Honey tastes great on toast and as a drink. Now, there’s a new application for it – as a remedy for wound care.

By MAJORIE CHIEW
maj@thestar.com.my

NOT all honey is the same. Manuka honey from New Zealand, it is claimed, is potent enough to heal nasty wounds and even kill some strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Now that antibiotics have somewhat lost their effectiveness, people are rediscovering the use of honey for wounds, said Peter Molan, 63, professor of Biological Sciences and director of the Honey Research Unit of the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand.

The use of honey, the oldest remedy for treating wounds, dates back more than 4,000 years. The ancient Egyptians used honey in a grease-honey-lint dressing to put on infected wounds, said Prof Molan, a biochemist. “This traditional cure was displaced in the 1940s with the discovery of antibiotics.”

Protection: Prof Peter Molan showing a Manuka honey dressing using alginate fibres. Surgical wounds supposedly heal twice as fast and scarring is prevented, when this type of dressing is used.

Research conducted at the University of Waikato over the last 20 years has identified Manuka honey as superior to other types of honey in assisting wound healing. Prof Molan found that only Manuka honey has special antibacterial and antibiotic properties, and called it UMF (or Unique Manuka Factor).

Manuka honey is produced by a large number of beekeepers and sold by many companies. The Manuka trees, which are native to New Zealand, grow on hillsides, along coastal areas and on the edge of forests.

Prof Molan was in Kuala Lumpur recently to speak at the 3rd International Congress of the Asia Pacific Society of Infection Control Conference.

At the press conference, Prof Molan, a honey researcher, said honey has antibacterial properties. In his research paper, he explained: “The antibacterial activity of honey rapidly clears infection and protects wounds from becoming infected. Thus, it provides a moist healing environment without the risk of bacterial growth occurring.”

He claimed that Manuka honey can be effectively used to heal simple wounds, chronic ulcers, burns, MRSA infections and other serious wounds.

MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) is a type of bacteria (or superbug) that is resistant to antibiotics, such as penicillin. This bacterium is one of the leading causes of airborne infections, such as SARS, avian flu and hand-foot-and-mouth disease.

Manuka honey, he also claimed, has been effective in killing “problem bacteria” such as Staphylococci and Pseudomonas that are resistant to antibiotics.

“Staphylococci can be a problem in people with tubes that go into their skin when they are on dialysis for kidney failure, while people can die from Pseudomonas infection that gets into burns (wounds),” he said.

He said there was lots of evidence – not just laboratory studies – which showed that honey is effective on wounds. “There is more clinical evidence for honey as a wound dressing than any pharmaceutical product.”

Potent: A bee on a Manuka flower. Manuka honey supposedly contains antibacterial and antibiotic properties.

Honey dressing can be used on all wounds. With honey dressing, surgical wounds supposedly heal twice as fast and scarring is prevented, said Prof Molan.

He has been involved in studies on honey for 26 years after a friend, a keen amateur beekeeper, told him about its use as an antiseptic and persuaded him to investigate, particularly Manuka honey, reputed to be “the best” antiseptic in New Zealand folk medicine.

“I eat honey a lot as it is much better for your health than sugar. I don’t like the taste of Manuka honey but I take large spoonfuls of it medicinally if I get a bad stomach or diarrhoea. I also use it as an antiseptic on any injuries,” said Prof Molan, who never tires of eating honey as he consumes the different varieties.

The world’s leading opinion on Manuka honey, he reported positive findings on honey in wound care, in 17 randomised controlled trials with 1,965 participants, which is “the highest level of clinical evidence”.

In five other clinical trials with 97 participants treated with honey, 311 individual case studies and 16 trials on 533 wounds on experimental animals, results were also positive.

However, people are still reluctant to use honey for wounds because it is messy to handle. A hospital staff in New Zealand commented that “the results are fantastic but we haven’t got time to mess around with that. You’ve to come up with something that we can rip out of a package and just stick on.”

Two years ago, scientific researchers and clinical practitioners came up with an ideal wound dressing, incorporating calcium alginate fibres with Active Manuka Honey. This apinate dressing (widely used in Australia and New Zealand) offers anti-bacterial barrier protection and encourages wound tissue re-growth.

Prof Molan explained that sometimes when a person gets an injury, he could get inflammation. Too much inflammation, however, can be a problem as bacteria infects the wound, resulting in swelling and pain.

An infected wound would not heal unless the bacteria is eliminated. The bacteria will stimulate an inflammatory response which can hinder healing.

It is claimed that Manuka honey can get rid of bacteria and stop inflammation, so that healing can take place.

“All honeys have an enzyme which the bees add, which produces hydrogen peroxide, an antiseptic. However, the blood and tissues of the body contain an enzyme (catalase) that destroys hydrogen peroxide and thus decreases the effectiveness of honey other than active Manuka honey. That type of honey has an antiseptic from the Manuka tree, the Unique Manuka Factor, “ said Prof Molan.

Some sellers of “active” Manuka honey misleadingly refer to hydrogen peroxide activity.

Hospitals using genuine active Manuka honey have records of patients who were remarkably healed where best-practice treatment with modern medicines failed. Prof Molan cited the case of a 14-year-old boy with meningitis and “horrible sores” who was hospitalised in a high dependency unit for eight months. He needed anaesthetics (for the pain) when the dressings were changed. Doctors tried all sorts of dressings and antibiotics but the infection would not clear. They then used Manuka honey dressing and, after two weeks, the boy was well enough to go home. His sores were completely healed in 10 weeks.

Another patient had MRSA infection after heart surgery. Two months after surgery, the surgical wounds eroded and the inflammation caused the tissues to be destroyed, leaving a big, gaping hole with MRSA (which antibiotics could not work on). Eight days after putting on Manuka honey dressing, MRSA was cleared and the wound healed completely in 18 days.

Honey is a barrier to cross-infection. Besides having antibacterial action, it also protects patients from getting infections in hospitals, said Prof Molan, highlighting another significant role of honey.

In Waikato Hospital, honey dressings are used in a ward where a lot of patients are vulnerable to infections with MRSA.

“When there was an outbreak of MRSA in the rehabilitation ward, honey dressings were put on all patients with surgical wounds. The ones with MRSA infections were cleared quickly and there were no new cases. Nobody picked up MRSA from the other patients.

“Now, honey dressings are routinely put on all patients in the ward. In the past two years, there was never a case of cross-infection,” Prof Molan said.