Honey Used to Treat Yeast Infection

North Shore Revisits An Old Remedy for Wounds
Nurse.com, 2/23/2009

Honey was used in ancient Egypt to heal wounds and is now making a comeback in the product Medihoney™, a highly absorbent, seaweed-based material saturated with manuka honey, which comes from beehives where nectar is collected from manuka and jelly bushes in Australia and New Zealand. Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2007, the remedy was used to save the leg of a patient at North Shore University Hospital. A yeast infection had ulcerated the leg from the right knee to the ankle. A course of treatment with voriconozole, an antifungal drug, failed to fight off the bacterial superinfection, and a dressing was needed with antibacterial properties.

It was then that Mary Brennan, RN, a clinical nurse specialist, suggested using Medihoney™, produced by Princeton, N.J.-based Derma Sciences, Inc. Within a month of starting the treatment, the skin on the leg showed significant improvement, with reduced inflammation and eschar caused by bacterial infection.

Honey Wound Dressing Did Not Boost Blood Sugar Level

Use of Honey on a Neuropathic Ulcer
Journal of Community Nursing, February 2009, Volume 23, Issue 02

…Case Study: Mr B is a 49 year old morbidly obese man with unstable insulin controlled diabetes. The ball of his right unstable Charcot foot developed a neuropathic ulcer following the application of a plaster of Paris for stabilisation. Healing was not taking place and his blood sugars were uncontrolled. The diabetic consultant and vascular surgeons were recommending amputation as the patient was fighting recurrent infections and cellulitis. With an HBA1C of 10.5 per cent and weighing 190kg, Mr B was very immobile for his age as both his legs were very wet, oedematous and MRSA positive…

Wearing compression stockings meant daily easy access to the neuropathic ulcer, and it was at this stage that the nurse decided to start using a honey based antibacterial gel. Medihoney Antibacterial Wound Gel was chosen as it was available on the nurses’ formulary (Wicks 2007), and was one of the first honey products licenced for medical use in Europe (Simon et al 2007). The patient’s wife was taught how to apply the gel daily to the wound and cover it with an alginate and an adhesive foam dressing. The wound required daily dressings at this stage as it was quite a sizeable cavity and exudate was still heavy (honey works by osmosis and draws fluid from the wound, therefore, increasing wetness). Copious amounts of Sudocrem were therefore used to protect the peri-wound skin from deteriorating and the district nursing team was checking the wound twice weekly for progress.

Mr B was seen in the diabetic foot clinic in the early stages of the honey treatment. The podiatrist and diabetic consultant both advised the nurses to discontinue the use of the honey based treatment as it may lead to hyperglycaemia and abscesses. The district nurses at this stage involved the local tissue viability specialist nurses asking for their advice and they recommended treatment to continue as it was obviously working, and since the honey was applied topically it should therefore not affect the patient’s blood sugar levels. Cadogan (2006) argues that despite the reluctance to use honey on diabetics (due to its high sugar content), it is quite safe to do so with close observations of the patient’s blood glucose levels. White (2006) also recommends the use of honey on diabetic foot ulcers as long as it is used by experienced practitioners. The ulcer was by then 2.5cm deep (Figure 2).

Within three months of using honey on the wound, its depth was reduced to 1cm (Figure 3). Doppler assessments were performed six months after original admission to caseload and were again healthy. Mr B had to be re-measured again for smaller made to measure stockings, as the first pairs were too loose due to weight loss and reduction of oedema. His weight is currently steady at 135kg and his HBA1C is 7.1 per cent. The exudate to the wound is now non existent, the ulcer has a depth of 1mm and is continuing to heal (Figure 4). Dressings are still performed twice weekly using honey and an adhesive foam dressing, and Mr B continues to wear Class II compression stockings. He is now mobilising well and his health has much improved in a year. Orthotics have provided him with a new boot as his leg has reduced further in size and his foot shape has improved.

Conclusion: In view of the increasing prevalence of drug resistant bacteria, health professionals now need to look further afield for help in wound care. Honeys with evidence of antibacterial effectiveness are one of the wound dressings worth considering especially when drug resistant organisms are present (Blair, 2000). This new found fame, however, remains somewhat controversial in the field of diabetic wound care, probably because of the honey’s high sugar content. In the case of Mr B the use of honey on his wound has not proved detrimental to his HBA1C readings (Figure 5)…

Video: Honey Used to Treat Sea Turtle Wounds

Sea Turtle Rescue

CNN, 2/21/2009
CNN's Reynolds Wolf visits a rehabilitation center for turtles on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

Propolis, Bee Pollen Exhibit Strong Antioxidant Effects

Comparison of Bee Products Based on Assays of Antioxidant Capacities
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2009, 9:4

Bee products (including propolis, royal jelly, and bee pollen) are popular, traditional health foods. We compared antioxidant effects among water and ethanol extracts of Brazilian green propolis (WEP or EEP), its main constituents, water-soluble royal jelly (RJ), and an ethanol extract of bee pollen…

Results: The rank order of antioxidant potencies was as follows: WEP > EEP > pollen, but neither RJ nor 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA) had any effects.

