Topical application of honey in the management of XXXX : a preliminary study.

@entity1 @entity135 @entity33 @entity3137
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pure natural honey on radiation-induced @entity33 . @entity1 AND METHODS: Forty @entity1 diagnosed with @entity135 requiring radiation to the oropharyngeal mucosal area were divided in to two groups to receive either radiation alone or radiation plus topical application of pure natural honey. @entity1 were treated using a 6-MV linear accelerator at a dose rate of 2 Gy per day five times a week up to a dose of 60-70 Gy. In the study arm, @entity1 were advised to take 20 ml of pure honey 15 min before, 15 min after and 6 h post-radiation therapy. @entity1 were evaluated every week for the development of @entity3137 using the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) grading system. MAIN RESULTS: There was significant reduction in the symptomatic grade 3/4 @entity33 among honey-treated @entity1 compared to controls; i.e. 20% versus 75% ( p 0.00058). The compliance of honey-treated group of @entity1 was better than controls. Fifty-five percent of @entity1 treated with topical honey showed no change or a positive gain in body weight compared to 25% in the control arm ( p 0.053), the majority of whom lost weight. CONCLUSIONS: Topical application of natural honey is a simple and cost-effective treatment in @entity3137 , which warrants further multi-centre randomised trials to validate our finding.
