Honey: A Modern Wound Management Product

Edited by RJ White, RA Cooper, P Molan

Honey:A Modern Wound Management Product is a timely addition to the knowledge base that concentrates on the use of honey in modern wound management. Richard White, Rose Cooper, and Peter Molan—all experts in their respective fields, have made invaluable contributions to this text. Published by Advancis Medical in 2005, this is the only book available that is dedicated to this particular wound treatment modality.The book comprises 10 insightful chapters with contributions from 9 additional authors.This well-organized text is enjoyable to read and features photographs, flow charts, and algorithms.The book is also unique in that the contributors are a multidisciplinary group and hail from across the globe.

The scope of the content and findings of this 160-page book is impressive. Prof. Molan introduces the reader to a well-referenced, in-depth, evidenced based review of the mode of action of honey, which draws from both historical and modern literature. Dr. Cooper provides a comprehensive, research-based account of the antibacterial properties of honey.The timeliness of this information is significant with the current predicament of antibiotic resistance.While the exact mode of action of honey has not been elicited, a further chapter on the immunomodulatory properties of honey presents the more advanced reader with both completed and proposed research in this field. Since honey is a natural product, the chapter by Mee Yoon and Newlands that focuses on quality standards of medical grade Manuka honey, is most appropriate. This information is significant because it answers many questions practitioners might have regarding the use of honey in wound care.

Six chapters are devoted to clinical evidence and guidelines on the use of honey. Undoubtedly, these chapters present the reader with some valuable information, yet there appears to be an over reliance on the use of case study methodology to support the clinical work. Thirty-five case studies are presented with varying levels of significant information.However, the cases do demonstrate the wide variety of wound etiologies in which honey has been used. By 2005, at least 15 randomized and nonrandomized clinical trials involving honey were published.These trials were primarily focused on management of burn wounds with no well-designed randomized controlled trials on chronic wounds. A review of these trials would have been a welcome addition to these chapters. It is possible that fewer, more detailed, and in-depth case studies would have provided the reader with greater knowledge related to the use of honey. One chapter summarizes published clinical research on honey and provides an adequate reference base.

Honey: A Modern Wound Management Product is suited to both specialist and generalist practitioners or for anyone interested in gaining a greater understanding of the role of honey in wound management.The rapid evolution in wound healing research, and the continued publication of in-vitro and in-vivo studies that involve honey substantiate the fact that although such materials were published in 2005, the literature will require an update within 5 years.