U.S. Honey Researcher Seeks Patients for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Study

Honey of a Healer
Your favorite bee product is good for more than just food
Andrew McDonnell, The Daily Page (USA), 4/25/08

…Researchers at the University of Wisconsin and elsewhere are exploring uses of honey for a number of ailments, from diabetic ulcers to the effects of radiation treatments.

"There's no money in honey." That's what skeptics told Dr. Jennifer Eddy, assistant professor at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health and a physician at Eau Claire Family Medicine. "It was frustrating. They said you'll never get funding to research honey."

The case that spurred Eddy to seek funding for clinical trials of honey involved a patient with severe diabetic foot ulcers. The usual treatments had proved ineffective for the patient, and it was determined that he would have to have his foot amputated.

In this case, though, the patient refused to lose his foot. He would sooner die. And that's what Eddy thought was going to happen.

Eddy had one last idea for treating these diabetic ulcers: "When I was a med student, I studied with Guido Majno, a professor of pathology. He wrote a book called The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World. In the book he translated Egyptian hieroglyphs and looked at ancient medicines. According to Majno, honey was the only one that worked in the lab."

Eddy still had qualms about actually applying honey to a patient's limb. "I asked my infectious disease specialist if it was crazy to try, and she was familiar with some studies where honey had been effective on wounds," says Eddy. They decided to give it a try, and within three weeks "it worked better than anything else had."

If you have doubts as to the potential efficacy of honey as a medical treatment, do yourself a favor and check out the June 2005 issue of the Journal of Family Practice. It's well illustrated. The article, "Topical Honey for Diabetic Foot Ulcers" by Drs. Jennifer Eddy and Mark D. Gideonson, chronicles the progress of the ulcerated foot after three weeks, 6 months and 12 months of honey treatment. The pictures tell the story of a blackened lump, nearly unrecognizable as a foot, gradually regaining its flesh tone, smoothing out, and finally arriving at nearly complete health…

The treatment was so effective that Eddy recommended topical honey to subsequent patients for whom standard treatments for diabetic ulcers had failed. Of a dozen or so patients who tried the treatment, all improved…

Eddy remains enthusiastic about honey's potential, especially in a world where people lose a leg to diabetes once every 30 seconds. She's received funding from the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Wisconsin Partnership Program to conduct the first double-blind study of the effects of honey on diabetic ulcers. One group of patients will receive a honey treatment and another will receive a placebo.

Eddy's honey study is still accepting participants. To be eligible, patients must be older than 18, have diabetes and a sore below their knee, and not be taking prednisone. Call 715-855-5683…