds for millennia. In the

First World Wound Healing Congress held at Melbourne

in September, 2000, researchers deliberated on a

significant finding that honey has outperformed

antibiotics in treating wounds and even Caesarean

sections and burns. They have found that the sweet

stuff fights an impressive lineup of microbes,

including Escherichia coli, Salmonella and

Helicobacter. Moreover, it has been found equally

effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria,

including the infamous hospital superbug MRSA. And

unlike most other antibiotics, honey actively promotes

wound healing. Researchers believe that quality of

honey for healing wounds and fighting antibiotic

resistant microbes may catapult it from the realms of

alternative therapy into mainstream medicine.

Worker bees gather nectar from flowers during spring

and summer, and regurgitate it into the mouths of

waiting hive-mates. They spit it out into the

honeycomb and fan it with their wings until most of

the water in the nectar has evaporated. At the same

time, their enzyme-rich saliva turns the sucrose into

glucose and fructose, which bind to the remaining

water leaving a desert in which bacteria cannot

survive. While the honey is ripening, though, there is

ample opportunity for pathogens to invade. But,

protection comes in the form of the bees’ prize

enzyme, glucose oxidase, which makes the brew acidic

and hostile to most bacteria by converting glucose

into gluconic acid.

Sugar concentration and acidity were widely believed

to be honey’s only weapons against bacteria, although

the plasma that oozes from wounds soon dilutes them

away. But it turns out that almost all honeys have a

secret weapon that makes it deadly to microbes even in

a diluted form: hydrogen peroxide. This chemical was

once used to disinfect wounds in hospitals. As it

breaks down, hydroxyl radicals are formed that damage

bacteria. Hydrogen peroxide had to be applied to

wounds at concentrations so high that it damaged

healthy tissues. In honey, where hydrogen peroxide is

created from glucose, again with the help of the

enzyme glucose oxidase, levels of the chemical are

1000 times lower than those traditionally applied to

wounds. As a result, there is no tissue damage. In

addition, as the hydrogen peroxide breaks down, the

enzyme constantly replaces it by catalysing its

formation from glucose. The diluting action of fluids

produced by a wound actually kick-starts the enzyme,

which for unknown reasons is inactive in full-strength

honey. Honey can still prevent the growth of bacteria

such as MRSA after being diluted to 14 times beyond

the point where the sugar content is effective.

Not all honeys possess equal levels of this secret

antibacterial weapon. The potency of a honey depends

on the bees and the type of flowers they source the

nectar. The nectar of some flowers contain high levels

of catalase, an enzyme that destroys hydrogen peroxide

and thus adversely affecting the healing quality of

the honey. Molan-a biochemist, who heads the

Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato, New

Zealand, was surprised to discover that even boiling

does not destroy the anti-bacterial activity of some

honeys. He found that some honeys are so potent that

they will stop bacteria growing on agar at a

concentration of just 0.4%, while others fail below a

strength of 50 per cent. Honey sourced from a New

Zealand tea tree called manuka has been found to

account for its unusual potency. Molan has found that

swallowing half a teaspoon of manuka honey on an empty

stomach will put a stop to the Helicobacter that cause

most of gastric ulcers. Similarly, Australian honey

sourced from jelly bush which, like manuka is sourced

from a tea tree, has also shown unusual potency.

Clearly, there is something else too at work other

than glucose oxidase and hydrogen peroxide, which is

equipping manuka honey from New Zealand and jelly bush

honey from Australia with more potency than other

honeys. Molan has spent 18 years trying to

identify this mystery manuka ingredient in the honey,

which he referred as a phytochemical agent and still

it has not been isolated in a pure culture. The honey

with manuka phytochemical agent has been found to

outperform hydrogen peroxide in effectiveness against

common bacteria. The phytochemical also works at any

pH even in the acidity of full strength honey, because

it lacks an ionic charge.

People probably began using manuka honey on wounds

shortly after New Zealand’s newly imported honeybees

began churning it out in the 19th century making the

mystery phytochemical a relative newcomer on the

medicine scene. Elsewhere, honey has been used on

wounds since Egyptian times. Honey has also had a huge

advantage over conventional antibacterial drugs

because it promotes healing. Many other treatments

actually damage human cells along with the bacteria.

Honey creates an unusually moist environment, which is

perfect for tissue growth. Moistness prevents the pain

and cell damage that occur when dried-out dressings

are changed. Hospital staff have also found that honey

cleans away dead tissue painlessly — an appealing

alternative to the normally traumatic chemical or

surgical removal of necrotic tissue. It works because

hydrogen peroxide activates protein-munching enzymes

in the patient that dissolves only dead or dying

tissue.

Honey’s healing ability has impressed Ken and

Rose from the University of Wales Institute,

Cardiff. , an immunologist, informed the congress

in Melbourne that weak dilutions of honey activate a

type of immune cell called monocytes and monocytes

release growth factors that stimulate epithelial cells

to regenerate and close the wound. And harding,

head of the respected Wound Healing Research Unit at

the University of Wales College of Medicine, UK, also

reported that laboratory research findings showed such

impressive results that honey was tried on some of the

patients. He described honey as a very interesting

therapy.

Some experts in wound care around the world have

adopted honey as a standard dressing for wounds. In

other words it is matter of wait and see. Physician

are waiting to be convinced and till then honey will

hover on the alternative medicine side of the fence.

But the spectre of antibiotic resistance makes the

bees’ therapy worth persuing.

The writer is from Department of Mycology and Plant

Pathology, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture

and Forestry, Nauni, Solan.

______________________________________________________________________

Post your free ad now! http://personals.yahoo.ca

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to mention that doctors do not recommend children under

the age of 5 be given honey

jan

> Dear Kim,

>

> Once again, thank you so much for the information.

> While surfing the net I came upon this interesting

> article on honey. Thought it might be of interest to

> the group.

>