John
Stapleton, The Australian,
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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