In the video below, Dr. Jennifer Eddy of UW Health Family Medicine Eau Claire is running a clinical trial. Here she is investigating whether honey can actually help in the treatment of diabetic ulcers.

My Notes

This case study refers to a real person by the name of Catrina Hurlburt. She had a sore on her leg that just would not heal. This came about as a result of complications from car accident back in 2002. The accident left Hurlburt with recurring cellulitis and staph infections. Worth noting here is that she was a borderline diabetic at that time.

The infections on Hurlburt's leg developed into a problematic open sore. The usual prescription of oral antibiotics was administered but to no avail.  The soar continued to fester for almost eight long months. This is when Hurlburt's physician stepped in and decided to try another approach.

Jennifer Eddy of UW Health's Eau Claire Family Medicine Clinic suggested using topical honey.  Catrina Hurlburt had nothing to lose so decided to give it a try. Within a few months the sore had healed completely. This was a revelation for Hurlburt. It was certainly a welcome outcome to what seemed was an otherwise never-ending problem. Hurlburt couldn't use any topical antibiotics because of allergies.

Eddy continued to conduct randomized, double-blind controlled trials of honey for diabetic ulcers. She first used honey therapy with a patient who was facing amputation. This patient has exhausted all other medical options at that time.

Experts are in agreement about how treating wounds with honey has tremendous potential. Research is still ongoing to this day, but there are a lot of promising findings coming out.

The Severity of the Problem

There are tens of millions of people in the world with diabetes today. Of these, about 15 percent of them will develop a diabetic ulcer at some point. Roughly every 30 seconds, someone somewhere on the planet undergoes an amputation as a result of a diabetic foot ulcer.

Honey Not a Cure-All

Eddy cautions all patients against self-treatment without a physician's involvement. She explains that diabetic ulcers can be complicated and that honey should only be part of the solution and not a total cure-all.

You can read the full piece here: Topical Honey as a Possible Treatment for Diabetic Ulcers | Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison | May 4, 2007

Summary

Many of these “honey healing” studies are not yet conclusive because more tests are needed. Smaller tests often conflict with each other too. It is only when large-scale testing can be carried out that the true results will materialize. The possibilities are huge, and many experts believe honey has a potential to treat diabetic ulcers effectively. Sadly, natural medicine always lacks the funding of more conventional trials.