A team of researchers from Greece have shown that manuka honey-impregnated dressings have been shown to speed the healing of diabetes-related neuropathic foot ulcers. They attributed the enhanced healing to the antibacterial properties of the honey, which is produced in Australia and New Zealand from the nectar of the manuka tree. Their study was published September 18 in the International Wound Journal and reported on by medwireNews.
The study cohort comprised 63 patients with Type 2 diabetes. Thirty-two patients had manuka honey-impregnated dressings applied to their foot ulcers and the remaining 31 patients received conventional dressings. All patients tested positive for bacterial infection at baseline but 78.1 percent of ulcers treated with the impregnated bandages were sterile within a week of treatment compared with 35.5 percent of those given conventional dressings. This trend continued at two-, four-, and six-week follow-ups. Further, foot ulcers treated with manuka honey took 31 days on average to heal versus 43 days in the control group, and none of the patients given impregnated dressings required antibiotics during 16 weeks of follow-up compared with 29 percent of the control group. There was no significant difference in the percent of ulcers healed between the two groups.
The researchers said other researchers have suggested that the antibacterial component of manuka honey may impair wound closure. However, they said, “The results of this study showed expedition of healing of diabetic foot ulcers and do not support the above concerns.”
They concluded that future research is necessary to explain fully the healing effect of manuka honey on diabetes-related neuropathic foot ulcers.
