4 ms·

I’m not a doctor so please correct me if I’m interpreting this incorrectly. It seems the TLDR is: 1. There are few effective treatments for upper respiratory t

I’m not a doctor so please correct me if I’m interpreting this incorrectly. It seems the TLDR is: 1. There are few effective treatments for upper respiratory tract infection. 2. The authors combined all studies currently done on the efficacy of honey to estimate how it compares to conventional treatment (antibiotics). 3. Honey appears to help slightly more than conventional treatment (just at managing symptoms?). 4. They recommend further studies with placebo control to learn more. That’s interesting and kind of surprising to me. How does one use honey as a treatment? Just eat some? How much? How often? Etc.

krasin 6y ago
It's a part of traditional medicine in Russia. As a personal anecdote, I didn't find it particularly effective on me, but it's good to see a proper study conducted. Anyway, the way to take honey is usually with hot tea. Drink from a cup and use a special spoon [1] for honey. It tastes well together. 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=honey+spoon https://www.google.com/search?q=honey+spoon
- nbabitskiy 6y ago
  My grandmother would put it for a day in a hole, cut in a black radish, and then feed me a spoon every once in a while. The modern hip way is to use lemons, honey and ginger to make a brew. After COVID broke out lemons and ginger in Moscow tripled in price at some point.
yread 6y ago
Granny style remedy: mix honey with lemon juice and eat it with tea spoons. Don't eat or drink anything for the next half hour. The aim is to coat your throat with it.
- joombaga 6y ago
  > Some studies used comparators that attempted to replicate the look and consistency of honey. If the effect of honey is mediated through forming a soothing mechanical barrier, then these comparators could have a similar effect to honey, biasing the results towards the null. This is the only mention of that particular mechanism of action. I've always heard that coating the throat is the aim as well, but I'm skeptical.
mattnewport 6y ago
Hot lemon and honey (hot water with lemon and honey dissolved in, sometimes with soluble paracetamol) was my mum's standard treatment for sore throat / cough / runny nose type ailments. Maybe there was something to that.
throwaway_USD 6y ago
>How does one use honey as a treatment? Just eat some? How much? How often? Etc. Depends on the use case, for wounds you can apply it to dressings, but generally yes just eat it. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/
hangonhn 6y ago
Just to add to the other comments of honey as a "folk remedy" for cough and sore throat: there's a Chinese version of it too that's based on honey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa It's interesting that multiple cultures have the same remedy. Be curious to see if it was independently discovered or disseminated through trade.
yomly 6y ago
What bit about it surprises you? Honey is a natural antibacterial (it never goes off - archaeologists have been known to get kicks out of tasting ancient roman honey) it also is also nice and sticky which helps coat the treatment area, protecting it from further irritation. Nature is full of wonders (like the tensile strength of spiders web)
- burlesona 6y ago
  I guess the surprising bit is that they would find evidence that Honey may be more effective than conventional antibiotics. Why would germs not evolve resistance to honey? I'm not stunned, as you say nature is full of wonders, I just find it interesting.
- orev 6y ago
  Honey doesn’t go bad for the same reason that a bag of sugar or bag of salt doesn’t — it’s an environment that’s unsuitable for life. Sugar is hygroscopic, so it sucks all the water out of cells so they die. If you diluted honey in water, it would go bad just as quickly as any other sugary drink. Honey is not some magical potion, it was just engineered by bees to have specific properties.
  - yomly 6y ago
    A cursory google about honey's antimicrobial properties suggest it's really not as trivial as the hygroscopic properties of sugar although I am comfortable agreeing that will be a contributing factor. So unless you're an expert in the field, I'd be curious to know where your certainty comes from. I never asserted it was a magical potion but after studying biochemistry, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, I was pretty humbled by how little we humans think we know, and how primitive our methods are when compared against nature at problem solving. Our physiology is exquisitely sensitive, the fact that nature has found ways to exploit even things like kinetic isotope effects to good use undermines all kinds of naive assumptions we like to model over like "the chemistry elements express is the same across its isotopes". Modern medicine is still a woefully blunt tool in the face of the future of possibilities. So when the bees "engineered" honey to be a certain way, I like it as a product because it's been through an iterative design process and "clinical trials" for the course of millennia, if you will...
riffraff 6y ago
Tea with honey, milk with honey, camomile tea with honey. In all cases, it's likely the hot liquid does the most part. But as kids, my parents also often gave us a teaspoon of honey when we had a strong cough, suckling on it would help a bit, at least psychologically.
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  Camomile has known antibiotic effects, as do many teas. The hot liquid helps, but it's not the only "active ingredient" nor the biggest detail in many cases. Though heat treatments absolutely are a thing and do, per se, help kill stuff.
qpiox 6y ago
> That’s interesting and kind of surprising to me. How does one use honey as a treatment? Just eat some? How much? How often? Etc. This is what I do when I notice the first signs of a dry or sore throat / have cough / or other types of infections in the mouth or throat: I buy forest-originating honey (it is usually darker color and in my country it usually has the slight aroma of pine trees), but I have also used other types. I take 1-2 teaspoons honey, but I do not swallow it. I let it slowly dissolve it in my mouth, so that it can slowly go down the throat and have the eventual effect last longer. After that, I take a cup of hot mint tea. I am a scientist, I understand that I might be misleading myself, I know that there might not be any effect and that I might be imagining everything, but it really feels better after this.I certainly feel an immediate effect -- it is alleviating the pain or the burning sensation in the throat, but this effect does not last long. So every couple of hours I repeat the procedure. In fact, I should say that having a spoonful of honey, slowly melting it in the mouth, and then drinking a cup of tea, should not be considered as just a procedure or a medication, but as enjoyment and one way to make you feel better in an otherwise miserable day. If it really helps to speed up recovery - then why not? It is not harmful, unless you have diabetes or alergy. Anyway, the point is not to dilute the honey in hot tea. Supposedly, all beneficial substance is lost in high temperatures. In addition, I once watched a German documentary about a clinic that experiments with different types of honey and use it for treating open wounds that take much longer to heal otherwise. They used special honey, put it on bandage and put it on the wounds. Finally, one should not forget that feeding some microorganisms with sugars might not be a good idea and can increase their growth and reproduction, so it's best that you consult a medical doctor for every illness especially if it's severe.

