The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine

Membership NO : 1 Posts : 1672 Join date : 2011-03-27

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine

More than 1400 years ago Allaah and His messenger

told us that honey can heal a variety of medical problems.

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine 3691099

Allaah
Says (what means): "And the Lord inspired the bee, saying: Take your
habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect.
Then, eat of all fruits and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for
you)'. There comes forth from their bellies a drink of varying colors
wherein is healing for men. Verily in this is indeed a sign for people
who think." [Quran 16-69]

The Prophet

has
also told us of the healing found within honey for a variety of medical
problems, including stomach ailments. It is reported by Al-Bukhaari

that a man came to the Prophet

because his brother had a stomach disorder. The Prophet

said:
"Let him drink honey." The man returned a second time complaining that
no improvement happened in his brother’s case, and again the Prophet

responded: "Let him drink honey." The man returned again, and said: "I have done that but to no avail." Thereupon the Prophet

responded:
"Allaah has said the truth, but your brother's stomach has told a lie.
Let him drink honey." He drank it and was cured.

It is also reported that the Prophet

said: "Make use of the two remedies: honey and the Quran." (At-Tirmithi)

Modern medicine has only recently discovered the fact that honey is a remedy to many diseases.

Honey Used to Treat Wound Infections in German Hospital

The Healing Touch of Honey
By Kirsten Traynor, Humbolt Scholar, Celle, Germany
Excerpts reprinted with permission

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Islamicpmalafdalnet1

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Islamicpmalafdalnet1

[The
open back of the premature newborn described in the article. Using
traditional wound care, the back refuses to heal due to infection from
three different types of resistant bacteria. (Photos by Kai Santos)]

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Islamicpmalafdalnet2

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Islamicpmalafdalnet2

[Through regular application of Medihoney, the infected wound cleared.
After two weeks of treatment, the child was released home.]

[Dr.
Arne] Simon, consultant of the oncology department at the children’s
clinic in Bonn, Germany has helped his patients find relief through the
application of honey. Most of his patients suffer from a suppressed
immune system, due to their underlying illness (i.e. leukemia) and the
chemotherapy they undergo.

Immunosuppression leaves the body open
to attack; natural defenses are weakened and the body mends itself
poorly. This frequently results in chronic wounds that refuse to heal,
leaving the patient susceptible to wound infections. Unfortunately these
infections spread easily and can cause sepsis, a potentially
life-threatening state where the body goes into overdrive and attacks
its own organs and tissues.

Five years ago a 12-year-old patient
was submitted to the children’s clinic in Bonn. Prior to his arrival at
the clinic, doctors at another hospital had partially removed an
abdominal tumor, leaving an open drainage site on his stomach. Under
Simon’s care the wound was treated with Octenidin for 12 days. When no
improvements occurred, the doctor tested the wound and discovered a
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection…

One of the
clinic’s wound care nurses, Ms. Blaser had heard of Medihoney’s
successful application against MRSA and suggested the clinic try
treating the patient’s infected wound. Although the patient was
scheduled to receive multi-pronged chemotherapy, treatment could not
commence until the infection cleared. After only two days of
application, Medihoney cleared the wound of MRSA, and the patient could
start his cancer treatment…

In Europe, Medihoney has received CE
Certification, so it can be prescribed by a dermatologist or general
physician, in which case medical insurance must cover the cost. It is
also available over the counter from pharmacies and online, but without a
prescription the buyer bears the brunt of the cost.

So what
makes Medihoney so effective? Honey works differently than prescribed
antibiotics, a selective poison that attacks the bacteria’s cell-wall
building mechanism. Instead of poisoning bacteria, to which resistance
can develop, honey works in a multi-pronged attack. Honey is
hygroscopic, meaning it draws moisture out of the environment and thus
dehydrates bacteria.

Its sugar content is also high enough to
hinder the growth of microbes, but the sugar content alone is not the
sole reason for honey’s antibacterial properties. When honey is diluted
with water, reducing its high sugar content, it still stops the common
bacteria S. aureus in its tracks. In fact honey’s natural antibacterial
properties inhibit the growth of approximately 60 species of bacteria,
including aerobes and anaerobes, gram-positives and gram-negatives.

Medihoney,
a combination of two different honeys, works in a two-fold punch. The
first honey, rich in the enzyme glucose oxidase, reacts and produces
gluconic acid and minute amounts of hydrogen peroxide when diluted by
body fluids or wound exudates. As many know, hydrogen peroxide was once
welcomed by the medical community with great applause as a fantastic
healer, but then faded from the stage as it damaged tissue. In contrast,
the continuous production of weak hydrogen peroxide from honey (at
approximately 1/1000 of the strength of the store bought 3% solution5)
helps heal without any negative drawbacks.

