Clinical Evidence Showing Honeys Effectiveness - Research Paper Example

? Running head:Research Paper, Nursing The use of honey to treat diabetic foot or ulcer foot Lecturer The use of honey to treatdiabetic foot or ulcer foot I. Introduction The number of diabetes patients has been on the rise and is estimated to double in the next 20 years worldwide. Diabetic people are likely to be admitted in hospital more due to foot complications. Fifteen to twenty percent of people living with diabetes are at risk of a diabetic ulcer foot with 15% of these complications attracting amputations. Standard care for treating such complications requires strong understanding to treat this high-risk population. In Australia, over 1000 people died in 2005 as a result of lower limb ulceration. This was a representation of 8% of people who died of diabetes that year. Every year 10,000 patients with diabetes ulcer foot are admitted in hospitals (Diabetes Australian, 2005, p.7). Diabetic foot infections occur as a result of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the only way to arrest the ulcers is to arrest bacteria reaction until the wound is healed (Molan, 2006, p.40). One of the effective remedies established to treat diabetes foot ulcers is honey. Clinic studies found that honey has a high anti-bacterial activity making it suitable treatment for bacteria that is anti-biotic resistance (Taks, 2007, p.54). Honey has an antioxidant that provides an anti-inflammatory reaction causing the wound to heal without inflaming the ulcers (Eddy and Gideonsen, 2005, p.533). Patients come to the hospital with serious wounds showing no progress insist on honey treatment, wounds are dressed under the supervision of O.R superintendent at the hospital. The honey treatment has appealed to many clinicians at the hospitals because of its wound healing effects. There is currently no specific research at my institution but this unconventional way of treating wounds may attract attention due to its healing properties. It has been found by French, cooper and Molan (2005, p.228) that wounds heal faster if given due attention. Honey has been used for years for wound treatment and in this case diabetic foot ulcers yet this traditional treatment has barely been recognized in clinical circles. There is need to establish in the clinic practice an effective therapy for foot ulcers (Pierre, 2008, p.342). II.Why honey works well on diabetic ulcers According to Gottrup, Apelaqvist and Price, (2010, p.239) if a wound is infected it will not heal. Too much bacteria stops the cells responsible for repairing the wound from growing. The bacteria’s outer coat also causes inflammation to the wound preventing it from healing. Serious wound infections that do not respond to therapy lead to amputations to stop the wound from spreading. Reports reach clinicians on the use of honey for clearing wounds but most claim it is not yet an assurity (Gottrup, Apelaqvist and Price, 2010, p.239). Because of a lack of a clear benchmark to treat diabetes foot ulcers, the hospital checks wound progress and if there is no improvement the patients are referred to an MFCT department. During treatment the hospital to stop infection educate the patients on importance of self care and foot inspection. Most patients with extreme wounds fear the risk of having their limbs amputated. The debridement, wound dressing, offloading, good glycaemic control, potential antibiotic therapy and vesicular intervention sometimes fail to treat the foot ulcers making the wounds deteriorate which leads to disfigurement, burns or amputation. In 1999 Capilano, Australia’s largest honey company came up with honey products and sold it to pharmacies, clinics and hospitals for medicinal purposes. The main aim was to use the honey products for healing untreatable wounds, ulcers and burns (Diabetes Australia, 2005, p.7). The therapy instead of going through the four stages, it arrests the problem at the inflammation stage. The anti-oxidant in honey was discovered two millenniums ago and that is why it is used to treat sunburn Gottrup, Apelaqvist and Price, (2010, p.239). The reason the foot wounds heal slowly is due to lack of insulin or its fast response (Thomas et al., 2009, p.83: Kingsley, 2005, p.47). The wound’s rate of healing is affected by the fluctuating glucose levels and therefore an intervention is required to trigger a fast healing response. Findings state that honey carries an insulin-mimetic effect when inhaled in form of an aerosol (Okeniyi et al., 2005, p.511). The wounds respond well when treated with honey because it arrests the ulcers to a healing state. Although there many lab tests that show honey’s broad antibacterial activity, none consider its potential in fighting antibiotics resistant bacteria. III.Clinical evidence showing honey’s effectiveness. Modern clinics have attempted trials to establish how the oldest wound dressing material operates (Henrique et al., 2006, p.773: French, cooper and Molan, 2005, p.228). Too many honey is a wound treatment that is been rediscovered because it is still a new development. The hospital doctors have started questioning the wound healing effects of honey and how this product is been used to treat wounds that refuse to respond to modern day treatments. There is no evidence so far to support 100% a specific kind of wound dressing. The dressing changes as the wound changes. Dressing selection in the hospital is determined by the level of moisture in the wound so as to control the infection and inflammation. Sometimes the patient suffers from dry diabetes foot ulcer and so we create a moist environment by covering the wound with non-adherent non-occlusive dressing. Patients with diabetic ulcers most times prefer to use honey because it smells less, helps the wound heal quicker and the wound scars after healing are minimized. As a research specialist at the research centre at Jeddah, I have access to vast materials from online sites, books, encyclopaedias, newsletters, medical magazines and journals. The management is interested in evidence-based but it has not officially ordered the research yet because is not quite straight forward despite the fact that honey products have succeeded in treating wounds in the past. While online I stumbled into Ostomy wound management-a healthcare website that post the latest healthcare reforms on wound management. The following are some of the trials that were conducted by former researcher and their outcomes: On a random trial three groups of fourteen patients with single donor sites were put placed under analysis. Half of the patients were treated using comparative treatment while the other half was treated with honey (Molan, 2006, p.43). The clinicians used paraffin gauze, saline-soaked gauze and hydrocolloid. The test was to see which element achieved fast wound healing with less pain. Honey passed as the element with the least pain in the sores and fastest wound healer. Lab tests have been carried out and the results have reflected honey has bio activities that can be useful in wound healing. Various studies have been carried on Muka honey scientifically known as Leptspermum to prove its antibacterial potency (Molan, 2006, p.45). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) showed that honey even when diluted still has enough antibacterial to prevent further bacteria growth. For Staphylococcus aureus was found to be 2-3% while coagulase-negative staphylococci 3.3-4% this report showed honey’s effectiveness on in clearing a wound infection. Where honey was found to be slow in wound healing results have shown honey with low antibacterial potency was used in the trial (Molan, 2006, p.47; White, 2005, p.58). The trials were also conducted on animals were in one of the studies 16 trials on 533 wounds were carried out. The result of this showed again that honey does assist wound healing. An issue of how it was applied arose during these studies. Where honey was improperly applied, the wound healed slowly (Simone et al., 2005, p.3). There was poor progress because honey was flashed out of the dressing causing it to exudates. How honey is applied on the wound affects the rate at which the wound heals (French, cooper and Molan, 2005, p.228). Frequent change of the dressing was found to achieve better progress in terms of the wound healing. This however gave the clinicians the impression that there was more in healing behind how the wound was dressed and not the honey. In some of the case trials, honey has been compared with silver sulfadiazine in anti-inflammatory action. Honey demonstrated its ability to reduce oxidative stress and relieve the patient from burns better than silver sulfadiazine (Molan, 2006, p.47). It was found that honey carried an anti-oxidant that helps reduce inflammation on the ulcer healing faster. The lab test confirmed that that it had a directly acted on the infection as a result of its high antibacterial activity. In one other study honey was found to significantly (p Read More