The Sweet Art of Healing - and more about honey

[Guest guest]

The Sweet Art of Healing

_http://www.naturalnews.com/026812_sugar_antibiotic_honey.html_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/026812_sugar_antibiotic_honey.html)

 

 

Jerome, a 53-year-old high school teacher, was in the hospital awaiting

amputation of his left leg. He'd been receiving IV antibiotics to treat a

diabetic ulcer, a wide, oozing open wound on his ankle, but this didn't halt

the steady advance of gangrene, and he was told they had no choice but to

take his leg.

 

 

About five hours before he was scheduled for surgery, Jerome talked to the

teacher who was substituting for him to tell him he*d probably be out for

the rest of the year. The substitute had heard about the Whitaker Wellness

Institute and the work we do here, so he suggested that Jerome check us out.

Jerome immediately phoned his wife, who called the clinic and asked if

there was anything we could do to save his leg. I said we would certainly try.

Figuring he had nothing to lose, Jerome left the hospital-against strongly

worded medical advice-and came to my clinic that same day.

 

 

**I Wouldn't Be Walking Today**

 

 

 

We immediately started Jerome on two therapies. First, he began a course

of EDTA chelation, an IV treatment that improves circulation. Second, we

dressed his ulcer with

_sugar_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/sugar.html) . That's right, white table

sugar. We simply poured sugar into the wound, wrapped it up, and changed

the dressing regularly. Within days he noticed a difference.

 

 

**I could see the sores were starting to get better and the swelling had

gone down. At first the leg was almost all black. Then it started to get

pinkish. It was just amazing how it continued to feel so much better.** Within

three weeks, Jerome*s ulcer was healed, and he was able to resume teaching

and coaching the girl*s softball team.

 

 

**I didn*t know anything about

_alternative medicine_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/alternative_medicine.html) when I went to see you.

I guess I was skeptical because I had no idea

what to expect. I just felt that it was my last hope. I wouldn*t be walking

today if it weren*t for you. I've often thought about sending a card to the

doctor who wanted to amputate, with a picture of my leg, and say, ** I

still have it.** **

 

5,000 Years of Success

 

 

Chelation is an amazing treatment, however, in this article I want to

focus on sugar because it is an incredibly powerful therapy that was

instrumental in saving Jerome's leg. I've been using sugar to dress open wounds

for

20-plus years, but this therapy has been around for much longer-at least

5,000 years.

 

 

 

Honey (which works just like sugar) is mentioned in the world*s earliest

known medical document, discovered in Luxor, Egypt, in 1862. Known as the

Edwin Smith Papyrus, it was written around 1600 BC and is believed to be

based on materials from as early as 3000 BC. This ancient manuscript is

essentially a textbook on traumatic surgery, and it describes anatomy,

examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of a variety of injuries in

great

detail. In particular, it tells how

_honey_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/honey.html) , along with animal fat,

herbs, roots, bark, spices, and cat dung, can be used to treat open wounds

and burns.

 

Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician who lived in Rome in the first

century AD, also extolled the therapeutic powers of honey. In his five-volume

De Materia Medica, which was the primary pharmacopeia in Europe and the

Middle East for 16 centuries, he described honey as **good for all rotten and

hollow

_ulcers_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/ulcers.html) .** In fact, honey-and

later, sugar-continued to be widely used to treat wounds well into the

twentieth century. Then _antibiotics_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/antibiotics.html) came along.

 

Better Than Antibiotics

 

 

Today,

_antibiotic_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/antibiotic.html) ointments are

the treatment of choice for ulcers, cuts, scrapes, and burns. Yet honey and

sugar are far superior to any antibiotic ointment ever used.

Antibiotics aren't as effective as they once were, because _bacteria_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/bacteria.html) rapidly becomes resistant to them.

While an antibiotic kills most of the bacteria, the stronger ones-those with

some genetic variation that allows them to withstand the effects of the

drug-survive and reproduce. Over time, that strain of bacteria becomes

completely resistant to the effects of the antibiotic. Another antibiotic comes

on the market that kills most of these " superbugs, " and the process starts

over again.

 

Today, antibiotic resistance has reached a critical mass: Many

_infections_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/infections.html) do not respond

to any antibiotics at all. This is what happened to Jerome and the 82,000

other Americans who lose a leg or foot to non-healing _diabetic_

(http://www.naturalnews.com/diabetic.html) ulcers annually. It's also what

affects the

two million patients who acquire an infection while they're in the

_hospital_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/hospital.html) and the 90,000 who die

from

these infections every year.

 

Wounds are particularly prone to infection because the gauze used to dress

them absorbs fluid from the wound and becomes a breeding ground for

bacteria and fungus. Drug companies are working around the clock to come up

with

antibiotics that stay one step ahead of microbes. Yet, the solution is as

near as your sugar bowl. The reason? Bacteria cannot become resistant to the

killing effects of sugar or honey.

 

 

Sweet, Powerful Medicine

 

 

When sugar or honey is packed on top of and inside of an open wound, it

dissolves in the fluid exuding from the wound, creating a hyperosmotic, or

highly concentrated, medium. Bacteria cannot live in a hyperosmotic

environment any more than a goldfish could survive in the Great Salt Lake.

Scientists

have tested the viability of many types of bacteria, including Klebsiella,

Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Streptococcus pyogenes, and none of

them have been able to survive in a honey or sugar solution.

