Showing posts with label alternative to antibiotics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alternative to antibiotics. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

A Solution to Antibiotic Resistance

Medical professionals are now using a particular type of honey from New Zealand known as Manuka Honey to treat infections caused by bacteria that have developed a resistance to antibiotics.

In recent years, there has been an escalating concern over the growing resistance of many germs to antibiotics. Penicillin is no longer effective against a number of pathogens. Vancomycin, has long been considered the best weapon against bacteria no longer vulnerable to other drugs. However, it too, is losing its effectiveness. According to experts, almost every human infection (i.e. malaria, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, pneumonia, leprosy, etc.) is now resistant to at least one major class of antibiotics, and the situation is expected to worsen.

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) one of the most notorious antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria has been wreaking havoc throughout communities all over the world. In fact, the FDA has recently announced that there are more people dying of MRSA in the U.S. than of AIDS, raising it to epidemic proportions. To make matters even worse, some experts are now predicting that there will be an emergence of new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the future.

There is, however, a solution and it comes in the form of a 3000 year old wound remedy...honey. Honey's effectiveness in suppressing microbes is very different than that of antibiotics. Therefore, antibiotic resistance is less likely with honey. Most microbes need moisture to sustain life. It is, therefore, difficult for microbes to develop resistance to the moisture-extracting properties of honey. Much of honey's antimicrobial activity is bacteriostatic (freezing the bacteria in time and preventing them from spreading) rather than bactericidal or killing the bacteria. Resistance by bacteria is more likely to happen in an agent that kills them (as in the case with most antibiotics) because the few surviving bacteria (and there are always a few) pass on their resistant genes to future generations. To date, no resistance of pathogens to honey has been reported. This is being viewed as an extremely important medical discovery.

Over the past 30 years, antibiotics have been grossly over-prescribed by medical professionals. This overuse of antibiotics is partly due to patients demanding an easy fix, and to pharmaceutical companies promoting that easy fix. The problem is that many antibiotics are indiscriminate killers. When taken orally, they kill all the flora in the gastrointestinal tract, both good and bad. Such indiscriminate killing can throw the whole system off balance. The body contains beneficial microbes that are important for sustaining good health. However, these microbes are less affected by honey than they are by most antibiotics.

As of late, the medical industry has been taking a closer look at honey as a viable alternative to antibiotics in the treatment of many maladies. Not just any honey will do though. Manuka Honey seems to contain more antibacterial properties than any other type of honey. Manuka Honey is produced by bees that feed on the nectar of the flowers that grow on the Manuka Tea Tree, indigenous to New Zealand. This bioactive, medical-grade honey has been proven to destroy infectious bacteria that are responsible for many different types of health complications, including bacteria that has shown a resistance to antibiotics (such as MRSA and VRE).

"Manuka Honey is being considered a shining beacon of hope for medical professionals who have been scrambling for a solution to antibiotic resistance," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International which is a manufacturer of skin care products that contain active Manuka Honey as a healing agent. "Unlike antibiotics, Manuka Honey has been found to have no negative side effects when used for therapeutic purposes, making it an extremely valuable commodity in the medical field."

For more information or to purchase Manuka Honey or Manuka Honey products, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Manuka Honey as a Natural Alternative to Antibiotics

Recent studies have shown that a particular type of honey outperforms antibiotics when treating many health complications, both internally and topically on the skin.

There is a natural alternative to conventional medicine when treating certain health conditions such as stomach ulcers, acid reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, infected wounds, pressure sores, etc. This natural treatment solution comes in the form of a special type of honey found only in New Zealand called Manuka Honey.

Since Manuka Honey contains natural antimicrobial properties, many health conditions caused by harmful microorganisms (bacterial, viral or fungal) can be treated with Manuka Honey. Since pharmaceuticals are notorious for causing negative side effects, Manuka Honey is being viewed as a safe alternative. It has been discovered that Manuka Honey contains extremely powerful antibacterial properties that can effectively treat a wide spectrum of health conditions, without any harmful side effects.

But don't be fooled. Just because Manuka Honey is a natural substance, doesn't mean it has less healing powers than medicine. Not only does Manuka Honey work like a medicine in treating certain conditions, in many cases, it seems to work better than antibiotics and shows effectiveness even where traditional forms of medicine have failed. For example, the resilient antibiotic-resistant suberbugs known as MRSA that are responsible for causing potentially life-threatening Staph infections are no match to the antibacterial action of Manuka Honey. This unique medical-grade honey goes to work at disabling the dangerous microbes by dehydrating them and preventing them from multiplying.

For conditions such as gastrointestinal complications, IBS and H. pylori/stomach ulcers, Manuka Honey can be taken orally. However, Manuka Honey has many useful topical applications as well. For example, when applied directly to the skin, Manuka Honey is effective in treating conditions such as acne, burns, wounds, eczema, ringworm and any other bacterial or fungal infection.

Medical professionals around the world are beginning to recognize the benefits of using Manuka Honey instead of antibiotics and other medications. Unlike antibiotics, it's not crucial to identify the type of bacteria that is causing the infection as Manuka Honey destroys all infectious microorganisms that may be present. When using antibiotics, the specific infectious bacterium has to be identified in order to determine which antibiotic should be used.

There is also no problem with resistance when using Manuka Honey for medicinal purposes. When using antibiotics, there is a 50% chance that it won't work due to bacteria becoming so widely resistant to antibiotics in recent years. To date, there has been no reports of any bacteria being able to develop a resistance to Manuka Honey. With experts predicting the emergence of new antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in the future, doctors will become more reliant on Manuka Honey's unparalleled antibacterial properties.

Manuka Honey's ability to eradicate MRSA is now being viewed as a major breakthrough in the health care industry, as reports of Staph infections are running rampant all over the world. The CDC has recently determined that MRSA now kills more people in the U.S. than AIDS, making it a serious health concern of epidemic proportion. With antibiotics proving to be relatively useless against MRSA, Manuka Honey's efficacy is gaining worldwide recognition.

Another benefit of using Manuka Honey for medical purposes is that it tastes better than medicine. Manuka Honey is also less expensive than most medicine as well. People all over the world are using Manuka Honey to treat heartburn, ulcers, stomach aches, gastritis and other internal health complications. For skin care, Manuka Honey must be applied topically and can be used for any kind of wounds, skin ulcers, sores, insect stings/bites, poison ivy/oak, scrapes, acne, eczema, etc. Even cosmetically, Manuka Honey is being used to reduce wrinkles on the skin.

Because of Manuka Honey's rich, sweet taste, taking it orally is usually not a problem. However, Manuka Honey can be somewhat of a sticky mess when used on the skin. A company called Honeymark has developed a line of skin care products containing active Manuka Honey to eliminate this inconvenience.

"Even though it is very effective, using Manuka Honey externally to treat conditions such as eczema, athlete's foot or any other condition that covers a large portion of the skin can be impractical because of its sticky nature," says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International. "That's why our customers prefer using our Manuka Honey skin care products over pure Manuka Honey. Our products offer all of the same benefits to using Manuka Honey without the sticky mess."

It's important to know that Manuka Honey can be diluted 100 fold and still be effective as a natural healing agent. Therefore, using Manuka Honey as a main ingredient in liquid-based or cream-based products presents no threat of it losing its potency. For internal purposes, Buonanotte recommends taking pure Manuka Honey orally, as long as it's a medical-grade active Manuka Honey (UMF 10 or higher). For external purposes, Honeymark's Manuka Honey skin care products are user friendly with a much more desirable application.

For more information or to purchase Manuka Honey and Honeymark's Manuka Honey skin care products, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.