Healthful Use of Honey for Home     

Ame Simon, MD, pediatric oncologist and infectious disease specialist, University of Bonn, Germany.

Honey – it’s great on toast and to sweeten tea. But to treat wounds? Yes, is the enthusiastic answer from physicians at the University of Bonn Children’s Hospital in Germany, who have been using honey to treat wounds in pediatric cancer patients.

Wound healing is especially difficult for people of any age undergoing cancer treatment because as the therapies slow the growth of or kill malignant cells, they also inhibit development of healthy tissue components that help heal wounds. The German pediatric oncologists have described their experience using honey to help heal their patients, wounds as “astonishing,” in addition to faster healing, the honey also reduces the unpleasant odor of wounds, and renders the dressings easier and less painful to remove, which is of utmost importance in children. While their study was on cancer patients, it has broader implications for wound healing of all kinds. According to Arne Simon, MD, a pediatrician at the University of Bonn, who is leading the group of physicians compiling and documenting Medihoney results, it has been shown to have antibacterial activity against nearly all clinically relevant bacterial causes of wound infection.

Not Like a “Spoonful of Sugar”

Unfortunately, honey used for medical purposes is not what you’ll find in your cupboard, and its healing properties are different than those of household honey. Household honey may contain bacterial spores and may therefore do more harm than good in wound care. The honey used in the research is a special blend that comes in two formulations called Medihony Antibacterial Medical Honey and Medihoney Wound Gel, which were developed a few years ago by an Australian company also named Medihoney. It is irradiated to destroy bacterial spores at the end of the manufacturing process without negative impact on other ingredients and wound care properties.

What are additional differences?

When making any kind of honey, bees add an enzyme (glucose-oxidase) that triggers constant formation of hydrogen peroxide, a natural antimicrobial substance. But, depending on their own diets, they produce different varieties of the sweet syrup with varying amounts of hydrogen peroxide…and another called “leptospermum” honey (after a tree of  that name found in New Zealand and Australia), which has strong antibacterial effect. The practice of using Medihoney products to treat wounds is spreading rapidly throughout Europe and Australia, including in hospitals-and the product has received governmental medical approval as a medical device licensed for wound care in both areas.

Caution: As Medihoney’s healing properties are strictly local, Dr. Simon warns that adjuvant systemic antibiotics have to be considered in patients with compromise immunity or additional risk factors for severe systemic infection. Patients who have chronic complicated wounds or severe immunodeficiency should use Medihoney only under the supervision of a wound care specialist.

What About US?

Although Medihoney is not yet available to consumers in the US, the company recently applied for FDA approval, so you can expect to see it develop a much higher profile soon. Currently, Medihoney is used in the Middle East battlefields for wound care by Unite States Army physicians.

For more information about Medihoney, go to www.medihoney.com

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