krasin 6y ago

It's a part of traditional medicine in Russia. As a personal anecdote, I didn't find it particularly effective on me, but it's good to see a proper study conducted. Anyway, the way to take honey is usually with hot tea. Drink from a cup and use a special spoon [1] for honey. It tastes well together. 1. https://www.google.com/search?q=honey+spoon https://www.google.com/search?q=honey+spoon

nbabitskiy 6y ago
My grandmother would put it for a day in a hole, cut in a black radish, and then feed me a spoon every once in a while. The modern hip way is to use lemons, honey and ginger to make a brew. After COVID broke out lemons and ginger in Moscow tripled in price at some point.

yread 6y ago

Granny style remedy: mix honey with lemon juice and eat it with tea spoons. Don't eat or drink anything for the next half hour. The aim is to coat your throat with it.

joombaga 6y ago
> Some studies used comparators that attempted to replicate the look and consistency of honey. If the effect of honey is mediated through forming a soothing mechanical barrier, then these comparators could have a similar effect to honey, biasing the results towards the null. This is the only mention of that particular mechanism of action. I've always heard that coating the throat is the aim as well, but I'm skeptical.

mattnewport 6y ago

Hot lemon and honey (hot water with lemon and honey dissolved in, sometimes with soluble paracetamol) was my mum's standard treatment for sore throat / cough / runny nose type ailments. Maybe there was something to that.

throwaway_USD 6y ago

>How does one use honey as a treatment? Just eat some? How much? How often? Etc. Depends on the use case, for wounds you can apply it to dressings, but generally yes just eat it. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3758027/

hangonhn 6y ago

Just to add to the other comments of honey as a "folk remedy" for cough and sore throat: there's a Chinese version of it too that's based on honey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nin_Jiom_Pei_Pa_Koa It's interesting that multiple cultures have the same remedy. Be curious to see if it was independently discovered or disseminated through trade.

