Hiram's blog: "Honey uses/medicinal"

This rich cream is based on a recipe first devised by a Greek doctor who lived almost 2000 years ago. It is rather different to commercial creams, and does a wonderful job at moisturising dry skin. 4 tablespoons sweet almond oil (olive oil works too) 1 tablespoon grated beeswax pinch borax (use this ingredient cautiously) rosewater Melt the wax into the oil and remove from the heat. Stir the borax into a small cupful of the rosewater. This helps emulsify the mixture. You can manage without the borax, but the cream will probably be thicker as you will not be able to incorporate as much liquid. Add the rosewater a drop at a time, stirring constantly. When you think that the cream will not accept any more liquid (small beads of liquid will refuse to stir in), stop adding, and keep stirring very gently as the cream cools down. Pot into a scrupulously clean jar.This makes a wonderful cleansing cream if massaged into the face well before washing with a good handmade soap. If you normally couldn’t even think about using real soap on your skin, this cream adds an extra oily layer that should prevent drying. The other way to use this is as an overnight moisture pack on dry hands or feet. Massage it generously into the skin then wear thin cotton socks on your hands or feet to prevent getting salve all over the bedding. In the morning, you should find that all the cream has been absorbed leaving your skin feeling like new.

It has been said that you should avoid putting things on your skin that you wouldn’t be prepared to eat. This deep cleansing and soothing face pack definitely fits those guidelines. Apply it before relaxing in a warm bath and don’t worry if odd bits drop off into the bathwater. The milk and honey are especially soothing to dry skin, and the oatmeal will gently exfoliate any slightly oilier areas. 2 tablespoons of oatmeal 1 tablespoon of clear, runny honey a little milk to moisten In a bowl, mix the honey with a few drops of milk to loosen the texture. Stir in the oatmeal and add a little more milk if necessary to form a smooth paste. Apply to clean skin and allow to remain on for about ten minutes. Before washing off, rub the mask gently into any problem areas of your skin (nose, chin and forehead for example) using small circular movements. Dip your fingers into water first if the mask has set slightly. Wash off using tepid water and a soft washcloth, then tone with a gentle tonic.

A household remedy millennia old is being reinstated: honey helps the treatment of some wounds better than the most modern antibiotics. For several years now medical experts from the University of Bonn have been clocking up largely positive experience with what is known as medihoney. Even chronic wounds infected with multi-resistant bacteria often healed within a few weeks. In conjunction with colleagues from Düsseldorf, Homburg and Berlin they now want to test the experience gained in a large-scale study, as objective data on the curative properties of honey are thin on the ground. Dr. Simon works on the cancer ward of the Bonn University Children's Clinic. As far as the treatment of wounds is concerned, his young patients form part of a high-risk group: the medication used to treat cancer known as cytostatics not only slows down the reproduction of malignant cells, but also impairs the healing process of wounds. 'Normally a skin injury heals in a week, with our children it often takes a month or more,' he says. Moreover, children with leukaemia have a weakened immune system. If a germ enters their bloodstream via a wound, the result may be a fatal case of blood poisoning. For several years now Bonn paediatricians have been pioneering the use in Germany of medihoney in treating wounds. Medihoney bears the CE seal for medical products; its quality is regularly tested. The success is astonishing: 'Dead tissue is rejected faster, and the wounds heals more rapidly,' Kai Sofka, wound specialist at the University Children's Clinic, emphasises. 'What is more, changing dressings is less painful, since the poultices are easier to remove without damaging the newly formed layers of skin.' Some wounds often smell unpleasant – an enormous strain on the patient. Yet honey helps here too by reducing the smell. 'Even wounds which consistently refused to heal for years can, in our experience, be brought under control with medihoney – and this frequently happens within a few weeks,' Kai Sofka says. In the meantime two dozen hospitals in Germany are using honey in their treatment of wounds. Despite all the success there have hitherto been very few reliable clinical studies of its effectiveness. In conjunction with colleagues from Düsseldorf, Homburg and Berlin, the Bonn medical staff now want to remedy this. With the Woundpecker Data Bank, which they have developed themselves, they will be recording and evalu-ating over 100 courses of disease over the next few months. The next step planned is comparative studies with other therapeutic methods such as the very expensive cationic silver dressings. 'These too are an effective anti-bacterial method,' says Dr. Arne Simon. 'However, it is not yet clear whether the silver released from some dressings may lead to side-effects among children.' Effective bacteria killer It has already been proved that medihoney even puts paid to multi-resistant germs such as MRSA. In this respect medihoney is neck and neck in the race to beat the antibiotic mupirocin, currently the local MRSA antibiotic of choice. This is shown by a study recently published by researchers in Australia. In one point medihoney was even superior to its rival: the bacteria did not develop any resistance to the natural product during the course of treatment. It is also known today why honey has an antiseptic effect: when producing honey, bees add an enzyme called glucose-oxidase. This enzyme ensures that small amounts of hydrogen peroxide, an effective antiseptic, are constantly being formed from the sugar in the honey. The advantage over the hydrogen peroxide from the chemist's is that small concentrations are sufficient to kill the germs, as it is constantly being produced. As a rule much larger quantities of hydrogen peroxide would have to be used, as hydrogen peroxide loses its potency over time. However, in large concentrations it not only damages the bacteria, but also the skin cells. Furthermore, medihoney consists of two different types of honey: one which forms a comparatively large amount of hydrogen peroxide, and another known as 'lepto-spermum honey'. Leptospermum is a species of tree which occurs in New Zealand and Australia. Honey from these trees has a particularly strong anti-bacterial effect, even in a 10% dilution. 'It is not yet known exactly why this is,' Dr. Arne Simon says. 'Probably it is a mix of phenol-type substances which come from the plant and make life particularly difficult for the bacteria in the wound.' Source: University of Bonn

