Ancient Healing Power: Honey Makes Sweet Comeback In Treating Advanced Wounds

Main Category: Dermatology
Also Included In: Complementary Medicine / Alternative Medicine
Article Date: 24 Oct 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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An ancient remedy has been rediscovered for its therapeutic properties and has become a really sweet addition to treating serious wounds.

MEDIHONEY™ Wound & Burn Dressings are being distributed this month to physicians, hospitals and acute rehabilitation clinics. The product marks the first FDA clearance of a honey-based product for managing wounds and burns.

"Clinical studies of MEDIHONEY™ have shown it has promise over current treatments because of its strong wound healing benefit," said Ed Quilty, CEO of Derma Sciences (OTCBB:DSCI), the manufacturer and marketer of MEDIHONEY™ and other advanced wound care products.

The dressings are made with Leptospermum Honey, the pollen and nectar of which comes from the Manuka bush, a wild shrub indigenous to New Zealand. The medicinal honey is harvested by beekeepers, filtered and then sterilized and standardized. Leptospermum honey dressings have been in use for some time throughout the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. In July 2007 the FDA cleared them for use in wound and burn care, making them the first honey-based products cleared for medical use in the Untied States. Over the past decade, researchers have begun to report the unique characteristics and components of Leptospermum honey, making this particular variety of honey ideal for wound management.

Sweet Solution for a Myriad of Wounds

Use of MEDIHONEY™ involves applying it on bandages and wounds. The dressings can be used in all phases of the wound healing process, and are indicated for the management of:

- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Leg ulcers (venous stasis ulcers, arterial ulcers and leg ulcers of mixed etiology)
- Pressure ulcers/sores (partial and full thickness)
- First and second degree partial thickness burns
- Donor sites, and traumatic and surgical wounds

"Medical-grade Leptospermum honey is particularly effective in managing difficult-to-heal wounds because it promotes removal of dead tissue without damaging re-growing cells, while also promoting cellular proliferation," said Dr. Rose Cooper, Microbiologist and Principal Lecturer at the Cardiff School of Health Sciences at the University of Wales Institute. Dr. Cooper noted that this lack of toxicity, combined with strong healing benefits, make these dressings unique in the field of advanced wound care.

More than three million people in the U.S. suffer from pressure ulcers or bedsores. Each year, an estimated 100,000 diabetics will lose a limb through amputation, mostly as a result of non-healing wounds. The aging population and increasing incidence of diabetes means that the number chronic wound patients will continue to grow.

A three-year-long study at the University of Bonn, Germany, reported good healing rates in the use of MEDIHONEYTM as a dressing for wounds in 15 children with cancer, a population prone to non-healing ulcers because of weakened immunity after radiation and chemotherapy. Preliminary results of another clinical trial comparing MEDIHONEYTM with hydrogel dressings in 100 patients with chronic leg ulcers were recently presented at the European Wound Management Association conference in Scotland. Those findings indicated that the group treated with honey experienced a higher rate of debridement and significantly faster healing than in the group treated with another advanced wound care gel.

About Derma Sciences, Inc.

Derma Sciences, Inc. is a manufacturer and marketer of advanced wound care products, with operations based in the U.S. and Canada, and sales worldwide. The company sources Active Manuka (Leptospermum) Honey from Comvita New Zealand, Ltd. Comvita controls over 70% of the flow of Manuka honey, and owns several patents around the use of honey in wound dressings. In February 2006, Derma Sciences and Comvita entered into a licensing agreement granting Derma Sciences exclusive rights to Comvita's technology and honey for marketing and sale to healthcare professionals into the North, South and Central American markets. Derma Sciences is also the global manufacturer for the Comvita brand of several of the honey-based dressings.

http://www.dermasciences.com