Medical Grade Honey Boosts Healing of Pediatric Abdominal Wounds

Medical grade honey for the treatment of paediatric abdominal wounds: a case series

J Wound Care. 2020 Feb 2;29(2):94-99

OBJECTIVE:

Children are at high risk of injuries and wounds. The application of medical grade honey is a promising approach to improving the healing of wounds of various origin and severity. However, the use of medical grade honey in young paediatric patients remains limited. The aim of this study is to show the safety, efficacy and usefulness of medical grade honey in abdominal wounds, of different causes, in paediatric patients.

METHOD:

This was a prospective, observational case series evaluating five young infants with abdominal wounds at the General Hospital in Thessaloniki. All wounds were treated in the same manner with daily medical grade honey applied to the wound area and closely monitored.

RESULTS:

All treated wounds rapidly presented granulation tissue formation and underwent re-epithelialisation. Peripheral oedema and inflammation decreased upon initial application. Necrotic tissue was effectively debrided when present. Slough was removed and no signs of infection were detected, irrespective of initial wound presentations. Scar formation was minimal and the full range of motion was preserved in all cases.

CONCLUSION:

Based on this case study, medical grade honey is safe and effective in treating different abdominal wounds, including infected or dehisced wounds as well as burns. The easy application and broad applicability make medical grade honey recommendable as a first-line treatment in paediatric patients.

Potential Benefits of Propolis for Humans

Green Matters

According to WebMD, some people believe that propolis might be inflammatory, that it can help heal skin, and that it can fight bacteria, viruses, and fungi. As the NCBI review added, propolis (and propolis-derived products) are believed by some to have "antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antibacterial, antimycotic, antifungal, antiulcer, anticancer, and immunomodulatory" properties...

Honey Reduces Postoperative Pain after Tonsillectomy (Tonsillitis)

The effect of adjuvant oral application of honey in the management of postoperative pain after tonsillectomy in adults: A pilot study.

PLoS One. 2020 Feb 10;15(2):e0228481

OBJECTIVE:

To analyze the effect of adjuvant oral application of honey for treating postoperative pain after tonsillectomy.

DESIGN:

Single centre prospective cohort study.

SETTING:

Two cohorts of patients after tonsillectomy.

PARTICIPANTS:

56 patients treated with honey 8 times per day (honey group), 18 patients treated without honey (control group); baseline analgesia were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) or coxibs; opioids were used as pro re nata (PRN) medication; mean age 34.4 ± 13.4 years; 36% women.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

On first to fifth postoperative day, patients rated their pain using the validated questionnaire of the German-wide project Quality Improvement in Postoperative Pain Treatment (QUIPS) including a numeric rating scale (NRS, 0-10) for determination of patient's pain. QUIPS allows standardized assessment of patients' characteristics andpain-associated patient-reported outcomes (PROs). The influence of preoperative and postoperative parameters on patients' postoperative pain were estimated by univariate and multivariate statistical analysis.

RESULTS:

Average pain in activity in the control group was greater than 4 (NRS 4.4 ± 2.4) during the first five postoperative days, with a renewed increase in pain intensity on the fifth day (4.3 ± 2.5). In the honey group, the pain in activity decreased without any further pain increase and was only higher than 4 on the first three postoperative days (4.3 ± 2.1, all p > 0.05). However; neither minimal nor maximal pain were significantly different between both groups on the first postoperative day (p = 0.217, p = 0.980). Over the five postoperative days, the minimal and maximal pain in the honey group decreased continuously and faster than in the control group. With regard to pain-related impairments on the first day, the honey group reported less pain-related sleep disturbance (p = 0.026), as well as significantly fewer episodes of postoperative oral bleeding (p = 0.028) than the control group. Patients without honey consumption had on the first and fifth postoperative day a higher risk of increased minimal pain (OR = -2.424, CI = -4.075 --0.385). Gender was an independent factor for compliance of honey consumption on the second postoperative day (p = 0.037). Men had a lower probability for compliance of honey consumption (OR = -0.288, CI = -2.863 --0.090).

CONCLUSION:

There was a trend of reduced postoperative pain after oral honey application. Honey also seems to reduce pain-related impairments. The need for additional opioids on the first day could be reduced. A larger controlled trial is now needed to varify the effect of honey on pain after tonsillectomy.

Royal Jelly may Help Treat Alzheimer's Disease (Memory, Aging, Cognition, Cognitive, Neurodegenerative Diseases)

Oral treatment with royal jelly improves memory and presents neuroprotective effects on icv-STZ rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive decline in cognitive function. Intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin (icv-STZ) has been used as an experimental model of Sporadic AD (SAD) in rodents and represents a promising tool for etiopathogenic analysis and evaluation of new therapeutic proposals for AD.

The icv-STZ model shows many aspects of SAD abnormalities, resulting in decreased brain glucose and energy metabolism, cognitive impairment, oxidative stress, neuronal loss, and amyloid angiopathy. Royal jelly (RJ), a substance produced by worker honeybees of the Apis mellifera species, has been popularly used for more than 30 years in areas related to health eating and natural medicine.

Researches indicate that RJ has a several pharmacological activities, including neuroprotective and improvement of cognitive function. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of oral treatment with royal jelly during 2 weeks in Wistar rats submitted to icv-STZ on a working memory and neuroprotection, as evaluated by neurogenesis, neurodegeneration and oxidative stress.

In this study, icv-STZ injection induced deleterious effects in the hippocampus, associated with cognitive impairments, and developed marked neurodegeneration, besides the reduction of neurogenesis and increased oxidative stress.

On the other hand, RJ long-term oral administration induced beneficial effects in animals injured by icv-STZ injection, increasing retention time for working spatial memory, reducing neurodegeneration and oxidative stress level and increasing the proliferation of new neurons in the hippocampus. Thus, RJ promotes beneficial effects on cognitive functions and exhibits a neuroprotective action in the STZ experimental model of SAD

Honey Equal to Aspirin in Preventing Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), But Without Side Effects (Heart Disease, Mortality, Antiplatelet)

Antiplatelet Effectivity between Aspirin with Honey on Cardiovascular Disease Based on Bleeding Time Taken on Mice

Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Oct 14;7(20):3416-3420

BACKGROUND:

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its mortality continues to increase. Various studies have shown aspirin can reduce CVD mortality but has adverse side effects. Research on a comparison between aspirin and honey has not been done, but both have antiplatelet effects.

AIM:

This study is aimed to prove the antiplatelet effects on honey and compare the antiplatelet effects of aspirin with honey based on the bleeding time in mice.

METHODS:

This study is a true experimental design with a post-test only control group using 32 male mice, Double Ditsch Webster, ± 3 months old, the weight of 20-30 g, divided into 4 groups. Consisting of a negative control group (placebo), aspirin and honey. The suspension has given orally for 12 days using the probe. The research was conducted at the Laboratory of Pharmacology Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics Faculty of Medicine, the University of North Sumatra in September until December 2015. The data collected was bleeding time in mice. Data analysed by Shapiro Wilk test, Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney.

RESULTS:

The mean bleeding time was a placebo (102.88 seconds), aspirin (369.38 seconds) and honey (304.63 seconds). Mann Whitney test showed significant results in the aspirin and honey groups against the control group (placebo) with p = 0.001. There were no significant differences in the aspirin group against honey (p = 0.172). Honey has an antiplatelet effect in mice. The mean bleeding time in mice given honey is longer or closer to the mean bleeding time in the aspirin group.

CONCLUSION:

The results could be used as a basis for further research to determine its use in humans with cardiovascular disease.