[Karen W.]

You didn't take any pictures! Darn!! LOL I am glad it has been healing thats great... My grandma always used some kind of honey poultice for things like that and swore by it!

[Carolyn]

Oops, I forgot the pictures.  Oh well, I'm camera shy anyway. []

[Karen W.]

LOL ... I am just hasseling ya! LOL Paul has made me a she devil with the camera.. LOL I take pictures of everything! LOL

[iko]

It's been 9 days since my 2nd and 3rd black widow bites.  My hand has healed nicely, but the bite on my arm isn't healing.  It has a knot under the bite and the entire arm is quite sore.  I'm told it could take 2 weeks or longer for it to start healing.  One of my friends who is nurse said to put honey on it and cover with a bandage and it should start feeling better in a few days. 

I have followed her advice as of today, so I'll let you all know the results in a few days.

So, dear Carolyn,

How is your hand doing?
What's your experience, compared with the previous bites?  []
What kind of honey did you use?
No brand, just the flower!
Which dressing technique?
Just curious.

Manukod  []

http://www.umf.org.nz/images/bee.jpg

[Carolyn]

Hi Iko,

I'm not sure what kind of honey it was.  I'll have to look when I get back from vacation.  I'm sure it was just ordinary honey from the supermarket, probably Tupelo. As far as the dressing, I just put the honey on the bandage and taped it over the bite.

My hand is is fine, can't even tell I was bitten. 

The last two bites were at the same time and the experience was pretty much the same as the first time.  I was horribly sick.  Severe abdominal pains, blurred vision, sleeplessness, nausea, muscle aches, was very weak and breathing was difficult.

I am happy to report that we've had an exterminator out to deal with our spider problem.  Unfortunately, it's probably going to take a few more visits from him.  He found black widows as well as brown recluse.  Didn't find the poisonous ones in the living area of the house, but plenty in the garage and attic.

[chemtester]

My friend who has ulcers on her feet that would never heal, has been using this for about 3 months. She said the wounds are showing signs of improvement.

[Karen W.]

Welcome to the site. Wow thats cool!  I hope your friend has a full healing of her feet.

[iko]

Hi Karen,

good news from the other side of the Ocean,
and a promising website to visit!  [8D]

http://www.woundsresearch.com/article/7766

Derma Sciences Receives FDA Clearance for *****

Manuka Honey Dressing

       Manuka Honey DressingDerma Sciences (Princeton, NJ), a manufacturer and marketer of advanced wound care products, has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market and sell its ****** Active Manuka Honey Absorbent dressing.

This represents the first FDA clearance of a honey-based product for the management of wounds and burns.
Honey-based dressings are noted for their lack of toxicity, ability to be used in all phases of wound healing, as a key component in wound bed preparation regimens, and their ease of use.
       

Visit http://www.dermasciences.com for more information.

 

[Karen W.]

Thanks IKO.. Nice link.. Its nice to see it finally approved for use. Thank you!

[Karen W.]

Hey Iko I just saw this article on AOL  too!

It is from:  That's FIT

http://www.thatsfit.com/2007/12/28/honey-makes-a-comeback-as-natures-antibiotic/


Honey makes a comeback as nature's antibiotic

Posted: Dec 28th 2007 8:00AM by Adams Briscoe
Filed under: General Health, Health in the Media, Healthy Products


Before too long, we may be able to go to our local drug store and pick up honey adhesive strips. It worked for the Egyptians, why not now? That's the thinking behind Medihoney, a new product based on manuka honey which has been known to kill germs and heal wounds where traditional antibiotics fail.

Dressing wounds has been an issue for diabetes patients when drug-resistant germs keep some abrasions from healing. This is where honey comes in. Using a material based on seaweed, they soak the dressing in leptospermum honey. It will not only kill microbes, but soak up fluids and get rid of the bad smell of wounds.

Honey being used in this way has picked up in other parts of the world already. Even when the concentration is diluted ten times, this stuff can kill bacteria. Let's hope honey-based medical products hit the open market soon -- some hospitals are already using it! People with weak immune systems or persistent trauma will be able to get a lot out of this.

[iko]

...and here we go with a NEGATIVE
report, for a change.
That's clinical medicine dear friends!

Randomized clinical trial of honey-impregnated dressings for venous leg ulcers.

