Antibacterial Properties Of Manuka Honey

[Guest grey_dreams]

Others have posted here about using honey as an antibacterial dressing for wound repair. I had not heard of it before and was very interested, especially as it seemed to me to be a great treatment for hounds. I noticed this article on the BBC news website today and wanted to post it for anyone else who might be interested.

 

The article can be found here.

 

 

 

 

Harnessing honey's healing power

By Angie Knox

 

 

Honey has been known for its healing properties for thousands of years - the Ancient Greeks used it, and so have many other peoples through the ages.

 

Even up to the second world war, honey was being used for its antibacterial properties in treating wounds.

 

But with the advent of penicillin and other antibiotic drugs in the twentieth century, honey's medicinal qualities have taken a back seat.

 

But that might be about to change - thanks to one New Zealand based researcher.

 

Working in his Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato, in the central North Island, biochemist Professor Peter Molan has identified one particular type of honey with extraordinary healing qualities.

 

Professor Molan has shown that honey made from the flowers of the manuka bush, a native of New Zealand, has antibacterial properties over and above those of other honeys.

 

 

Mystery ingredient

 

He said: "In all honeys, there is - to different levels - hydrogen peroxide produced from an enzyme that bees add to the nectar.

 

"In manuka honey, and its close relative which grows in Australia called jellybush, there's something else besides the hydrogen peroxide.

 

"And there's nothing like that ever been found anywhere else in the world."

 

That "something else" has proved very hard to pin down. Even now, after more than twenty years of research, Peter Molan admits he still has no idea exactly what it is.

 

But he has given it a name: unique manuka factor, or UMF.

 

And he has found a way to measure its antibacterial efficacy, by comparing UMF manuka honey with a standard antiseptic (carbolic, or phenol) in its ability to fight bacteria. The results are astonishing.

 

He said: "We know it has a very broad spectrum of action.

 

"It works on bacteria, fungi, protozoa. We haven't found anything it doesn't work on among infectious organisms."

 

 

 

A satisfied user

 

"I got bitten by an Alsatian. It grabbed my hand and gave me a five-stitch bite. So I went off to the doctors, and they solely used manuka honey, nothing else, no other treatment. I've got barely a scar now, and that's only three weeks ago. Now in the medical kit I carry in the truck, I have manuka honey and bandages, and that's all."

Chris Graham

 

 

 

Resistant strains

 

In fact, he says UMF manuka honey can even tackle antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria - a growing problem for hospitals around the world.

 

"Staphylococcus aureas is the most common wound-infecting species of bacteria, and that's the most sensitive to honey that we've found.

 

"And that includes the antibiotic resistant strains - the MRSA - which is just as sensitive to honey as any other staphylococcus aureas."

 

Clinical trials at the Waikato Hospital have shown that even out of the lab, UMF manuka honey has amazing healing properties.

 

Nurse practitioner Julie Betts has successfully used honey to treat leg ulcers and pressure sores. And she says it helps healing after surgery - particularly for diabetic patients.

 

"It has an anti-inflammatory effect as well, so if I want to do several things apart from actually controlling the bacteria in that wound, then that's when I'll use honey."

 

 

 

Cancer treatment

 

Cancer specialist Dr Glenys Round has also found honey to be an effective treatment.

 

Beekeeper

The honey is exported widely

"We've been using honey to treat fungating wounds, where the cancer has broken through the skin," she said.

 

"The results in that situation have been excellent."

 

Most recently, she has had success in using honey dressings on patients with wounds or ulcers resulting from radiation therapy.

 

"Most of these patients in the past had tried various other conventional treatments without good success, and that is the reason why at least initially honey was tried."

 

Most patients seem happy to try the honey treatment.

 

"They don't have a problem with it at all," said Julie Betts.

 

"Humans in general have a fondness I think for natural remedies, so they're quite happy to use them."

 

"I think the problem we encounter is when people don't understand how it works.

 

"They think that sourcing any honey will achieve the same outcome, and that's not always true."

 

 

Worldwide export

 

That's a view shared by beekeeper Bill Bennett a few kilometres up the road from the hospital.

 

He and his wife Margaret run the Summerglow Apiaries, one of just a handful of registered suppliers of UMF manuka honey in New Zealand.

 

They produce between eight and twelve metric tonnes of manuka honey every year, and sell it across the world.

 

The honey is rigorously tested three times during production for that elusive unique manuka factor; only then can it carry the label "UMF manuka honey".

 

"It just seems that manuka from a few areas within New Zealand produces a nectar that has this special property," said Bill Bennett.

 

"There is a lot of manuka honey out there that doesn't have this special property. That's why it's so important to look for the name UMF."

 

Now, a New Zealand natural health products company Comvita is taking UMF manuka honey one step further.

 

 

Dressings

 

Comvita has set up a new medical products division to take hi-tech honey dressings developed by Peter Molan to the international market.

 

The new dressings have been designed to take the mess out of honey.

 

"It's like a sheet of rubber, you can touch it without it being sticky at all," he said.

 

Comvita has high hopes for the new product.

 

"Previously untreatable wounds of many types are now found to be treatable by honey," said Comvita's Ray Lewis.

 

"The global market for wound care is in the range of two to six billion US dollars. So if we can capture just a small percentage of that, we will obviously be doing very well."

 

 

[Remolacha]

I thought it sounded interesting after reading an article in WDJ, but I wonder how you keep it from getting all over everything unless you bandage.

[ahicks51]

You know, although there is some primary literature out there indicating some small studies have shown that Makuna honey has some interesting properties, every time I read about it I walk away with the impression that instead of being the results of research or even press announcements, this is all part of some bigger ad campaign.

 

I'm not doubting that the stuff has some positive effects, but I'm waiting for someone to come up with a study that says, in effect, Makuna honey works- but is no better than regular honey.

[JerseyGirlInOz]

Lots of people here swear by it. They even sell raw honey in my local drugstore.

 

ETA: I found it surprising that they didn't specify RAW honey in the article. From what I've heard, it's raw honey that is the most effective.

Edited January 15, 2008 by JerseyGirlInOz

[ahicks51]

They may not be specifying raw honey because it does contain botulinus spores. This is the reason you do not give honey to anyone under the age of about 1 year; the gut in infants is anaerobic, which is a good environment for botulinus, causing botulism (food poisoning). You get flaccid paralysis, or "floppy baby" syndrome; I've seen it in ducks who had fed on anaerobic sediments.

 

But! If those spores were to get into a wound with necrotic tissue, and the honey or flesh were to cover it over enough to exclude air- I'm not sure what could happen.

 

However, if peroxides are the useful antiseptic in these honeys, then Pasteurization would denature any enzymes that would form the active components.

 

As with any puncture wound, covering and hoping for the best without appropriate treatment is a bad idea anyway.