Honey - A Remedy Rediscovered

Honey has had a valued place in traditional medicine for centuries. The prescription for a standard wound salve discovered in the Smith papyrus (an Egyptian text dating from between 2600 and 2200 BC) calls for a mixture of mrht (grease), byt (honey) and ftt (lint/fibre) as transliterated from hieroglyphic symbols 1•2• The ancient Egyptians, Assyrians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans employed honey for wounds and diseases of the gut. Honey was the most popular Egyptian drug being mentioned 500 times in 900 remedies', Whilst Hippocrates (3rd and 4th centuries BC) made little use of drugs in treatment he prescribed a simple diet, favouring honey given as oxymel (vinegar and honey) for pain, hydrornel (water and honey) for 'thirst'3,4, and a mixture of honey, water and various medicinal substances for acute fevers", During the Biblical era honey received religious endorsement by both Christianity and Islam. When the Children of Israel were in Egypt or were journeying through the desert, the promise was made that their destination was to be 'a land flowing with milk and honey". The holy Qur'an vividly illustrates the potential therapeutic value of honeyl-", Thy Lord has inspired the Bees, to build their hives in hills, on trees and in man's habitations, From within their bodies comes a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind, Verily in this is a Sign, for those who give thought. Although a vast number of papers and articles have been published on the subject, most have concentrated on the biochemical analysis arid food and non-food commercial uses9•1O• In the past, scientific opinions on honey's nutritive and medical uses have differed and clashed with folklore. Controversies within the scientific communityf have re-kindled interest in the therapeutic uses of honey in modern medicine. Recently, scientific support has emerged with a proliferation in publications on the successful therapeutic use of honey in several general medical and surgical conditions. The antibacteriallU" and antifungal-" properties of honey have been well documented, with growth of organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus, Enteropathogens and Candida albicans inhibited in undiluted honey. Jeddar et al. l 2 have shown that honey at a concentration of 40% was bactericidal to various gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. In particular, Salmonella shigella, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholera all of which are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Used at concentrations of between 30% to 50% honey 10 Wood SM, Kraenzlin ME, Adrian TE, Bloom SR. Treatmentofpatientswithpancreatic endocrine tumours using a new long acting somatostatin analogue, symptomatic and peptide responses. Gut 1985;26: 438-44