HISTORY OF MEDICINE
Rachel Hajar*, MD, FACC
"Preparation of Medicine
from Honey"
Leaf from an Arabic translation of the
Materia Medica of Dioscorides
(AD 1225 Baghdad, Iraq)
I sn’t it funny how a bear likes
honey? . . . I wonder why he does?, sings Winnie-the-
Pooh as he merrily climbs a tall tree in the woods
to get at the honey perched high up a tree. Winnie-the-Pooh,
the Bear of Very Little Brain, is one of the most
endearing and popular animal characters in children’s
books, known to and loved by millions of people
around the world, both young and old. For a bear
of very little brain, he thinks a lot. (Although
bearing a feminine-sounding name, Winnie is a
male bear.) "The only reason for being a
bee", he hums, "is making honey."
And he thinks the only reason for bees to make
honey is so he can eat it.
Pooh-bear of course does not know that instinct
drives him to eat honey – a lot of honey. All
animals are equipped with self-preserving instincts
to propagate their species and seek the food that
their organism requires. So does man. There is
evidence that man has long known that honey is
a valuable food source. Early rock paintings on
cave walls in Africa and eastern Spain show people
gathering honey from trees or rock crevices while
bees fly around them (1,2). A rock painting called
the "Man of Bicorp" (Fig.1) was discovered
in 1921 in the Cueva de la Arana (Spider Cave)
in Valencia, Spain. The painting depicts a human
figure near a cavity where there is a beehive.
Hanging on three lianes, he is picking up honeycombs,
while nearby are some stylized bees. The painting
is believed to be over 15000 years old and dates
back to the end of the Paleolithic Period (3).
Rock art from other caves have been found which
show figures surrounded by bees without being
stung.
Pre-historic honey gatherers probably learned
by accident that bees are driven away from the
honeycomb by smoke as an offshoot of using fire
for "warding-off" or driving other animals.
Most likely primitive man observed the habits
of bees and learned that wild bees made their
home in the hollow limbs of trees, or in hollow
places in the trunks of trees. Even now, bee trees
often could be found by walking through the woods
on bright sunny days and looking into the tops
of the trees and watching for the bees coming
and going.
The “Man of Bicorp” cave painting is clear proof
that early humans actively sought honey as part
of their diet. We do not know, however, whether
pre-
Fig.1. "Man of Bicor."
c. 15000 BC. Cueva de la Arana, Valencia, Spain
historic man used honey for medicinal
purpose.
Honey hunting is an ancient tradition that is
still practiced in isolated primitive cultures
in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast
Asia, Australia, and South America. Reports of
such activities in the popular press describe
the practice as heavily permeated with ritual.
This is not surprising since the tradition was
passed down for generations and has its origins
from our dim, distant, and superstitious past.
Honey hunting is a dangerous pursuit since a bee
sting could be fatal. Throughout history there
have been and there are alternatives to honey
as sweetener such as dates and figs. Yet, humans
seem to prefer honey. There is the universal perception
that "honey is good for you."
The widespread perception that honey is "good"
has its genesis from folklore i.e. our collective
memories of myths, legends, stories, proverbs
songs and customs that have been passed down for
generations – our heritage. Myth has played an
important role in folklore. Oral and written records
abound with the life-giving qualities of honey.
As early as the Stone Age period, there are cave
drawings or paintings of people collecting honey
indicating that pre-historic man considered honey
an important food source.
Quantitative studies
of hunter-gatherer diets are scarce. The Veddas,
or Wild Men, of Sri Lanka esteem honey so highly
that they regularly risk their lives to obtain
it. The results of a study among the Australian
aboriginal tribes reveal that wild honey is regularly
consumed although it is difficult and challenging
to obtain.
Unfortunately, research into the nutritional
role of honey is scanty.
However, studies of primitive
tribal diets indicate that honey is highly nutritious.
