Guest guest Posted July 20, 2003 Report Share Posted July 20, 2003 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 21, 2003 Report Share Posted July 21, 2003 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. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.