Concerning the main constituents of WEP, the rank order of antioxidant effects was: caffeic acid > artepillin C > drupanin, but neither baccharin nor coumaric acid had any effects. The scavenging effects of caffeic acid were as powerful as those of trolox, but stronger than those of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) or vitamin C.

Conclusions: On the basis of the present assays, propolis is the most powerful antioxidant of all the bee product examined, and its effect may be partly due to the various caffeic acids it contains. Pollen, too, exhibited strong antioxidant effects.

Maker of Honey Cough Syrup to Expand Sales

Honey Naturals to Unveil ZarBee's All-Natural Children's Cough Syrup to National Retailers

Salt Lake City, Feb 25, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Honey Naturals, LLC will be meeting with potential national retail channel partners to expand sales of its effective children's cough syrup at the Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) cough, cold and allergy event in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 1, 2009. The company's new product, ZarBee's(TM) Children's Cough Syrup, is an all-natural, honey-based cough suppressant that provides children relief from coughs while simultaneously boosting the immune system…

For more information regarding ZarBee's, visit http://www.zarbees.com/.

Jamaican Youth Urged to Product Apitherapy Products

Young People Urged to go into Beekeeping
Jamaica Information Service, 2/22/2009

Young people in St. Elizabeth are being urged to get into beekeeping, to satisfy the huge local and international demand for honey and other bee by-products.

"Jamaica has potential; very, very big potential in beekeeping, because honey is in short supply both locally and internationally," said First Deputy Chairman of the Jamaica Federation of Commercial Apiculturists (JFCA), Elton Cawley.

He was addressing an Agri-business Expo held on Thursday (Feb. 19) at the Santa Cruz Community Centre in St. Elizabeth.

According to Mr. Cawley, because of the shortage in supply of honey locally, the price for the product in Jamaica was higher than what it was being sold for overseas.

He said that in addition to producing liquid honey, persons could also go into the production of bee derivatives such as propolis, royal jelly, pollen and wax, which fetch good prices both locally and abroad…

Beeswax Could Be Threatened by Bee Shortage

Cosmetics & Toiletries, 2/16/2009

The world's population of honeybees is rapidly decreasing, according to a recent report by NewScientist. This decline could be due to infections, lack of food, pesticides and breeding, but the consensus is that honeybees are in trouble.

A honeybee hive produces a number of items popular in everyday life. Beeswax, a popular cosmetic ingredient, is produced from the hive of honeybees. In addition, the report finds that a third of food relies on bees for pollination…

Honey and Healing Through the Ages

Journal of ApiProduct & ApiMedical Science, Vol. 1 (1) pp. 2 - 5

Honey, along with other products from the hive, is once again becoming accepted as reputable and effective healing agents (Okhiria et al, 2009). This is not just amongst the general public but also amongst those that practice conventional medicine. This widespread acceptance and increased curiosity in the therapeutic powers of honey must be due to the increased awareness of the very positive and encouraging results that are being obtained in clinical tests. Amongst others some most noteworthy is the work being done by Professor Peter Molan in New Zealand and in Cardiff by Professor Rose Cooper.

It is known from evidence such as bees trapped in amber that the honey bee has been around for about 50 million years. Mankind, in recognisable form, has been around for less than 2 million years but, from the very beginning, it would not be hard to conclude that honey has figured somewhere in his diet.

Stone age rock paintings in several different locations show honey hunting and these have been dated 6000BC or earlier. Thus giving between 8 and 10 thousand years of international evidence that the human race has recognised honey as a precious product. In southern England there is evidence of honey being stored in earthenware pots around 2500BC (Crane, 1999).

It is difficult to know when honey became recognised as more than a welcome food supplement, a treat, or something used for special religious ceremonies. The oldest written record is a prescription written on a clay tablet from Nippur, the religious centre of the Sumerians in the Euphrates valley, circa 2000BC. This prescription states:

"Grind to a powder river dust and…(here the words are missing)... then knead it in water and honey and let plain oil and hot cedar oil be spread over it" (Kramer and Levey, 1954)

It is thought that this might be a cure for some skin infection or ulcer. There is certainly evidence from about the same period of similar medicines being used to treat eye and ear disorders. A honey and butter paste was often used after surgery, or to help the healing of stretched or pierced ears. Sometimes, depending on its purpose, the paste was enriched with other ingredients such as barley or herbs.