For example, among the Guayaki Indians of Paraguay
honey is the very basis of their diet and culture.
Mythology offers rich insights into the perceived
life-sustaining qualities of honey. In Greek mythology,
Zeus, mightiest of the Greek gods, was hidden
from his father who wanted to devour him and was
raised on honey and milk by the bee-nymph, Melisseas.
Honey made him so strong and tough that when he
grew up he seized his father’s throne.
Another myth is that ambrosia was the food of
the gods and goddesses. Since their gods’ food
consisted only of ambrosia, the ancient Greeks
attributed the immortality of their gods to ambrosia,
which they believed consisted of honey, milk and
nectar. Ambrosia was thought to be a nine-fold
extract of honey – a sweet treat enjoyed by mortals
throughout the ages. Honey was a divine symbol
for the Greeks and honey mixed with blood was
the sweetest oblation.
Ambrosia was more than just a delightful meal
to the gods, however. There are several episodes
in Greek myth in which ambrosia is used by the
gods and goddesses as a sort of balm, to confer
grace or even immortality to mortals. One myth
narrates how ambrosia was used to beautify Aphrodite,
the enchanting goddess of love. In the Homeric
Hymn to Aphrodite, the goddess prepares herself
for some serious seduction with the assistance
of eau de ambrosia:
"There the Graces bathed her and anointed
her with ambrosian oil such as is rubbed on deathless
gods, divinely sweet, and made fragrant for her
sake."
It is claimed that many of Cleopatra’s cosmetics
were honey-based. Many women in Arabia believe
honey softens their skin and regularly apply it
as facial mask.
Honey always played an important role in all religious
festivals and especially in funeral ceremonies.
Honey was used to embalm the dead. In one poignant
and memorable scene from Homer’s Iliad, the sea-nymph
Thetis uses ambrosia and nectar to preserve the
body of the dead warrior Patroclus, the dearest
friend of her son Achilles :
"To save Patroclus from decay, she treated
his body with ambrosia and red nectar, which she
instilled through his nostrils" (5).
In Egyptian mythology, "when the God Re
wept, his tears fell to the ground and were turned
into bees. The bees began to build and were active
on all flowers of every kind belonging to the
plant kingdom. Thus wax came into being, thus
was created honey from the tears of the God Re."
The ancient Egyptians offered their gods honeycombs
overflowing with honey as a valuable gift to show
devotion and worship. In the 12th century BC,
Ramses III offered 15 tons of honey to Hapi, the
god of the Nile. Jars of honey were buried with
the dead as sustenance for the afterlife. Archaeologists
have found clay pots filled with honey in a Pharaoh’s
tomb in the city of Thebes. Inscription on the
clay pot read: Good Quality Honey. Large quantities
of honey in jars were also found in the tomb of
Tutankhamun (6). Burying the dead (especially
nobility) in or with honey was common practice
in Egypt, Mesopotamia [Iraq], and other regions.
It is rumored that Alexander the Great was buried
in honey.
The Pharaohs also used honey in their wedding
celebrations. This custom was passed on to Greco-Roman
culture and handed down to Medieval Europe. Newly-weds
drank honey-wine (mead) for a month after the
wedding ceremony for good-luck and happiness.
The ritual gave rise to the word honeymoon, a
custom still practiced today.
Egyptian hieroglyphics dating back at least 3,000
years indicate that honey was used as a sweetener
- mixing it with various fruits, nuts, herbs,
and spices in breads, cakes and pastries.
The first written record of bee-keeping can be
traced back to Egypt from about 2400 BC. The reliefs
of hives depicted in ancient Egypt (Figure 2)
are very much similar to the woven wicker baskets
covered with clay that are still used in Sudan
today.
Temples kept bees in order to satisfy the demand
for honey as offerings to the gods as well as
for other domestic uses such as mummifying, boat
and ship building, and as a binding agent for
paints and in metal casting (7). However, the
Egyptians valued wild honey more than the homegrown
variety. A passage from the Papyrus Harris reads:
“I appointed for thee archers and collectors
of honey, bearing incense to deliver their yearly
impost into thy august treasury” (8).
