Trial supports honey’s healing effects
01 Oct, 2008
Source: Comvita, 19 September 2008
A large clinical trial of Mānuka honey wound dressings has found they significantly improved the healing rates of stalled venous leg ulcers.
No other advanced wound care dressing, using compression therapy, has been shown to improve leg ulcer healing rates.
The 108-patient trial looked at venous leg ulcers that had not healed under standard treatment. Half the patients had a common wound care gel added to their treatment, and the other half received Comvita’s Mānuka dressing.
After a month, patients receiving the Mānuka dressing had an average of 34 percent reduction in the size of their wounds, compared to 13 percent reduction in the control group.
At 12 weeks, around 44 percent of the honey group had complete healing, compared to 33 percent in the control group.
“Since this product’s launch clinicians have consistently reported that Mānuka honey is effective on stalled ulcers of various etiologies,” Brett Hewlett of Comvita says.
The results of this latest study are significant because, currently, only 50 percent of chronic wounds heal with first-line treatment options, Mr Hewlett adds.
It also provides hope for patients who suffer from notoriously painful leg ulcers, which sometimes take years to heal.