In Asia, where there are other sources of sweetness, honey has always been recognised as of prime medicinal value. It is mentioned as such in Chinese literature dating from about 2000BC.

The Veda, the sacred books of the people occupying the Indus and Ganges valleys about 1000BC, records: "Let one take honey …. to beautify his appearance, develop his brain faculty and strengthen his body" (Mullick, 1944)…

Book Review: Honey in Modern Wound Management

Edited by Rose Cooper, Peter Molan and Richard White
(2009) published by Wounds UK Ltd., Aberdeen.
Colour illustrated throughout, 201 pages, soft back.
£29.99 (plus postage and packing)

Recent years have seen a resurgence in the use of honey in the treatment of wounds. For millennia local honey has been used as a basic wound dressing now there are licensed products that have undergone the scrutiny of regulatory bodies. Topical application of honey is therapeutic not only because of antimicrobial activity but also because of its ability to promote healing. This book offers insights into historical and modern applications of honey as well as providing clinical and laboratory data to help better understanding of its mode of action.

Its fourteen very erudite chapters cover: historical background, antimicrobial activity, modern wound microbiology; clinical guidelines for the potential use of honey in paediatric care, oncology, radiotherapy, damaged tissue and burns, treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, the prevention of medical device related infections, and the immunomdulatory components of honey.

The increasing acceptance of regulated honey products in the medical pharmacopoeia meant that this book is a timely review of recent developments and will enable health care professionals to make informed decisions about the use of honey in daily practice. In addition the copious references and citations make the book a valuable resource not only for practitioners but also for students and all those who wish to be in formed of the science behind one of Nature's oldest medicines.

Honey Helps Control Biofilms in Chronic Wounds

Honey Modulates Biofilms of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a Time and Dose Dependent Manner
Journal of ApiProduct & ApiMedical Science, Vol. 1 (1) pp.6 -10

Biofilms are complex microbial communities associated with persistent infections that demonstrate increased resistance to immunological and antimicrobial challenges.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been associated with biofilms in chronic wounds. When this opportunist pathogen is grown in suspension culture in the laboratory it is susceptible to manuka honey at concentrations below 10% (v/v), but its susceptibility as a biofilm has not previously been reported.

The effect of two concentrations of manuka honey dissolved in Luria broth (LB) on biofilms of six cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were tested over 24 hours. One type culture (ATCC 27853) and five clinical isolates derived from five different patients with infected wounds were each incubated at 37 ºC for 24 hours in LB in microtitre plates to establish biofilms. Medium was then replaced with LB, or LB containing 20% (w/v) manuka honey or LB containing 40% (w/v) manuka honey and plates were incubated at 37 ºC for 24 hours.

Biofilm biomass was monitored at known intervals by fixing adherent cells with 2.5% (w/v) glutaraldehyde and staining with 0.25% (w/v) crystal violet. Exposure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms to 40% (w/v) manuka honey in LB resulted in significantly reduced biofilm biomass for all cultures compared to LB alone and 20% (w/v) manuka honey in LB. Differences in biofilm biomass were most noticeable after 9 to 11 hour exposure times.

This preliminary investigation suggests that manuka honey has potential in the control of biofilms in chronic wounds and justifies further study of this subject.

Medicinal Honey Should Contain Enough Methylglyoxal

Health: Bee Prepared
The Scotsman, 2/21/2009

Don't you just love something that's healthy but also gives you pleasure. We've mentioned honey's health-giving properties before, but research revealing more about how this natural wonder works has made us look again.

It turns out that the sweet stuff's antibacterial qualities come from a compound called methylglyoxal (MGO) so you need to make sure that the honey you buy contains enough of the right stuff. And now, to make things easier, Manuka Health MGO Manuka Honey has been given a rating so that you know exactly what you're buying. The range includes MGO 30 which is recommended for general health, MGO 100 which can be used to treat coughs and colds and MGO 550 - the super-strength variety - powerful enough to treat wounds. Naturally amazing.

MGO Manuka Honey, GBP 7.95 for 250g (http://www.manukahealth.co.nz/).