Jull A, Walker N, Parag V, Molan P, Rodgers A; on behalf of the Honey as Adjuvant Leg Ulcer Therapy trial collaborators.
Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

BACKGROUND:: The efficacy of honey as a treatment for venous ulcers has not been evaluated, despite widespread interest. This trial aimed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of honey as a dressing for venous ulcers. METHODS:: This community-based open-label randomized trial allocated people with a venous ulcer to calcium alginate dressings impregnated with manuka honey or usual care. All participants received compression bandaging. The primary outcome was the proportion of ulcers healed after 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes were: time to healing, change in ulcer area, incidence of infection, costs per healed ulcer, adverse events and quality of life. Analysis was by intention to treat. RESULTS:: Of 368 participants, 187 were randomized to honey and 181 to usual care. At 12 weeks, 104 ulcers (55.6 per cent) in the honey-treated group and 90 (49.7 per cent) in the usual care group had healed (absolute increase 5.9 (95 per cent confidence interval (c.i.) - 4.3 to 15.7) per cent; P = 0.258). Treatment with honey was probably more expensive and associated with more adverse events (relative risk 1.3 (95 per cent c.i. 1.1 to 1.6); P = 0.013). There were no significant differences between the groups for other outcomes.

CONCLUSION:: Honey-impregnated dressings did not significantly improve venous ulcer healing at 12 weeks compared with usual care.
Registration number: ISRCTN 06161544 (http://www.controlled-trials.com). Copyright (c) 2007 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Br J Surg. 2007 Dec 28 [Epub ahead of print]

...but - apparently - there was NO infection in progress.

[iko]

Even ascorbic acid deficiency
may play a role in healing ulcers:

[Vitamin C deficiency and leg ulcers. A case control study]
[Article in French]

Lazareth I, Hubert S, Michon-Pasturel U, Priollet P.
Service de médecine vasculaire, groupe hospitalier Paris-Saint-Joseph, 185, rue Raymond-Losserand, Paris 75675 cedex 14, France. ic.lazareth@wanadoo.fr

Vitamin C is a necessary cofactor for collagen synthesis. A deficiency of vitamin C results in the breakdown of connective tissue in and around the walls of blood vessels. The disease is thus characterized by poor healing of wounds.
Chronic leg ulcers are defined as wounds that do not heal. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether patients with chronic leg ulcers have vitamin C deficiency.
METHODS: Case control study; vitamin C was assayed in peripheral blood samples of 42 consecutive patients with chronic leg ulcers and in 37 consecutive patients without chronic leg ulcers. Patients without leg ulcers had peripheral vascular disease, or hypertension, or connective disorders. Patients with diabetes, immunodepression (cancer, HIV infection, corticosteroid therapy) and aged under 65 years were excluded. Reference range for plasma vitamin C was above 26 micromol/l (normal levels, group I), hypovitaminosis C as 6-26 micromol/l (group II) and concentrations<6 micromol/l as scurvy (group III).
RESULTS: Mean age was 77.2 years in the ulcers group and 73.8 in the control group (NS), mean weight 73.1 kg in the ulcers group and 67.5 kg in the control group (NS). Smoking was more frequent in the control group (P<0.001). Mean vitamin C levels were lower in the leg ulcers group: 23.9 vs 33.8 micromol/l (P<0.003). Normal levels of vitamin C (group I) were more frequent in the control group: 78.4 vs 50% (P<0.01). Hypovitaminosis C (group II) was more frequent in the leg ulcers group: 23.8 vs 16.2% (P<0.01). Scurvy was more frequent in the leg ulcers group: 26.2 vs 5.4% (P<0.01). C reactive protein levels were higher in the leg ulcers group: 31.8 vs 9.3 mg (P=0.002) and albumin levels were lower in the leg ulcers group: 25 vs 38 g/l (P=0.01) [retrospective data].
CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic leg ulcers have lower levels of vitamin C than patients without leg ulcers, although smoking was more frequent in patients without leg ulcers. The question is whether vitamin C deficiency is a cofactor of impaired healing or is a simple marker of poor healing? It would be interesting to conduct a randomized controlled study about treatment of chronic leg ulcers with vitamin C.

J Mal Vasc. 2007 Apr;32(2):96-9.



Vitamin A synthetic derivatives
HAVE to be in the number, of course:

The effect of short-contact topical tretinoin therapy
for foot ulcers in patients with diabetes.