The second source in
Medihoney is an active manuka or jellybush (Leptospermum spp.) honey,
rich in plant derived antibacterial properties. Unlike glucose oxidase,
the antibacterial properties from manuka and jellybush honey are light
and heat stable. Over 100 substances are candidates for this
antibacterial property, but the active ingredient has not yet been
identified. Even if you block the hydrogen peroxide activity and the
osmotic effect of honey due to its high sugar content, manuka and
jellybush honey still stop bacterial growth.

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Clostridium
botulinum spores pervade our environment, existing in the soil, air,
dust, and raw agricultural products. Since spores have occasionally been
found in honey, each batch of Medihoney is gamma irradiated to avoid
all possibilities of spreading botulism. According to Dr. Molan of New
Zealand, the heat and light sensitive enzyme glucose oxidase in honey
and the phenolic components of manuka honey are not negatively affected
by this inexpensive treatment…

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Honey6

The Miracle of Honey as an Alternative Medicine Honey6

Due
to the safeness of Medihoney, Simon and his colleagues have even
applied the honey on premature neonatals. One infant patient had an open
back. The wound stagnated, developing three different types of
resistant bacteria. Before treatment with Medihoney was initiated, the
child had received numerous antibiotics in an attempt to clear the
wound, spending the first two months of its life in a hospital. Simon
and his staff immediately resorted to Medihoney. The wound cleared,
allowing the patient to be released home after two weeks of treatment…

Before
applying Medihoney, the wound is cleaned with a Ringer solution, a
sodium chloride sterile preparation. Simon explains that despite its
incredible results, Medihoney is not an antiseptic. An ideal wound
antiseptic, according to Dr. Kramer of the University of Greifswald,
Germany meets the following criteria:

* shows a quick onset of
activity and a remnant, broad spectrum effect against bacteria and
fungi, even under the unfavorable condition of an exudating, colonized
or infected wound;
* enhances and accelerates the physiologic process
of wound healing (debridement, granulation), even if applied for
prolonged periods;
* does not cause adverse local or systemic effects (allergy, toxicity related to absorption);
* is of moderate cost even if applied two times daily.

Medihoney
meets all of the above criteria except “a quick onset of activity,” as
it does not seem to produce the desired reduction of bacteria and fungi
in a short enough time span of 1-5 minutes to be qualified as an
antiseptic. According to Simon, honey is very effective, but needs a
minimum application of four to five hours. Thus some patients apply the
wound dressing overnight, so as not to restrict their mobility during
the day. Because not enough information has been published on the amount
of time Medihoney needs to kill bacteria, Simon and his staff apply an
additional antiseptic during the first 24 hours of treatment…

Many
cancer patients suffer from mucositis, a side effect of chemo that
attacks the entire gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus…

In
a study conducted in 2003, “Biswal et al. investigated the use of honey
in 40 adult patients with head and neck cancer.” Patients consumed 20
ml (1 1/3 teaspoon) of pure honey 15 minutes before, 15 minutes after
and 6 hours post treatment. The honey group suffered from less mucositis
than the control group. Cancer patients undergoing treatment frequently
suffer from severe weight loss, but 55% of the honey group maintained
their weight or showed a positive gain, compared to only 25% of the
control group. Due to these positive findings, Simon recommends a
similar program of honey ingestion to his patients undergoing
radiotherapy for cancer in the head and neck region…

Since honey
is made from plant secretions, it is plausible that nectar from
different sources will have varying antibacterial, antifungal or
antiviral effects. Other countries need to follow in New Zealand and
Australia’s footsteps, investing in rigorous testing of the properties
of their local honeys, both in the lab and in vivo.

[This article
is based on an interview with Dr. Arne Simon of the Children’s Hospital
Medical Center University of Bonn, Germany and published medical
reports. The research was made possible by the generous support of the
Humboldt Foundation through a German Chancellor Scholarship to the
author Kirsten Traynor.]

As part of her independent research
project Kirsten Traynor is writing a book on the medicinal benefits of
bee hive products for the lay public. She welcomes any contacts and is
keen to receive information on this topic, especially published medical
studies using honey, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, and bee
venom. Please send materials to: Kirsten Traynor, Humboldt Scholar,
Institute for Bee Research, Herzogin-Eleonore-Allee 5, 29221 Celle,
Germany. Email: kirsten@mdbee.com or kstraynor@adelphia.net

Conclusion

Muslims acknowledge and accept that Allaah and His Prophet

know
better and that our Creator Has revealed the truth. Therefore, we study
the research that is available, not to confirm or deny the truth that
has been revealed by Allaah and his Prophet

but to learn of new ways we can use honey.