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Success is sweet for the honey that spreads good health
It sounds like just another old wives' tale.
But while eating carrots might not help you see in the dark, it seems a spoonful of honey not only helps the medicine go down, but it can ease sore throats, soothe digestive problems and, perhaps most impressively of all, fight off MRSA.
The healing properties of honey were well known to the Ancient Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks, but over the centuries natural remedies have been replaced by antibiotic drugs and lotions.
However in recent months, manuka honey and the native New Zealand bee which produces it has suddenly found itself back in vogue. Produced for the first time this year in England, a single jar costs 55, but despite the hefty price tag, demand has soared. The first batch from the Tregothnan estate in Cornwall sold out within weeks and as word spread, online orders have gone through the roof.
"It has long been common wisdom in New Zealand that manuka honey is a superior treatment for wounds and infections," says Professor Peter Molan, a biochemist at the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato. "Ten years ago, I decided to see if there was any scientific foundation in the belief and ever since I have been trying to get to the bottom of what makes it so special.
"All honeys contain varying levels of hydrogen peroxide which is produced from an enzyme which bees add to the nectar. However, manuka honey also contains another substance.
"There's nothing like it anywhere in the world and pinning down exactly what it is very difficult. It's what I've called the Unique Manuka Factor.
"The results of clinical trials we have carried out are astonishing. We haven't found any infectious organism it doesn't work on."
During the Second World War, honey was regularly used to treat wounds, but as medical advances gathered pace and drugs like penicillin became cheaply and widely available, it fell out of fashion. However, three years ago a hospital in Manchester began importing the honey and with the Royal United Hospital in Bath currently using it, some hope it may yet prove key in the fight against superbugs.
Strains of the deadly MRSA virus seems to be particularly sensitive to the honey's antibacterial quality and, with many hospitals struggling to keep down infection rates, it could be an easy solution to a particularly difficult problem.
"Honey has been used in healing for centuries now, but new products which have come onto the market recently have made it much easier to use in a hospital setting," says Kate Purser, tissue viability nurse at the hospital which has also been using the maggot larvae of the common greenbottle fly to treat wounds.
"As well as having effective antibacterial properties, the high sugar content of honey means it actively draws fluid from the wound, helping the body to dissolve and remove dead tissue."
With sales of manuka honey likely to continue to soar, one New Zealand company is also seeking EU approval to market the honeybee's venom, which it claims eases the pain of arthritis. Nelson Honey and Marketing says two teaspoons a day of its honey, which has added
venom, has helped hundreds of sufferers since it first went on sale 13 years ago.
While the method may be unorthodox, according to many of those who have come to swear by manuka honey, the results speak for themselves.
"I felt I wasn't getting anywhere and the pain made it hard to sleep," says Dorothy Yeo, who is receiving treatment for an ulcer and recently began using honey dressings. "But now after trying these new dressings I am optimistic about the future. I am able to sleep without sleeping tablets and, for the first time, new skin is forming over the ulcer.
"There is a bit of pain when the dressing is first in place, but that would be the same with any dressing and it soon settles down.
"These dressings just seem to work for me and I'd recommend the treatment to anyone. It really has made a great difference to me."
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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