HONEY REGIMEN IN GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDERS

Dr. S.N. Salem
Egypt.


INTRODUCTION
The first documented case report about honey treatment of gastro-intestinal disorders came in Bukhari and Moslem Hadith Books of our gracious prophet Mohammed ( PBUH ) as follows:

"A MAN CAME TO HIM ASKING HIS ADVICE TO TREAT HIS BROTHER WHO WAS SUFFERING FROM DIARRHEA. THE PROPHET (PBUH) TOLD THAT MAN TO GIVE HIS BROTHER HONEY TO DRINK. THE MAN WENT BACK AND GAVE THIS SICK BROTHER HONEY BUT WITHOUT RESPONSE. HE ASKED THE PROPHET (PBUH) AGAIN, WHO ADVISED HIM TO TRY HONEY AGAIN. FOR THE ISECOND TIME, THE MAN DID NOT RESPOND AND HIS BROTHER RETURNED TO THE PROPHET (PBUH) FOR A THIRD TIME. THE PROPHET (PBUH) PRONOUNCED THAT GOD SAID THE TRUTH ABOUT HONEY, BUT YOUR ILL BROTHER'S ABDOMEN LIED. GO BACK AND LET HIM DRINK HONEY. THIS TIME THE ILL MAN RECOVERED".

Ever since Moslems and Arabs used honey to treat different types of illnesses. However, many scientific approaches to document the efficiency of honey in diarrhea, abdominal colic, chest affection, skin diseases... etc. have been attempted. (2, 3.)

This paper is an attempt to verify the value of honey in the management of upper gastrointestinal dyspepsia including peptic ulceration.

RESULTS
Age and sex distribution of 45 patients included in this study, "26 males and 19 females", the majority of whom belonged to (20-40 yrs.) age groups. Upper abdominal pain, and dyspeptic symptoms flatulence, indigestion, heartburn, eructation, nausea and vomiting" were dominating, whe eas haematemesis occured in 12 patients (27 %) only. (Table 2). More than half of the patients were anaemic and occult blood in stools was found in 82% . Evidence of peptic ulcers duodenitis and gastritis in 75% and so were the endoscopic findings. Finally, diffrent criteria of improvement. Clinically two-thirds of the patients recovered and another 7 were relieved. Barium meal and upper endoscopic evaluation showed marked improvement and 5 out of 7 man tested complete ulcer healing. Anaemia was corrected in more than half of the patients. Further, no one showed hoemoglobin percentage below 50%. Occult blood persisted in 4 out of 37 patients.

COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS
The data, obtained from the present therapeutic trial, provided substantial evidence that honey has a plac in the management of upper gastrointestinal disorders. Furthermore, we have tried honey enemata in cases of ulcerative proctitis with encouraging results, which will be described in a separate communication. It was observed that honey regimen is effective in organic lesions as ulcers and gastritis or Iduo enitis where the response is dramatic. But patients with functional disorders as cardiac or pyloric spasm responded poorly to honey regimen. Other successful therapeutic trials were employed in the management of heavy metal poisoning and in kidney and liver diseases. Abdel Gaffar and colleagues ,found that honey regimen modified gastric juice constituents to the benefit of the individual by suppres ing hypersecretion of hydrochloric acid and by so doing enhanced healing of peptic ulcerss.

However, honey may produce favourable effects through the anti-bacterial property. Zawawy has Isho n the high efficiency of local application of honey in septic wounds and in long standing pyogenic Iskin ulcers. Such effect might have been achieved because of the high content of dextrose in honey (25 0%) more than any other natural food. However, further work is needed for a better understanding of th mode of action of honey in health and disease.

We may conclude that honey regimen is a useful tool in physicians' hands for the treatment of gasitroin estinal diseases. Honey regimen should be the first choice in such problems as it is of natural ,source, does not have the side effects of drugs, of high nutrient value and is cheapter than any other form of therapy.

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTION OF HONEY

The tehrapeutic action of honey was mentioned in various studies in traditional medicine. It was proved that local application of honey promoted healing of wounds. The antibacterial substances in honey are still inknown exactly and are called "inhibin".

The person study is an in vitro comparison of antibacterial action of honey in different dilutions, to the effect of a number of commonly used antibiotics on 9 types of pathogenic organisms in urine samples of 149 patients of urinary tract infection. It was found that the antibacterial action of honey in 50-30% dilution, is superior to all antibiotics including gentamycin.

