Or it may be some mechanism in addition to the enzymes in honey that
promotes healing. I suspect old timers were more concerned with the
cleaning the dirt and bugs and crud from their honey than preserving
enzymes. What a discovery it must have been to figure out how to clean
it, or melt it once crystallized. There may have been a few people who
recognized the difference between fresh from the comb and cleaned but I
wonder. Wonder if mummies have cleaned or dirty honey and if we can
tell--it's not like they didn't have access to heating it 4000+ years ago.
Sugar, granulated, and saline or antibiotic stuff has also been used
to pack wounds and promote healing.
Sugar and honey were probably used as dressing about 4000 years ago.
There has been renewed interest recently in their use in wound
management, particularly in infected wounds. They appear to exert
their effects on wound healing due to their high osmolarity which
prevents certain bacteria from growing. In the case of honey, the
low pH and the presence of antibacterial substances also has an
effect. Granulated sugar is not the ideal form of sugar to use as it
may produce an intense burning sensation when applied directly to an
open wound as it draws up wound exudate. The use of a sugar paste is
recommended to prevent this. In this form it also keeps the wound
bed moist thereby promoting the natural healing process. There is a
reasonable amount of research around at the moment about sugar paste
and honey use and there is a very interesting article in SMTL's
Dressings Times recounting the experience of sugar paste use in
Zanzibar.
Cooper, R. and Molan, P. (1999) The use of honey as an antiseptic in
managing Pseudomonas infection. Journal of Wound Care 8(4), 161-164.
Miller, M. and Glover, D. (1999) Wound Management. Nursing Times
Books, London
FWIW, Saralou
Research Sources
http://www.smtl.co.uk/WMPRC/DressingsTimes/vol3.2.txt
//www.smtl.co.uk/HyperNews/wounds-archive.html .......1/4 and 3/4 down
.....also interesting info re povidone in wounds
//news.google.com/newspapers?nid=799&dat=20071002&id=29IJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wkkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7049,3170951
//communities.mercola.com/forums/t/100954.aspx
//74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:k3AWKDwLK1wJ:www.ncaquariums.com/newssum06.pdf+%22pack+wound%22+granulated+sugar&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
://www.pages.drexel.edu/~sek54/652/subistory.html
://hubpages.com/hub/httpwwwhubpagescomhubTheOldWaysofTreatingConditionsAilmentsWeretheBest
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Malcolm wrote:
Here's a little info contrary to the drift of the honey botulinum
notion; post-WWI paralyzed vets often got bed-sores, sometimes now
called pressure ulcers. One of the few effective treatments for the
condition was to clean the injury then cover with honey and a bandage.
It worked, not 100% but better than anything else. The explanation was
that honey was sterile, prevented infection (acting as a preservative,
which it still does when at proper concentration - and that's what the
bees do, they fan the hive until the honey is concentrated enough to
resist any spoilage) and the sugar fed the underlying flesh where
circulation had been damaged, allowing the body to repair itself and
regrow the necessary blood vessels and capillaries. Much commercial
honey is not only heated, but diluted with water to the point where it
is no longer capable of killing bugs.
Dr. R. O. Becker has discussed the use of CS for healing stubborn
diabetes sores, even gangrenous ones. See: The Body Electric
On Tue, 2009-11-17 at 18:20 -0500, cking...@nycap.rr.com wrote:
one of the main "benefits" of raw honey is active enzymes.
Hot tea (~200 degrees) makes the honey "not raw" and the enzymes are
destroyed.
