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Honey’s medicinal side

Today’s online Washington Post contains an article “Sweet Salve
Could Honey, an Ancient Remedy, Make a Comeback in Contemporary Wound Care?
” by Erik Fred Trump,  that discusses some of the medicinal benefits of honey, especially when it is used to heal wounds and fight infections.

The benefits of using honey this way isn’t news for many of us, but it sure is nice to see the topic being picked up by medical researchers and the mainstream press.  As stated in the article ”

“All honey is medicinal to some extent. Its low water content allows it to draw fluid away from wounds; its high sugar content makes it difficult for microorganisms to grow. What’s more, worker bees secrete an enzyme, glucose oxidase, into nectar, which releases low levels of the disinfectant hydrogen peroxide when honey makes contact with a damp surface such as a wound. Because of a chemical reaction with tissue, honey also makes healing wounds smell good.

From the time of the ancient Sumerians, who prescribed a mix of river dust and honey for ailing eyes, until the early 20th century, honey was a conventional therapy in fighting infection, but its popularity waned with the advent in the mid-20th century of a potent, naturally occurring antibiotic: the blue-green mold penicillin.”

The article also notes that the current interest in honey as a curative is also related to our over-use of antibiotics.

” One reason for the heightened interest in honey is that traditional antibiotics are proving increasingly powerless against certain microbes.”

So thank the bees and help make the world a better place for them. Your life may very well depend on it.

U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD: 3667
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation: 12
Total 3679

DoD Confirmation List Latest Coalition Fatality: Aug 06, 2007

Source: Iraqi Coalition Casualty Count

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