INTRODUCTION

The Holy Quran mentioned honey and attributed some therapeutic values to it. The therapeutic value of honey was underlined in various literature. It occupied a prominent place in traditional medicine. The use of honey has recently been reviewed. Local application of honey was found to promote healing of owounds in some patients. This unusual treatment was first brought to the medical attention by Prof. Scott-Russedi of Sheffield. This method was applied to several infected abdominal wounds in Sheffield and St. Louis. The results were sufficiently remarkable to consider further use of method in patients undergoing radical operation for vulval carcinomas. The wounds generally break down owing to impaired blood supply. Healing rarely occurs by primary intention and skin grafting may be necessary to assist wound closure 1. Undiluted honey was used in 12 patients who developed wound break down following a radical operation for carcinoma of vulva. The results were encouraging. The healing process was particularly enhanced. Culture from the wound was obtained at intervals. The time at which the wound became bacteria-free was 3-6 days in all cases. Also the time of complete wound healing was noted 2.

The presence in honey of various amounts of inhibin as described by Dold et al (1937) has been reported by several investigators. Placky (1944) 5 discussed the known constituents of honey that might be responsible for antibacterial action and concluded this was not due to sugar, acids, nitrogen compounds, enzymes, pH, vitamins or ohter known constituents. He note that inhibin passes through a dialysis membrane and withstand vacuum concentration with no activity remaining in the solution. Schuler and Vogel (1956) 6 extracted undiluted honey in various solvents and reported that the inhibitory substance was ether-soluble.

Schade et al (1958) 7 showed that inhibin was more heat sensitive than honey amylase and that its level in a limited number of honeys by a modified Dold Assay did not correlate with amylase activity.

Warnecke et al (1958) assayed 600 honey samples of 131 types for inhibin by the Dold procedure. They concluded that inhibin activity and invertase activity ran parallel.

Stomfay-Stitz et al (1960) 8 stated that inhibin was active against both gram positive and negative bacteria and was of unknown constitution.

Gluconic acid was recently found to be the principal acid in honey (Stenson et al, 1960) 9. The acid-producing enzyme in honey was a glucose oxidase producing gluconic acid (gluconolactone) and hydrogen peroxide from glucose 10. The HzOz was produced in honey by the action of a glucose oxidase on glucose. The enzymatic oxidation of glucose take place very slowly in undiluted honey and at much higher rates as honey was diluted 10.

The role of honey as a healer in certain types of wounds particularly septic burns notorious for their chronicity is worth investigation. An invitro investigation of the potency of honey was thought a necessary step before advice in the use of honey for application in the treatment of burns.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present study is based on the in vitro comparison of the sensitivity of certain pathogenic micro-organisms to the effect of a number of commonly used antibiotics and various dilutions of honey in distilled water. 5 dilutions starting from 50% - 10% were used. The bacteria were isolated from the urine of patients complaining of various U.T. troubles. The types of isolated bacteria in descending frequency were E Coli, Klebsiella, B Proteus, and Pseudomonas. A lower incidence of Strept cocci and Staph cocci was reported. The antibiotics tested were Cephaloridine (Cr), Penbritin (Amp), Gentamycin (Gn), Nitrofurantoin (Nit), Nalidixic acid (N) and Co-Sulfamethazol (SX1).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Out of the 320 samples of urine cultured, 191 were found sterile and 149 were found to have fbacteria, 100,000/cm. 9 types pathogenic bacteria were identified in the urine samples. The most common type was E coli, found in 80 samples. The other types were markedly less common. Comparison between the bacterial activity of the various dilutions of honey and the commonly used antibiotics is shown in Table (1). Among the antibiotics, Gn proved to be the most potent. Nit, N and SX1 were the least effective.

The potency of honey 50% - 30% was found to be superior to all types of antibiotics including Gn. The effect of honey was not affected by dilutions up to 30%. The sensitivity to both 20% and 10% honey was less for Klebsiella, where sensitivity dropped particularly with the 10% dilution. Dilution of honey below 30% seems to lower the efficiency. This is in conformity with the reports of Cavanagh et al (1970). The overall picture confirms the finding of several other works about the efficiency of honey as an antibacterial agent recommended for infective complications of wounds. Also the application of honey to infected burns seem quite promising.