Honey is frequently mentioned in the Bible.
Fig.2. Bee-keeping in Ancient
Egypt. Relief shows cylindrical hives made of
clay. (Tomb of Pabasa)
Moses led his people to the "land
of milk and honey." Solomon in Proverbs 24:13
advised, "My son, eat honey; it is good.
And just as honey from the comb is sweet on your
tongue, you maybe sure that wisdom is good for
the soul. Get wisdom and have a bright future."
The Jews believed honey made a person "mentally
keen".
In early Christianity, honey had a deep mysterious
meaning and it was given in christening ceremonies
as a symbol of renovation and spiritual perfection.
When St. John the Baptist was in the desert, he
lived on honey and locusts. Bees were revered
because of their ability to produce wax and therefore
provide light, in many cases for religious practices.
Before the advent of electricity, candles were
important for lighting. In many religions, candles
are still used for religious ceremonies. The Roman
Catholic Church regarded the bee as an example
of godliness and believed beeswax to be "pure"
since virgins – i.e. non-mating worker bees –
produce it. Monks kept bees to provide beeswax
to make candles for the church. The Catholic Church
still requires that their candles contain a certain
amount of beeswax.
It is possible that
pre-historic man’s instinct and experiences with
honey as a valuable food source became encoded
in our legends and mythology. In time, the mythic
belief that honey was the "food of the gods"
passed into Holy Scriptures and ancient writings
that honey was a “gift of God” and therefore,
good. Since it was the food of the gods, it must
contain the ingredient of immortality, and consequently
fostering the universal perception that honey
contains the secret to a long and healthy life.
Therefore,
it is not surprising that the substance was prescribed
as panacea for various ailments and diseases.
Thy Lord taught the Bee
To build its cells in hills,
On trees and in man’s habitations;
Then to eat of all
The produce of the earth . . .
From within their bodies comes a drink of varying
colors,
Wherein is healing for mankind.
Qur’an, Surah XVI: 68 - 69
The prophet Muhammad
advised his followers to "Use the two curatives:
honey and Qur'an." Likewise, the Bible contains
many references to honey. "But Jonathan [son
of Saul] . . . reached out the end of the staff
that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb.
He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes
brightened." (1 Samuel 14:24).
The Hindu Scripture, Veda, which was composed
about 1500 BC, and written down about 600 BC speak
of "this herb, born of honey, dripping honey,
sweet honey, honied, is the remedy for injuries;
moreover it crushes insects" (9). In the
section on Hymn To All Magic And Medicinal Plants,
honey is used as a universal remedy: "The
plants . . . which removes disease, are full of
blossoms, and rich in honey . . . do I call to
exempt him from injury" (9).
A Roman Catholic saint (St. Ambrose) stated, "The
fruit of the bees is desired of all and is equally
sweet to kings and beggars and is not only pleasing
but profitable and healthful, it sweetens their
mouths, cures their wounds, and conveys remedies
to inward ulcers."
All the sacred books, including that of China,
praise honey as food, beverage, and medicine (10).
There are abundant references to
honey as medicine in ancient scrolls, tablets
and books. It was prescribed for a variety of
illnesses. Excavated medical tablets from Mesopotamia
indicate that honey was a common ingredient in
many prescriptions. In ancient Egyptian medicine,
honey was the most frequent ingredient in all
the drug recipes for both internal and external
use listed in the Ebers and Edwin Smith Papyri
(11). Honey wasused for treatment of stomach pain,
urinary retention and as ointment for dry skin.
It was used as ointmnent for wounds and burns,
skin irritation, and eye diseases. The Ebers Papyrus
contains a description on how to make ointment
from honey and how to apply it, with a note: "Notice
that this is a very good therapy" (6).