Royal Jelly Should be Frozen Immediately After Being Harvested

Quality and Standardisation of Royal Jelly
Journal of ApiProduct and ApiMedical Science, 1(1): 16-21 (2009)

Given the exceptional biological properties attributed to it, royal jelly (RJ) has considerable commercial appeal and is today utilised in many sectors, ranging from the pharmaceutical and food industries to the cosmetic and manufacturing sectors. This has resulted, among other things, in large-scale importation in countries where production is insufficient to meet domestic demand.

Research capabilities thus need to be reinforced to permit both a reliable qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the different components and the implementation of analytical tests on commercially available products – RJ on its own or as an additive to new or traditional products – also for the purpose of identifying possible adulteration.

No official data exist about the RJ market (Grillenzoni, 2002), but China is unanimously acknowledged as being the leading world producer and exporter of RJ, which it sells at highly competitive prices. Chinese production of RJ is estimated as 2000 t/year (a quantity that represents over 60% of production worldwide), almost all of which is exported to Japan, the United States and Europe. Other countries like Korea, Taiwan and Japan are important producers and also exporters.

Elsewhere in the world, RJ is produced mainly in Eastern Europe and to a lesser extent in Western Europe and in America: Mexico, in particular, is quite a big producer.

Numerous studies have been dedicated to RJ since as far back as the late 19th century (Planta, 1888; Lercker, 2003). However, it is difficult to bring together the data collected by different authors into an organic whole, as the data themselves are not always comparable due to the lack of homogeneity among the materials used, the different sampling procedures and production conditions.

Additional complicating factors are the multiplicity of experimental conditions, as well as the diversity of the analytical methods used and their continual evolution.

Knowledge of the composition of recently produced RJ is essential in order to define a standard composition, evaluate the quality of commercial products and detect the presence of RJ in other products which containing it.

At present some countries, like Switzerland (Bogdanov et al., 2004), Bulgaria, Brazil (Brasil Leis e decretos, 2001) and Uruguay have defined national standards for this product. A group of the International Honey Commission is dealing presently with royal jelly standardisation…

Although the overall analytic data confirm that exposure to a temperature of 4°C causes no alterations in RJ composition, recently it was also shown that only storage of RJ in frozen state prevents decomposition of biologically active RJ proteins and thus RJ should be frozen as soon as it is harvested (Li et al., 2007).

The next steps should be: 1. Validate the respective methods of analysis 2. Use the method and create a royal jelly standard, based measurements on royal jelly samples produced in different countries. To this end, the UNI (Italian certification body) is presently drawing up standards for these methods based on the available know-how.

Video: Bees Vanishing from British Hives

Where are the Bees?
CNN, 2/19/2009

Bees are vanishing from hives in Britain, leaving beekeepers puzzled and worried. ITN's Tom Clarke reports.

Propolis Boosts Anti-Cancer Agent

Ethanolic Extract of Propolis (EEP) Enhances the Apoptosis-Inducing Potential of TRAIL in Cancer Cells

Molecules, 2009 Feb 13;14(2):738-754

Ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) is one of the richest sources of phenolic acids and flavonoids. EEP and its phenolic compounds have been known for various biological activities including immunopotentiation, chemopreventive and antitumor effects.

Tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) is a naturally occurring anticancer agent that preferentially induces apoptosis in cancer cells and is not toxic toward normal cells.

We examined the cytotoxic and apoptotic effect of EEP and phenolic compounds identified in propolis in combination with TRAIL on HeLa cancer cells. HeLa cells were resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis.

Our study demonstrated that EEP and its components significantly sensitize to TRAIL induced death in cancer cells…

In this report, we show for the first time that EEP markedly augmented TRAIL mediated apoptosis in cancer cells and confirmed the importance of propolis in chemoprevention of malignant tumors.

Green Propolis Extract Reduced Parasite Levels, Increased Survival

Brazilian Green Propolis: Effects In Vitro and In Vivo on Trypanosoma cruzi
Evidence-based Compl. and Alt. Medicine, Feb. 12. 2009

The composition of a Brazilian green propolis ethanolic extract (Et-Bra) and its effect on Trypanosoma cruzi trypomastigotes and other pathogenic microorganisms have already been reported. Here, we further investigated Et-Bra targets in T. cruzi and its effect on experimental infection of mice.

Acutely infected mice were treated orally with Et-Bra and the parasitemia, mortality and GPT, GOT, CK and urea levels were monitored. The extract (25-300 mg kg(-1) body weight/day for 10 days) reduced the parasitemia, although not at significant levels; increased the survival of the animals and did not induce any hepatic, muscular lesion or renal toxicity. Since Et-Bra was not toxic to the animals, it could be assayed in combination with other drugs.

Et-Bra could be a potential metacyclogenesis blocker, considering its effect on reservosomes, which are an important energy source during parasite differentiation.