REFERENCES

1. CAVANAGH, D., AND DESAI, S. Australian and New Zeland Journal of Obs. & Gyn., 8, 171 (1968)
2. CAVANAGH, D., BEAZLEY, J., AND OSTAPOWICS, F.J. Obst. and Gyn. of Brit. Commonwealth, 77, 1037 (1970).
3. WARNECKE, B., AND DUISBERG, H., AND LEBENSON, Z. Untersuch Forsch 107, 340 (1958)
4. DOLD, H., DU, D.H., AND DZIAO. Hyg. Infekttion Skrankh, 120, 155 (1937).
5. PLACKY, E. ZENTE, Bakterial Parasitenk, abt. 11, 109, 401 (1944).
6. SCHULLER, R., AND VOGEL R. Arzneimittel-Forsch, 6, 194 (1958).
7. SCHADE, J.E., MARSH, G.L., AND ECKERT, J.E. Food Res. 23, 446 (1948).
8. STOMFAY-STITZ, J., KOMINORS, S.D., AND LEBENSON, Z. Forsch, 113, 304 (1960).
9. STENSON, E.E., SUBERS, M.H., PETTY, J., AND WHITE, J.W.J. Arch. Biochem. Biopsy. 89, 6 (1960).
10. JONATHAN, W., WHITE, J.R., MARY, H., Subers and Abnder, 1, Schempartz, Biochemica et biophysica Acta, 73, 57 (1963).

Manifestations of Allah's Qudrat - The Honeybee

By Ibrahim B. Syed

By Ibrahim B. Syed

With the introduction of the computer age, man has often prided himself over his ability to produce machines which imitate the brain’s ability of carrying out complex mathematical functions, etc. Yet, the question remains to be asked: Just how much has man really achieved? We will answer that question by putting forward the example of just one tiny creation of Allah Tala; the honeybee. We often marvel at the healing Allah Tala has kept in honey. Now consider the mind of the honeybee just one of the millions of marvellous creations of Allah Taala.

Smartness of the honeybee How smart is the common honeybee?

It is far smarter than today’s most powerful super computers. Modern computers can attain the amazing processing speed of 16 gigaflops or 16 billion simple arithmetic operations, (such as adding two numbers), each second. On the other hand, the bee’s brain shows that the lowly honeybee performs the equivalent of ten trillion operations per second. Very astounding!

In the spring of 1983, the Smithsonian institution conducted a symposium on animal intelligence at which one of the researchers was Princeton ethnologist James L. Gould, an internationally renowned expert on honeybee behaviour. In one of his experiments, he wanted to observe the ways bees locate new food sources. To achieve this, Gould provided honeybees with desirable food sources. Once they were accustomed to feeding at the station, he moved the food sources by a factor of 1.25 the distance of the previous. What Gould found was that after a few such moves, the honeybees no longer had to search for the new location, but anticipated Gould’s behaviour so accurately that he found the bees circling the new location and waiting for their food before he had even arrived.

The honeybees were able to construct quite a complex simulation of reality in their tiny brains (less than ten milligrams) and deduce from past experience where Gould was going to place the food next. The bee does all of this while consuming a lot less power than a computer. According to Byte magazine, honeybee’s brain uses up less than 10 microwatts . It is superior by about seven orders of magnitude to the most efficient of today’s manufactured computers. What it means is that over ten million bee brains can operate on the power needed for a single 100 watt light bulb. The most efficient of today’s computers uses hundreds of millions of times more energy to perform an equivalent number of operations.

As shown above, they are able to navigate across long distances to locate sources of nectar and then return to the hive and communicate directions to fellow bees. They prepare special food items such as royal jelly and beebread, for their young. They protect their home by recognising and repelling intruders. They regularly remove garbage and other refuse from their hive. They control the climate in the hive by fanning the fresh air and sprinkling water during summer and by clustering together for warmth in the winter. When their hives become overcrowded, they are smart enough to know that some have to leave and establish new colonies.

The lowly bees do all this without any outside assistance or direction. They function independently. Yet, super computers require teams of programmers, engineers and technicians. Bees truly are a marvel of Allah’s creation. Is there any doubt why Surah 16 in the Qur’an is called An-Nahl. (Arabic word meaning ‘Bee’).

And your Lord inspired the bee, saying: “Take you habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they errect.

“Then, eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for you).” There comes forth from their bellies, a drink of varging colour wherein is healing for men. Verily, in this is indeed a sign for people who think.” (16-68-69).