- Reaction score
- 1,694
To help heal seriously infected wounds, some surgeons have revived a 4,000-year-old treatment, born on the battlefields of ancient Egypt: they pack the depths of treacherous wounds with sweet substances like sugar.
Dressings made of sugar and honey, favored by healers throughout history, fell into disfavor with the development of antibiotics over half a century ago. But even the most sophisticated modern preparations have proved unable at times to overcome the hearty bacteria that live in deep wounds, and a handful of doctors, mostly in Europe, are turning once again to sugar ''It's a very old and very simple treatment which was forgotten for a while but is now coming back, like a fashion,'' said Prof. Rudy Siewert, chairman of the department of surgery at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar in Munich, West Germany.
Professor Siewert said that in the last five years the technique had enjoyed a wide renaissance in Germany and to a lesser extent in the rest of Europe. Despite the interest abroad, most American surgeons express mild skepticism.
Dressings made of sugar and honey, favored by healers throughout history, fell into disfavor with the development of antibiotics over half a century ago. But even the most sophisticated modern preparations have proved unable at times to overcome the hearty bacteria that live in deep wounds, and a handful of doctors, mostly in Europe, are turning once again to sugar ''It's a very old and very simple treatment which was forgotten for a while but is now coming back, like a fashion,'' said Prof. Rudy Siewert, chairman of the department of surgery at the Klinikum Rechts der Isar in Munich, West Germany.
Professor Siewert said that in the last five years the technique had enjoyed a wide renaissance in Germany and to a lesser extent in the rest of Europe. Despite the interest abroad, most American surgeons express mild skepticism.
Last edited by a moderator: