Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (31 page)

Shigella dysentariae

Staphylococcus aureus
(58 isolates and all MRSA strains tested)

Staphylococcus
spp. (coagulase-negative species)

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

Streptococcus
spp.

Trichosporon
spp.

Honey is also highly effective against bacterial biofilms.

Use to Treat

Use for prevention and treatment of all infected skin wounds: cuts, abrasions, leg and skin ulcers, gangrene, diabetic ulceration of the foot, all fungating wounds (skin ulceration with necrosis and bad smell), necrotizing soft-tissue infections, postsurgical wound infections, burns (first through third degree), cellulitis, furunculosis, abscesses, necrotizing fasciitis, conjunctivitis, radiation burns and wounds, gingivitis, dental plaque, and helicobacter infections of the stomach and duodenum. Use it prophylactically at the exit sites of medical devices to prevent infection. To prevent infection from catheter insertion, the catheter should be coated with honey before insertion. May be used similarly with all medical equipment that is being inserted into the human body.

For burns (first, second, and third degree):
Direct application full strength, covered by sterile bandage, changed once or twice daily.

For ulcerations, bedsores (even to the bone):
Same as for burns.

For infected wounds:
Same as for burns.

For wounds:
Same as for burns.

For impetigo:
Dilute honey enough to use as a wash, then apply 2x daily.

For seborrheic dermatitis:
Same as for impetigo.

As a preventive:
Take 1 tablespoon, undiluted or in tea, 3x daily.

For acute conditions:
Take 1 tablespoon honey each hour, or 1 tablespoon in tea 6–10x daily.

Best colds and flu tea:
2 tablespoons ginger juice, juice of ¼ lime, pinch cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon honey, hot water.

External use:
None.

Internal use:
Mild to severe anaphylaxis in rare instances for those with allergic reactions to bee stings.

I have used honey in healing for over 20 years now; there is nothing comparable for treating wounds of any sort, no matter how infected or bad they are. It is
the
premier wound healer on this planet.

Honey is the nectar of the flowers of plants, gathered by the bee, and stored in its stomach for transport to the hive. Natural honeys are from a profusion of wildflowers, whatever grows locally. With natural honeys it is exceedingly uncommon to have a honey gathered from a single species of plant such as the alfalfa or clover honeys of today unless that plant species exists in great abundance (as heather does in Scotland). As such, natural bee honeys generally possess the essence of a multitude of wild plants—all of them medicinal. Honeybees have
a strong attraction to many strongly medicinal plants: vitex, jojoba, elder, toadflax, balsam root, echinacea, valerian, dandelion, wild geranium; in fact almost any flowering medicinal herb, as well as the more commonly known alfalfas and clovers. The nectar from a multitude of medicinal plants is present in any wildflower honey mix and so are whatever chemical constituents were present in the nectars. In addition to the plants' medicinal qualities, the plant nectars are subtly altered, in ways that modern science has been unable to explain, by their brief transport in the bees' digestive system. Before regurgitation the nectars combine in unique ways with the bees' digestive enzymes to produce new compounds. Honey, often insisted to be just another simple carbohydrate (like white sugar), actually contains, among other things, a complex assortment of enzymes, organic acids, esters, antibiotic agents, trace minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, hormones, and antimicrobial compounds. One pound of the average honey contains 1,333 calories (compared to white sugar at 1,748 calories), 1.4 grams of protein, 23 mg of calcium, 73 mg of phosphorus, 4.1 mg of iron, 1 mg of niacin, and 16 mg of vitamin C, along with vitamin A, beta-carotene, the complete complex of B vitamins, vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, sulphur, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper, manganese, and high concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid. Honey, in fact, contains over 75 different compounds. Many of the remaining substances in honey (comprising 4 percent to 7 percent of the honey) are so complex that they have yet to be identified.

In the years since the first edition of this book was published, honey has become a significant medical treatment for surgical wounds, wound healing, and burns in hospitals, especially in the UK. It has become, in fact, a major part of standard-practice medicine there—in part because of the spread of resistant organisms, against which honey is reliably effective. Many clinical trials (over 30) have been conducted on its use. Here are a few of them, from the UK and elsewhere.

Thirty-two children with pyomyositis abscesses were split into two randomized treatment groups. The abscess cavities were packed twice daily with either honey- or Eusol-soaked gauze. Honey-treated wounds
healed faster, and length of time in the hospital was shorter, than those treated with Eusol.

Eighty-eight people were enrolled in a nonrandomized, open-label, side-by-side comparison of various forms of second-intention healing of donor site for split-thickness skin grafts. Honey-impregnated gauzes showed faster epithelization time and a lower level of pain than the other methods used.

A trial with 60 patients with chronic complicated surgical or acute traumatic wounds found that honey was easy to apply, kept the wounds clean, stopped infection, and was exceptionally safe.

One hundred and five people participated in a single-center, open-label, randomized, controlled trial in the treatment of honey for wounds. The honey-treated group's wounds healed significantly faster, in 100 days compared to 140 for the control group.

One hundred and eight people with venous leg ulcers engaged in a multicenter, open-label, randomized, controlled trial of honey treatment compared with IntraSite Gel. There was increased incidence of healing, effective desloughing, and lower infection rates in the honey-treated group. Other trials have found similar outcomes.

Fifteen people with pressure ulcers were treated with honey and 11 with ethoxy-diaminoacridine plus nitrofurazone dressings. Honey group healing was approximately four times that of the pharmaceutical group.

Only one of 20 patients in a honey group developed intolerable oral mucositis when receiving radiation, a better outcome than with lignocaine. Other studies have replicated this.