Reported by: Professor Nor Hayati Othman , Chairperson KOTA BHARU, Malaysia - Recently the 1st International Conference on the Medicinal Uses of Honey was organized by the Health Campus staffs of Universiti Sains Malaysia . This 3-day conference witnessed many advances in the field of honey in medicinal uses. Professor Peter C Molan , a world-renowned expert on medical honey from Waikato University Honey Research Unit , New Zealand – Honey, a pure natural extract of nectar collected by the honey bees, has been proven as an antibiotic due to its high peroxidase and catalase content. Honey also promotes wound healing, remedies skin infections, and offers prevention of chemotherapy and radiotherapy side-effects. Microbiologist Dr Sohna Blair from Australia and Dr Rose Cooper from Cardiff, United Kingdom - Methicillin Resistant Staph Aurius commonly known as MRSA is the most difficult challenge to communities in various parts of the world. The incidence of MRSA infection is rising 6-28 percent worldwide. Honey arrests bacterial growth due to its unique hygroscopic, glucose oxidase and acidic properties; hence it can control MRSA wounds infection after the failure of modern antibiotics. Diabetes is a common non-communicable disease managed with medications. However in the long-run patients might develop a non-healing ulcer called diabetic foot. These wounds get infected easily and progress further leading to amputation of the limb. Dr Jennifer Eddy of University of Wisconsin, USA, conducted a clinical trial on the use of honey in diabetic foot and observed interesting properties of honey to heal difficult foot ulcers in diabetic patients. Extensive clinical observations on the application of honey dressing in diabetic foot ulcers were also noted by a team of researchers from University Sains Malaysia headed by Dr Mohd Iskander Amin , an orthopedic and microvascular surgeon. A recently-published study demonstrating that regular daily consumption of honey could decrease blood sugar levels was reported by Dr Noori Al-Waili from Dubai Specialist Center. According to Professor Subhrahmanyam from India, burn wounds are difficult to treat. There are various wound care protocols using different dressings materials. The thermal injury usually produces extensive epithelial exposure leading to fluid loss and secondary infections. Randomized trials have proven the usefulness of honey as a standard of care in extensive burn wounds. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy are being used widely for the treatment of cancers involving, nose throat, nasopharynx, oropharynx and larynx. Extensive development of radiotherapy/chemotherapy techniques improved cure rates. However side-effects in the form of oral soreness (radiation mucositis) increase tremendously affecting quality of life and swallowing leading to loss of weight. The above consequences lead to discontinuation of useful treatment. There is no specific cure for the radiation mucositis. Pure natural honey was used in a clinical trial for the treatment of radiation mucositis at University Sains Malaysia. This study resulted in a significant reduction in painful mucositis and improvement in the patients body weight. It is a significant achievement in supportive care treatment of radiation mucositis said Associate Professor Dr Biswa Mohan Biswal who is a clinical oncologist from the said University. The novel uses of honey in medicine have been studied for eye infection, sore throat, post-operative wound care. Recently logan honey from Thailand and China was found to be useful in painful dry skin condition called icthyosis. Professor Siu-Wan Ip from Taiwan revealed this finding during this conference. Basic research in the field of honey is very limited in literature. However, few scientists are trying to find clues for the biological effectiveness of honey through animal studies. Asscoiate Professor Siti Amrah Sulaiman and her team of researchers have demonstrated the improvement of sperm count in male mice treated with honey compared to controls. This research could address the role of honey in infertility of males. Throughout the world various types of honey is being produced from nectars of many types of flowers. Some specific types of floral honey shown to be medically useful for their medicinal properties. The problem is, how do we know honey that is sold at the supermarkets are pure and have medicinal value? Professor Kamaruddin Yusoff of Universiti Malaya Medical Center Kuala Lumpur based on two decades of experience on honey research found a technique to differentiate pure honey from adulterated honey. He has disclosed his findings during a lecture on antioxidant properties of honey. Currently he is engaged with a research projects along with researchers from Turkey to develop a dip-test kit to detect adulterated honey. This unique conference attracted attention from international communities. More than a dozen countries participated in this meeting. Professor Nor Hayati Othman , chairperson of the conference expressed her desire to promote honey science research in Universiti Sains Malaysia.