yomly 6y ago

What bit about it surprises you? Honey is a natural antibacterial (it never goes off - archaeologists have been known to get kicks out of tasting ancient roman honey) it also is also nice and sticky which helps coat the treatment area, protecting it from further irritation. Nature is full of wonders (like the tensile strength of spiders web)

burlesona 6y ago
I guess the surprising bit is that they would find evidence that Honey may be more effective than conventional antibiotics. Why would germs not evolve resistance to honey? I'm not stunned, as you say nature is full of wonders, I just find it interesting.
orev 6y ago
Honey doesn’t go bad for the same reason that a bag of sugar or bag of salt doesn’t — it’s an environment that’s unsuitable for life. Sugar is hygroscopic, so it sucks all the water out of cells so they die. If you diluted honey in water, it would go bad just as quickly as any other sugary drink. Honey is not some magical potion, it was just engineered by bees to have specific properties.
- yomly 6y ago
  A cursory google about honey's antimicrobial properties suggest it's really not as trivial as the hygroscopic properties of sugar although I am comfortable agreeing that will be a contributing factor. So unless you're an expert in the field, I'd be curious to know where your certainty comes from. I never asserted it was a magical potion but after studying biochemistry, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, I was pretty humbled by how little we humans think we know, and how primitive our methods are when compared against nature at problem solving. Our physiology is exquisitely sensitive, the fact that nature has found ways to exploit even things like kinetic isotope effects to good use undermines all kinds of naive assumptions we like to model over like "the chemistry elements express is the same across its isotopes". Modern medicine is still a woefully blunt tool in the face of the future of possibilities. So when the bees "engineered" honey to be a certain way, I like it as a product because it's been through an iterative design process and "clinical trials" for the course of millennia, if you will...

riffraff 6y ago

Tea with honey, milk with honey, camomile tea with honey. In all cases, it's likely the hot liquid does the most part. But as kids, my parents also often gave us a teaspoon of honey when we had a strong cough, suckling on it would help a bit, at least psychologically.

DoreenMichele 6y ago
Camomile has known antibiotic effects, as do many teas. The hot liquid helps, but it's not the only "active ingredient" nor the biggest detail in many cases. Though heat treatments absolutely are a thing and do, per se, help kill stuff.

qpiox 6y ago

> That’s interesting and kind of surprising to me. How does one use honey as a treatment? Just eat some? How much? How often? Etc. This is what I do when I notice the first signs of a dry or sore throat / have cough / or other types of infections in the mouth or throat: I buy forest-originating honey (it is usually darker color and in my country it usually has the slight aroma of pine trees), but I have also used other types. I take 1-2 teaspoons honey, but I do not swallow it. I let it slowly dissolve it in my mouth, so that it can slowly go down the throat and have the eventual effect last longer. After that, I take a cup of hot mint tea. I am a scientist, I understand that I might be misleading myself, I know that there might not be any effect and that I might be imagining everything, but it really feels better after this.I certainly feel an immediate effect -- it is alleviating the pain or the burning sensation in the throat, but this effect does not last long. So every couple of hours I repeat the procedure. In fact, I should say that having a spoonful of honey, slowly melting it in the mouth, and then drinking a cup of tea, should not be considered as just a procedure or a medication, but as enjoyment and one way to make you feel better in an otherwise miserable day. If it really helps to speed up recovery - then why not? It is not harmful, unless you have diabetes or alergy. Anyway, the point is not to dilute the honey in hot tea. Supposedly, all beneficial substance is lost in high temperatures. In addition, I once watched a German documentary about a clinic that experiments with different types of honey and use it for treating open wounds that take much longer to heal otherwise. They used special honey, put it on bandage and put it on the wounds. Finally, one should not forget that feeding some microorganisms with sugars might not be a good idea and can increase their growth and reproduction, so it's best that you consult a medical doctor for every illness especially if it's severe.