Thirty infected diabetic foot wounds were treated with honey for 3 months. Complete healing was achieved in 43 percent of wounds treated, and decrease in size of ulceration and healthy granulation were observed in another 43 percent. The bacterial load in all ulcers was significantly reduced after the first week of honey dressing. Failure of treatment occurred in 6.7 percent. A number of other studies have been conducted on the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers and all have found comparable outcomes. For example: 60 people with limb-threatening diabetic infections were split into three groups: 1) full-thickness skin ulcer; 2) deep-tissue infection and osteomyelitis; 3) gangrenous lesions. All ulcers in group 1 healed and 92 percent of those in group 2 healed. All people in group 3 healed after surgical excision, debridement of necrotic tissue, and treatment with honey ointment (which also included royal jelly).

Seventy-eight people (ages 10 to 50) with burns on less than 50 percent of the body were split into two groups, one receiving honey dressings, the other silver sulfadiazine (SSD). Average healing duration in honey-treated patients was 18 days, with SSD it was 33 days. Wounds in all who received treatment within 1 hour of the burn and were treated with honey became sterile in less than 7 days. None in the SSD group did. All honey-treated wounds became sterile within 21 days but only 36 percent of those in the SSD group did within that time span. Outcomes were significantly better for the honey group. There was faster healing, no infection, less
scarring and postburn contractures, and significantly decreased need for debridement irrespective of when the patients was admitted for treatment.

A randomized, double-blind, clinical trial among goldmine workers in South Africa was carried out using honey to treat shallow wounds and abrasions. Honey was found to be just as effective as IntraSite Gel in healing. The cost of the honey was approximately 49 cents (South African rand) versus 12.03 for the pharmaceutical.

In a clinical trial using honey to treat labial herpes, the duration of attacks, degree of pain, occurrence of crusting, and mean healing time with honey were found to be 35 percent, 39 percent, 28 percent, and 43 percent better respectively than with acyclovir treatment. With genital herpes the results were 53 percent, 50 percent, 49 percent, and 59 percent better respectively.

Thirty people (20 male, 10 female) with seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff were treated with a topical application of raw honey. The patients had presented with scaling, itching, and hair loss. Diluted raw honey (90 percent honey diluted with warm water into a manageable wash) was used every other day for 4 weeks and left on for 3 hours before rinsing with warm water. Half the patients acted as controls. In all the people using honey, itching was relieved and scaling disappeared, all within 1 week, and hair loss was reduced. Within 2 weeks skin lesions healed and disappeared. The honey-treated patients were treated prophylactically for 6 months afterward with one application of honey per week. None of the 15 patients treated with honey relapsed.

In a clinical trial of 139 children, honey was found to be more effective than dextromethorphan and diphenhydramine in alleviating nighttime cough due to upper respiratory infections. (Other studies have found the drugs and honey to be relatively equal in their effects. Parents, though, have generally reported honey to be better than the pharmaceuticals.)

Honey as a consistent additive to food has shown remarkable results in medical trials. Of one group of 58 boys, 29 were given 2 tablespoons of honey each day (one in the morning and one in the evening), and the other 29 boys were given none. All received the same diet, exercise, and rest. All were the same age and general health. The group receiving honey (after 1 year) showed an 8.5 percent increase in hemoglobin and an overall increase in vitality, energy, and general appearance.

Honey has been effectively used clinically for the treatment of ulceration to the bone the size of a human fist and third-degree burns. Complete healing has consistently been reported without the need for skin grafts and with no infection or muscle loss. Additionally honey has outperformed antibiotics in the treatment of stomach ulceration, gangrene, surgical wound infections, surgical incisions, and the protection of skin grafts, corneas, blood vessels, and bones during storage and shipment.

Honey is also exceptionally effective in respiratory ailments. A Bulgarian study of 17,862 patients found that honey was effective in improving chronic bronchitis, asthmatic bronchitis, bronchial asthma, chronic and allergic rhinitis, and sinusitis. It is effective in the treatment of colds, flu
and respiratory infections, and general depressed immune problems.

Results have been good in clinical practice as well. The department of pediatric oncology at Children's Hospital at the University of Bonn regularly uses honey in the healing of wounds impaired by chemotherapy and has found it highly successful.

There have been a number of clinical reports of the use of honey by physicians in the treatment of various wounds:

Treatment of eight patients with leg ulceration used honey. Ulcer size decreased by 60 percent, odor was eliminated, pain reduced.

A chronic wound in a patient with dystrophis epidermolysis bullosa was treated. The wound, despite many treatments, had never closed in 20 years. A honey-impregnated dressing closed and healed the wound in 15 weeks.

Treatment of a patient with longstanding venous leg ulcer resulted in total healing. The honey was effectively antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, and deodorizing.

Six patients with chronic venous leg ulcers who underwent split-skin grafts experienced healing in 22 days without complications.

Two nursing-home patients with pressure ulcers were treated with honey. There was a rapid healing of the ulcers, and pain and odor were significantly reduced.

Twenty-eight cases of Fournier's gangrene were treated. Honey was found to accelerate wound healing in the six patients in whom it was used.

A woman with extensive phlegmonous and necrotic lesions in the abdominal integuments after a traumatic rupture of the colon was successfully treated with honey. Complete wound healing was achieved.

A man with pyoderma gangrenosum and ulcerative colitis (in the tropics) had his skin lesions successfully treated with honey.

Seven people with MRSA-infected wounds were treated with honey after antibiotics failed to eradicate the infection. All were successfully treated.