Is honey better at healing wounds than standard treatments used in the NHS ?

The Cochrane Library publishes a systematic review that aimed to determine whether honey increases the rate of healing in acute wounds and chronic wounds.

Researchers identified 19 RCTs or quasi randomised trials involving more than 2,500 patients with various wounds and found that in the trials of partial thickness burns, honey reduced healing time to healing by 4.68 days compared with some conventional dressings. However the researchers said this finding should be treated with caution.

In chronic wounds, they found that honey dressings used under compression bandaging did not increase healing in venous leg ulcers significantly, but researchers said there is insufficient evidence to guide clinical practice in other areas.

Source: Jull AB, Rodgers A, Walker N. "Honey as a topical treatment for wounds (Review)." Cochrane Database Systematic Review 2008; Issue 4 ( f/t via Athens)

Honey is better than children's cough medicine

In a US study to compare the effects of a single dose of buckwheat honey or honey-flavored dextromethorphan with no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty associated with childhood upper respiratory tract infections, 130 children were randomly assigned to receive buckwheat honey or honey-flavoured dextromethorphan or no treatment before bedtime.

Parents were asked to answer questions about the child's cough and sleep difficulty and compared with the previous night when no treatment was given at all. They rated honey the most favorable relief of symptoms of their child's nocturnal cough and sleep difficulty. The study concluded that honey may be a preferable treatment for children's cough and sleep difficulty.

Source : "Effect of Honey, Dextromethorphan, and No Treatment on Nocturnal Cough and Sleep Quality for Coughing Children and Their Parents" Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 2007;161(12):1140-1146 ( full text with Athens)