Honey

Abenavoli, F. M. and Corelli, R. (2003) Honey cream. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 50(1), 105-106.

                The use of honey paste in treating ulcers, lesions and wounds, and the antimicrobial properties of honey are briefly discussed. Accession date: 1 March 2004. Call number: 638.167. Library code: wf. Language: En. Author address: Head and Neck Dept, San Pietro Hospital, Fatebenefratelli, Via Cassia 600, Rome, Italy. Apicultural Abstracts from IBRA: AA894/04

honey/medicinal uses/antibacterial properties/ulcers/wounds.

Ahmed, K. A. J., Hoekstra, M. J., Hage, J. J. and Karim, R. B. (2003) Honey-medicated dressing: transformation of an ancient remedy into modern therapy. Annals of Plastic Surgery, 50(2), 143-148.

                The use and safety of a honey-medicated dressing was evaluated in a preliminary study on 60 patients with chronic, complicated surgical or acute traumatic wounds. In all except one patient, the dressing was easy to apply, helpful in cleaning the wounds, and without side effects. Accession date: 1 March 2004. Call number: 638.16. Library code: wf. Language: En. Author address: Dept of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis, 1090 HM Amsterdam, Netherlands. Apicultural Abstracts from IBRA: AA863/04

honey/medicinal properties/wounds

Aysan, E., Ayar, E., Aren, A. and Cifter, C. (2002) The role of intra-peritoneal honey administration in preventing post-operative peritoneal adhesions. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, 104(2), 152-155.

                In experiments with rats, these adhesions were reduced by treatment with honey. Accession date: 9 June 2003. Call number: 638.16. Library code: X. Language: En. Author address: General Surgery Dept, SSK Istanbul Educational Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Apicultural Abstracts from IBRA: AA521/04

honey/wound treatment.

Bansal, E; Garg, A; Bhatia, S; Attri A K; Chander J; (2008) Spectrum of microbial flora in diabetic foot ulcers. Indian Journal of Pathology and Microbiology 51(2): 204-208.

A prospective study was carried out on patients with diabetic foot lesions to determine their clinical characteristics, the spectrum of aerobic microbial flora and to assess their comparative in vitro susceptibility to the commonly used antibiotics. A total of 157 organisms (143 bacteria and 14 fungi) were isolated and an average of 1.52 isolates per case was reported. Polymicrobial infection was found in 35% of the patients. In this study, Pseudomonas aeruginosa among the gram-negative (22%) and Staphylococcus aureus among the gram-positive (19%) were the predominantly isolated organisms, while Candida was the most predominantly isolated fungus. Antimicrobial sensitivity pattern of the isolates is discussed in detail. There was a linear increase in the prevalence of organisms with increase in Wagner's grade. Neuropathy (76%) and peripheral vascular disease (57.28%) was a common feature among the patients. Poor glycemic control was found in 67% of the patients. Awareness about lower limb complications of diabetes was very low (23%) among the patients

Key words: Diabetic foot infections, microbial spectrum, Wagner grades.

Bardy, J; Slevin, N J; Mais, K. L; Molassiotis, A (2008)  A systematic review of honey uses and its potential value within oncology care. Journal of Clinical Nursing, Vol. 17 (19) pp. 2604-2623. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02304.x

Aim. To synthesise the evidence regarding honey's role in health care and to identify whether this evidence applies more specifically to cancer care.
Design. Systematic review.
Methods. The inclusion and exclusion criteria were agreed by two reviewers and a keyword strategy was developed. EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, MEDLINE, COCHRANE and PUBMED databases were screened to identify suitable articles. The citation list from each included study was also screened for potentially suitable papers. The key findings from each study were entered onto a data extraction sheet.
Results. In total, 43 studies were included in the systematic review, which included studies in relation to wounds (n = 19), burns (n = 11), skin (n = 3), cancer (n = 5) and others (n = 5). In addition, a systematic review regarding honey use in wound care was also included. While the majority of studies noted the efficacy of honey in clinical use, five studies found honey to be equally as effective as the comparator and three found honey to be less effective than the comparator treatment. Other research did not illustrate any significant difference between standard treatment regimes vs. honey treatment. Studies were generally poor in quality because of small sample sizes, lack of randomisation and absence of blinding.

Keywords: cancer, clinical trials, healing, honey, radiotherapy, systematic reviews, wounds.

Cooper, R.A (2001) How does honey heal? In Healing and Honey. Ed. P. Munn & R Jones IBRA, Cardiff. ISBN: 0-85092-240-8.

Cooper, R.A (2005) The modern use of honey in the treatment of wounds. Bee World.  86 (4): 110-113

Cooper R.A (2005) The antimicrobial activity of honey. Chapter 2 in Honey: a modern wound management product White R, Cooper R, Molan P. Ed. ISBN 0-9549193-0-0 Wounds UK, Aberdeen.

Cooper, R.A. (2004) The development of honey products for the management of wounds in the United Kingdom in Proc. 8^th IBRA International Conference on Tropical Bees and VI Encontro sobre Abelhas pp 308-311.  Ed. Hartfelder and de Jong et al 1.061.3: 595.799

Cooper R.A (2005) Honey in Wound Care Nursing in Practice May/June 75-77

Cooper RA (2008) Using honey to inhibit wound pathogens Nursing Times 104 (3): 46-49

Cooper R, Blair S (2009) Chapter 4: Challenges in modern wound microbiology and the role for honey. Ed Cooper R, Molan P, White R. Honey in Modern Wound Management. Wounds UK: Aberdeen. ISBN-13 978-0-9555758-5-3