The author of the Smith Papyrus (Fig.3) directed
that honey be applied topically, with few if any
other possibly active ingredient, to wounds (11).
An example appears below:
Instructions Concerning A Wound In His Head,Penetrating To The Bone:
"If thou examinest a man having a gaping
wound in his head, penetrating to the bone, thou
should’st lay thy hand upon it (and) thou should’st
palpate his wound. If thou findest his skull uninjured
, not having a perforation in it . . .
Thou shouldst bind fresh meat upon it the first
day, thou shouldst apply two strips of linen;
and treat afterward with grease, honey, (and)
lint every day until he recovers."
Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus (12)
Fig. 3. Excerpt from the Edwin Smith Papyrus
In ancient Egypt, honey was the only active ingredient
in an ointment described in the Ebers Papyrus
for application to the surgical wound of circumcision.
Ebers also specifies that an ointment for the
ear be made of one-third honey and two-thirds
oil. The concentration of honey in seven oral
remedies in the Chester Beatty VI Papyrus ranges
from 10 to 50%, while its proportion in other
remedies ranges from 20 to 84% (11). Honey could
very well have provided some kind of protection
from the kinds of bacteria most likely to infect
wounds, at least enough protection to permit wounds
to begin healing on their own.
Fig. 4. (A) Dioscorides, De Materia Medica,15th
c. Iviron Monastery, Mount Athos, Greece. (B)
Illustration from De Materia Medica of Dioscorides,
Baghdad, AD 1224.
The ancient Egyptians were not the only people
who used honey as medicine. The Chinese, Indians,
ancient Greeks, Romans, and Arabs used honey in
combination with other herbs and on its own, to
treat wounds and various other diseases.
Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) believed that eating
honey prolonged life (10). Hippocrates (460 –
377 BC) is quoted as saying, "I eat honey
and use it in the treatment of many diseases because
honey offers good food and good health" (6).
Dioscorides (AD 40 – 90), a Greek physician who
traveled as a surgeon with the armies of the Roman
emperor Nero, compiled De Materia Medica (Fig.4a,4b)
around AD 77. De Materia Medica was the foremost
classical source of modern botanical terminology
and the leading pharmacological text until the
15th century.
In addition to excellent descriptions of nearly
600 plants and 1000 simple drugs, Dioscorides
described the medicinal and dietetic value of
animal derivatives such as milk and honey (13).
Dioscorides stated that honey could be used as
treatment for stomach disease, wound that has
pus, hemorrhoids, and treatment to stop coughing
(6).
“Honey opens the blood vessels and attract moisture.
If cooked and applied to fresh wounds it seals
them. It is good for deep dirty wounds. Honey
mixed with salt could be dropped inside a painful
ear. It will reduce the pain and swelling of the
ear. It will kill lice if infested children skin
is painted with it. It may also improve vision. Gargle with honey to reduce tonsil swelling. For
coughing drink warm honey and mix with rose oil”
(14).
Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, (AD 77)
Galen recommended warming up the honey or cooking
it, then using it to treat hemorrhoids and deep
wounds (14). The Roman, Pliny the Elder, said
that mixing fish oil with honey was an excellent
treatment for ulcers.
AlBasri (Ali Bin Hamzah AlBasri), a 10th century
Arab philosopher mentioned uncooked honey for
swollen intestine whereas cooked honey was good
for inducing vomiting when poisonous drug was
ingested. For that purpose, he recommended mixing
one pound of sesame oil with 1/3 pound of cooked
honey (14). Al Razi (Rhazes, AD 864-932), a renowned
Muslim physician famous for writing a treatise
distinguishing measles from smallpox, claimed
that honey ointment made of flour and honey vinegar
was good for skin disease and sports nerve injuries
and recommended the use of honey water for bladder
wounds (6). His book, Al Hawi (Encyclopedia of
Medicine), a comprehensive medical textbook of
medicine, which was translated from Arabic to
Latin in the 13th century and became a standard
textbook of medicine up to the 1700s stated (14):
"Honey is the best treatment for the gums.
