Honey
has been used everywhere for its antiseptic powers but never as a
blanket solution, nor was it ever that. Here we have discovered that
a specific type can tackle all bacteria.
It
will be no trick at all to produce application creams either.
The
power of the method is spelled out here and expect it to come into
general usage quickly.
Honey, I killed the
superbug
JOHN STAPLETON
June 18, 2009 12:00AM
AUSTRALIAN
researchers have been astonished to discover a cure-all right under
their noses -- a honey sold in health food shops as a natural
medicine.
Far from being an
obscure health food with dubious healing qualities, new research
has shown the honey kills every type of bacteria scientists have
thrown at it, including the antibiotic-resistant "superbugs"
plaguing hospitals and killing patients around the world.
Some bacteria have
become resistant to every commonly prescribed antibacterial drug. But
scientists found that Manuka honey, as it is known in New Zealand, or
jelly bush honey, as it is known in Australia, killed every bacteria
or pathogen it was tested on.
It is applied
externally and acts on skin infections, bites and cuts.
The honey is
distinctive in that it comes only from bees feeding off tea trees
native to Australia and New Zealand, said Dee Carter, from the
University of Sydney's School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences.
The findings are
likely to have a major impact on modern medicine and could lead to a
range of honey-based products to replace antibiotic and antiseptic
creams.
Professor Carter's two
sons, Marty, 8 and Nicky, 6, think it's funny the way their mother
puts honey on their sores. But she swears by it, telling stories of
how quickly it cures any infection.
"Honey sounds
very homey and unscientific, which is why we needed the science to
validate the claims made for it," she said.
The curative
properties of various types of honey have been known to indigenous
cultures for thousands of years, and dressing wounds with honey was
common before the advent of antibiotics.
"Most bacteria
that cause infections in hospitals are resistant to at least one
antibiotic, and there is an urgent need for new ways to treat and
control surface infections," Professor Carter said.
"New antibiotics
tend to have short shelf lives, as the bacteria they attack quickly
become resistant. Many large pharmaceutical companies have abandoned
antibiotic production because of the difficulty of recovering costs.
Developing effective alternatives could therefore save many lives."
Professor Carter said
the fascinating thing was that none of the bacteria researchers
used to test the honey, including superbugs such as flesh-eating
bacteria, built up any immunity.
She said a compound
in the honey called methylglyoxal -- toxic on its own -- combined in
unknown ways with other unidentified compounds in the honey to cause
"multi-system failure" in the bacteria.
The results of the
research project are published in this month's European Journal of
Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
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