Just a Spoonful of Honey is Medicine Enough

As we face more challenges when treating and healing humans, revisiting therapies that fell out of favor has become more common. For example, people with open wounds that are not healing receive judicious applications of maggots to remove necrotic tissue and promote healing. Leeches are used for patients after surgery to prevent blood clotting in swollen tissues and encourage healing. However, not all therapies involve direct application of squirmy creatures to skin; in fact, honey is one item people are willing to have in their homes. Honey has been used as a sweetener for food, for soothing sore throats and coughs and, more recently, for treating wounds unresponsive to traditional antibiotic therapy. In a recent PLoS ONE paper, the authors assessed the properties that are associated with honey’s antimicrobial activity against pathogenic and food-spoiling bacteria. Continue reading “Just a Spoonful of Honey is Medicine Enough”