To keep the teeth healthy mix honey with vinegar
and use as mouth wash daily. If you rub the teeth
with such a preparation it will whiten the teeth.
Honey does not spoil and could also be used to
preserve cadavers."
Al Razi, Encyclopedia of Medicine (AL Hawi )
Likewise, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), another famous
Muslim physician whose great medical treatise,
the Canon, was the standard textbook on medicine
in the Arab world and Europe until the 17th century,
wrote (6):
"Honey is good for prolonging life, preserve
activity in old age. If you want to keep your
youth, take honey. If you are above the age of
45, eat honey regularly, especially mixed with
chestnut powder. Honey and flour could be used
as dressing for wounds. For lung disease, early
stage of tuberculosis, use a combination of honey
and shredded rose petals. Honey can be used for
insomnia on occasions."
The Compendium of Medicine by Gilbertus Anglicus
(Gilbert the Englishman), is one of the largest
sources of pharmaceutical and medical information
from Medieval Europe. Translated in the early
15th century from Latin to Middle English, the
text consists of medicinal recipes with guides
to diagnosis, medicinal preparation and prognosis.
The text names over 400 ingredients. Treatments
are presented roughly from "head to tail",
so to speak, beginning with headache and ending
with hemorrhoids. Honey was a frequent ingredient
to many of the remedies and it was combined with
other medicinal herbs commonly used at that time
(15). Excerpts appear below:
Headache . . . let him use oxymel . . .made of
honey and vinegar; two parts of vinegar and the
third part of honey, mixed together and simmered.
Pimples . . . anoint it with clean honey, or
with the powder of burnt beans and honey, or with
the powder of purslane and honey mixed together.
Pennyroyal . . . taken with honey, cleanse the
lungs and clear the chest of all gross and thick
humors.
It is clear that throughout the ages, honey was
prescribed for a variety of uses, frequently mixed
with herbs, grains and other botanicals. Obviously,
remedies were passed down through the millennia
simply because they seemed to be effective. No
one knew why the remedies worked. The ancient
remedies survive today, lumped together by modern
medicine under the term "folk medicine"
since their effectiveness has not been scientifically
proven through clinical trials.
I had no idea how pervasive the belief
in honey as remedy for ailments was until my husband,
a cardiologist, had a bad case of prolonged sore
throat. He laughingly told me that his mother
had advised him to drink tea with honey and cinnamon,
assuring him the drink would cure his sore throat.
I called my sister to tell her the amusing story
but as soon as I told her my husband had a sore
throat, she immediately said, "I know a sure
cure for that. Give him tea with two spoonfuls
of honey and a pinch of cinnamon and make him
drink it." And recently, while working on
this article, my family and I traveled to Dubai
to spend the Eid holiday (Eid is the festival
marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim Month of
Fasting). In the hotel where we stayed, one of
the cleaning staff was a young Asian man. Because
he looked so young, I felt sorry that he was working
so far away from his home. I was curious where
he was from. He was from a "small village
in northern China." It was an opportunity
to inquire about the use of honey among ordinary
people in China. So, I asked him, "When you
were small and you had a cold or sore throat or
not feeling well, what did your mother do?"
He thought a moment, smiled, and replied: "She
used to make me drink honey mixed with warm water."
Apparently, honey for coughs and sore throats
remains a popular remedy around the world, even
today. Some antiseptic lozenges contain honey.
In underdeveloped countries where
synthetic medicines are expensive, honey is one
of the cornerstones in their pharmacopoeia. For
example, lotus honey is used for eye diseases
in India. It is used as topical eye ointment in
measles to prevent corneal scarring (16). Honey
is used to treat infected leg ulcers in Ghana
and earaches in Nigeria. Other uses include treatment
of gastric ulcers and constipation (16). Germans
used honey and cod liver oil for ulcerations,
burns, fistulas and boils in addition to a honey
salve which was mixed with egg yolk and flour
for boils and sores (17).