Tom WL, Peng DH, Allaei A, Hsu D, Hata TR.
Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, USA.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the efficacy and safety of short-contact administration of topical tretinoin on foot ulcers in patients with diabetes.
DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
SETTING: Outpatient clinic at a Veterans Affairs medical center.
PATIENTS: Twenty-four volunteers with diabetic foot ulcers but without evidence of peripheral arterial disease or infection.
INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to 4 weeks of daily treatment with either topical 0.05% tretinoin solution (Retin-A) or placebo saline solution. Photographs and assessment of wound size and appearance were assessed every 2 weeks for a total of 16 weeks.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportion of ulcers that healed in each group and the degree of change in ulcer size. RESULTS: Twenty-two patients, with a total of 24 foot ulcers, completed the study. At the end of 16 weeks, 2 (18%) of 11 ulcers in the control group and 6 (46%) of 13 ulcers in the tretinoin treatment group healed completely. Topical tretinoin therapy significantly decreased ulcer area and depth compared with placebo treatment over the 16 weeks of the study (P < .01 for surface area; P = .02 for depth). Adverse effects mainly consisted of mild pain at the ulcer site.
CONCLUSIONS: Short-contact application of topical tretinoin improved the healing of foot ulcers in patients with diabetes. The tretinoin therapy was generally well tolerated, without serious local or systemic adverse effects.

Arch Dermatol. 2005 Nov;141(11):1373-7.

[Karen W.]

Thanks Iko.. that is too bad! Thanks for posting the update though its good to here all of the information!

[iko]

Manuka investigators are very active these days...
and PubMed citations for "Manuka honey" rose to 32 today!
This is a fresh report about wound healing properties:

The impact of Manuka honey dressings on the surface pH of chronic wounds.

Gethin GT, Cowman S, Conroy RM.
Research Centre, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland. ggethin@eircom.net

Chronic non healing wounds have an elevated alkaline environment. The acidic pH of Manuka honey makes it a potential treatment for lowering wound pH, but the duration of effect is unknown. Lowering wound pH can potentially reduce protease activity, increase fibroblast activity and increase oxygen release consequently aiding wound healing. The aim of this study was to analyse the changes in surface pH and size of non healing ulcers following application of Manuka honey dressing after 2 weeks. The study was an open label, non randomised prospective study. Patients presenting consecutively with non healing chronic superficial ulcers, determined by aetiology and no reduction in wound size in previous 3 weeks. Single pH measurements recorded using Blueline 27 glass surface electrode and R 315 pH meter set (Reagecon/Alkem, Co. Clare Ireland). Area determined using Visitrak (Smith & Nephew, Mull, UK) digital planimetry. Apinate (Manuka honey) (Comvita, Slough, UK) applied to wounds for 2 weeks after which wounds re-evaluated. Eight males and nine females with 20 ulcers (3 bilateral) were included: venous, 50% (n = 10); mixed aetiology, 35% (n = 7); arterial, 10% (n = 2) and pressure ulcer, 5% (n = 1). Reduction in wound pH after 2 weeks was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Wounds with pH >or= 8.0 did not decrease in size and wounds with pH <or= 7.6 had a 30% decrease in size. A reduction in 0.1 pH unit was associated with an 8.1% reduction in wound size (P < 0.012). The use of Manuka honey dressings was associated with a statistically significant decrease in wound pH and a reduction in wound size. Elevated pH readings at the start were associated with minimal reduction in size. Surface wound pH measurements may contribute to objective wound assessments, but further research is necessary to determine its exact contribution.

Int Wound J. 2008 Jun;5(2):185-94.

Sunrise near Dublin



http://www.crescentbeachcottages.com/images/21907261.CRW_4125_1.jpg

[Maxwell8]

Manuka honey is an amazing product and it really does work. However you need to be careful when buying Manuka Honey as there is lots of fake stuff. Here are a couple of pointers if you are buying Manuka honey so you don't end up spending a whole lot of money on something that does not work.
Manuka honey with high antibacterial activity is only produced in New Zealand. It is a good idea to buy it direct from this country. Better to buy a Manuka honey that has the UMF certification as this is a guarantee that it has the  antibacterial level stated. Next buy a trusted brand..

[Hadrian]

Hear a note just about honey in general.

I used to suffer from hey fever every year. Now I consume a pot of local honey at the start of the hey fever season.  It seams the local honey helps me to tolerate the pollens that are active in my area.  It work for me.   

[Bored chemist]

Just to let people know; honey isn't all good.
http://www.nutriwatch.org/06FST/honey.html