 

 

In addition to curbing infection, this therapy facilitates healing in

other ways. It draws fluid out of the wound, which reduces edema (swelling). It

provides a covering or filling and therefore prevents scabbing. It

encourages the removal of dead tissue to make way for new growth. It promotes

granulation, the formation of connective tissue and

_blood_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/blood.html) vessels on the surfaces of

a wound. Finally, it supports the growth of new skin covering the wound.

The net result is rapid healing with minimal scarring.

 

This Doctor Has Treated 7,000 Wounds

 

 

The country*s, if not the world*s, leading expert on the use of sugar as a

wound dressing is Richard A. Knutson, MD, now retired but for many years

an orthopedic surgeon at the Delta Medical Center in Greenville,

Mississippi. Dr. Knutson first learned about the healing power of sugar from an

elderly nurse who worked in the hospital where he was making rounds to check on

his patients. When he expressed concern about a patient's bedsore that was

so deep it was down to the bone, she told him, **In the old days, we used to

put sugar on them wounds.**

 

 

Although he was dubious, he gave it a try. To his surprise, it worked like

a charm. Within a couple of days the wound was free of pus, and with

continued use of sugar dressings, healing was complete. Dr. Knutson, a

meticulous record keeper, went on to treat and document nearly 7,000 wounds of

all

sizes and degrees of severity: ulcers, abrasions, lacerations, amputations,

abscesses, gunshot wounds, frostbite, punctures, post-operative incisions,

cat scratches, burns, and bites (dog, human, snake, spider, and, believe it

or not, one lion bite).

 

 

He told me about a patient who had accidentally shot himself in the foot

at close range with a shotgun. I saw pictures of this, and it was

incredible: a perfectly round, inch-and-a-half diameter hole right through his

foot.

After the bleeding was stopped and the wound cleaned, Dr. Knutson packed it

with sugar and wrapped it up. Seven weeks later it had healed completely,

and today the patient is fully functional.

 

 

Burns: No Skin Grafts, No Scarring

 

 

Sugar dressings are also great for burns. Most burn centers insist on

using silver sulfadiazine, an antibiotic ointment, to treat burns, but it

doesn't work nearly as well as sugar or honey.

 

 

 

In a study published in the Annals of Burns and Fire Disasters, 900

patients who presented with second-degree burns were treated with either honey

or

an antibiotic ointment. All burns were then covered with gauze and

bandaged, and the dressing was changed every other day. The 450 patients

treated

with honey fared much better than those receiving the usual treatment. They

healed faster, in an average of nine days compared to 13.5 days in the

antibiotic group. They had fewer infections, 5.5 percent versus 12 percent. And

minor scarring occurred in only 6.2 percent of the honey-treated patients,

while a whopping 20 percent of those receiving conventional treatment ended

up with scars.

 

 

 

Dr. Knutson*s experience mirrors the results of this study. He has treated

1,622 burns with sugar dressings, and virtually all of them were

infection-free and required no antibiotics or skin grafts. He told me about one

patient with extensive burns who received antibiotic treatment on some areas of

his body and sugar on others. The sugar-treated burns healed faster and

scarred less.

 

 

If It's So Good, Why Isn*t It Used?

 

 

Trying to figure out why inexpensive, effective therapies like sugar and

honey dressings aren't being used is an exercise in futility. That's because

there is no rational explanation. Some physicians claim it would cause

elevations in blood sugar, which is nonsense because sugar or honey used on an

open wound does not enter the bloodstream. Others think it's unscientific

or just plain weird.

 

 

 

I suspect it*s because, like so many other overlooked therapies, it

doesn*t fit into the model of conventional

_medicine_ (http://www.naturalnews.com/medicine.html) . It isn*t a drug. It

costs pennies. It can be administered by the patient as easily as by a

nurse or doctor, so it doesn*t require many return office visits. Whatever the

reason, do not expect your doctor to offer this therapy or even be open to

it. But next time you get a cut, scrape, or burn, give it a try, and let

me know how it works.

 

Protocol for Treating Wounds With Sugar

 

Sugar or honey dressing may be used to treat any kind of open wound or

burn. (We use sugar at the clinic because it's less messy.) It will not work on

abscesses or pustules that are covered with skin. Do not use on a bleeding

wound as sugar promotes bleeding.

 

 

1)Unravel a 4* x 4* piece of gauze into a long strip and coat it with

Vaseline. Place it around the outside edges of the wound, like a donut.

 

2)Cover the wound with 1/4-inch of sugar. (The Vaseline **donut** will

keep it in place.)

 

3)Place a 4* x 4* sponge on top of the wound. Bandage it firmly but not

too snugly with a cling dressing.

 

4)Change the dressing every one or two days. Remove, irrigate with water,

saline, or hydrogen peroxide, pat dry, and repeat steps 1-3.

 

 

 

Reference

 

Subrahmanyam M. Honey dressing for burns-an appraisal. Annals of Burns and

Fire Disasters. 1996;IX:33-35.

 

 

 

RELATED

 

Honey and the Treatment of Wounds and Burns

By Maureen Williams, ND

_http://www.wellness-interactive.com/newswire/2003_03_13_2.htm_

(http://www.wellness-interactive.com/newswire/2003_03_13_2.htm)

 

 

Cinnamon and Honey the Miracle Cure

Facts on honey and cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and

cinnamon cures most diseases

_http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/holistic_alternative_medicin

e/news.php?q=1203893237_

(http://www.fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/health/holistic_alternative_medicine/ne\

ws.php?q=1203893237)

_http://www.matchdoctor.com/blog_82010/cinamon_and_honey_the_miracle_cure.ht

ml_

(http://www.matchdoctor.com/blog_82010/cinamon_and_honey_the_miracle_cure.html)