In the early part of the 20th century,
the medical literature contained reports on the
antimicrobial and healing properties of honey.
Russian soldiers during World War I used honey
to prevent infections in wounds and to accelerate
healing (18). The effectiveness of honey to heal
wounds spurred research into its antimicrobial
activity, which was attributed to "inhibine."
In 1963, inhibine was identified as hydrogen peroxide
(19), a powerful oxidizer that kills bacteria,
viruses and fungi.
During the first half of the 20th
century, there were many research papers documenting
the wound healing properties of honey (20,21).
The medical profession did acknowledge the value
of honey in the treatment of wounds, leg ulcers
and burns. The introduction of antibiotics shifted
the focus to synthetic and mass-produced treatment.
The medical uses of honey as effective treatment
in wounds was "forgotten."
In 1976, an editorial in the Archives of Internal
Medicine on medical folklore arrogantly dismissed
honey as a "worthless but harmless substance"
(22). If the authors of the editorial had bothered
to read a little bit of medical history, they
probably would have given honey the benefit of
the doubt.
Over the last two decades, reports from different
parts of the world affirmed the effectiveness
of honey in treating various wounds, burns and
serious infections (18,23-30). These reports and
the emergence of drug resistant infections stimulated
a number of scientists to conduct studies on honey,
bringing about a resurgence of interest in the
medical uses of honey. Recent research on honey
has shed light on the mechanisms underlying its
antimicrobial effects.
In summary the antibacterial
effects are due to (31-33):
 Osmotic effect: Honey is a supersaturated sugar
solution of fructose and glucose, which comprise
84%. The interaction of the sugar molecules with
water molecules leaves very little water available
to support the growth of microorganisms.
Acidity: Honey is acidic, with a ph ranging from
3.2 – 4.5 which is low enough to inhibitthe growth
of many pathogens.
Hydrogen peroxide is the major antibacterial compound
in honey. Bees secrete theenzyme glucose oxidase
from nectar. It converts glucose in the presence
of water and oxygen to glucoronic acid and hydrogen
peroxide. Both the acid and hydrogen peroxide
preserves and sterilizes the honey during the
ripening process.
Non-peroxide antibacterial factors: There have
been reports of isolation of various
antibacterial
chemical substances from honey that are not hydrogen
peroxide but their concentration is reportedly
too low to contribute much antibacterial activity.
Honey has been reported to have an inhibitory
effect to around 60 species of bacteria including
aerobes and anaerobes, gram-positives and gram-negatives
(30). An antifungal action has also been observed
for some yeasts and species ofAspergillus and
Penicillium as well as all the common dermatophytes
(31).
There are differences in the antibacterial activity
of different honeys. Honey is produced from many
different floral sources and its antibacterial
activity varies with origin and processing. Long
ago, both Aristotle and Dioscorides recommended
that honey collected in specific regions and seasons
and, presumably from different floral sources,
be used for the treatment of particular ailments
(13). Research has since shown that honey, like
antibiotics, has certain organisms sensitive to
it while others are resistant, and the sensitivity
varies depending on the source of the honey. It
is recommended that honey selected for clinical
use should be evaluated on the basis of antibacterial
activity levels determined by laboratory testing.
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the species most
sensitive to the antibacterial activity of honey
(34).
Other beneficial effects of honey include (31):
Stimulation of the healing process especially
leg ulcers and diabetic ulcers.
Speedy clearance of infection when used as dressing
on infected wounds. Honey is reportedly extremely
effective in the treatment of wounds infected
with antibiotic
resistant bacteria – MRSA as well
as wounds infected with multi-resistant bacteria.
Cleansing action on wounds: Honey has a debriding
effect on wounds so that surgical
debridement
is unnecessary or only a minimum required.
Stimulation of tissue regeneration: Honey promotes
the formation of clean healthygranulation tissie
and growth of epithelium over the wound, thus
helping skin regenerate. It has also been reported
that dressing wounds with honey gives little or
no scarring.
Comfort honey dressings: Honey is non- irritating
and the pain or discomfort associated with changing
dressings is minimized.
The current main medical use of
honey is in the treatment of infected wounds,
chronic leg and skin ulcers, bedsores, especially
in settings of drug-resistant infections (34).
The effectiveness of honey in wounds and ulcers
has been known empirically for thousands of years
and has recently been documented in clinical studies.
In 1999, the Therapeutic Goods Administration
of Australia, which is equivalent to the Food
and Drug Administration in the USA, approved Medihoney®,
which is 100% honey derived from blossoms of the
Leptospermum (Tea) Tree, as a primary wound dressing.
Two new products were also introduced in the Netherlands
in 2001. One is Medisoft®, a plaster containing
a neutral woven carrier of ethylvinylacetate (EVC)
and pure honey. The other is a sterile mix of
honey and other substances such as lanolin, sunflower
oil and zinc oxide (35).
Honey is reportedly used by ophthalmologists for
treating corneal ulcers in India and Russia where
it has been used for chemical and thermal burns
to the eye, conjunctivitis, and infections of
the cornea.
Other traditional folklore medical
indications of honey include peptic ulcers and
gastroenteritis. There is currently no rational
basis for its use in peptic ulcer. However, Helicobacter
pylori has been implicated as a causative agent
in peptic ulcers and honey’s antibacterial property
might be responsible for its therapeutic action
in this setting. There is only one small study
testing the sensitivity of H. pylori isolated
from biopsies of gastric ulcers against Manuka
honey from New Zealand. 5% honey was found to
inhibit the growth of H. pylori (36). Honey has
also been found to be effective in treating bacterial
gastroenteritis in infants. At least two studies
demonstrated that natural honey, but not commercial
honey, was bactericidal against the bacterial
isolates obtained and that different types of
honey exhibited varying bactericidal concentrations
(37).
Honey sometimes contains spores
of Clostridium Botulinum (38) so that there is
a definite risk of introducing the spores into
wounds if honey is used as dressing. Sterilization
of honey for use as wound dressing would eliminate
this risk. The antibacterial activity of honey
is lost with standard sterilization procedures
such as autoclaving but gamma-radiation does not
affect its bactericidal activity (39).
Much of the wisdom of folk medicine
has its roots in ancient beliefs held by people
who understood neither chemistry nor anatomy.
Honey is just the latest of the ancient remedies
to be "rediscovered." There are abundant
references in ancient writings indicating the
beneficial effects of honey and other bee products.
The humble bee makes honey from countless
varieties of plant blossoms and it is logical
to assume that by-products from the bee-hive such
as honey probably contain many substances of medicinal
value that modern medicine has yet to discover.
Who knows, honey may turn out to be another medical
marvel.®
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http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/
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THE PEASANT, THE APPLE TREE, AND THE BEEHIVE
A peasant had in his garden an apple tree, which bore no fruit, but only served as a perch for the sparrowsand grasshoppers. He resolved to cut it down, and, taking his ax in hand, made a bold strokeatits roots.The grasshoppers and sparrows entreated him not to cut down the tree that sheltered them, but to spare it, and they would sing to him and lighten his labors. |
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He paidno attention to their request, but gave the tree a second and third blow with his ax.
Whenhe reached the hollow of the tree, he found a hive full of honey. Having tastedthe honeycomb, he threw down his ax, and, looking on the tree as sacred, took great care of it. Self-interest alone
moves some men. Fables, Aesop, 600 BC |
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Director, Non-Invasive Cardiac Laboratory, Cardiology & Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. Email:rachel@hmc.org.qa
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GHA
PRESIDENT'S 
