Honey, the Natural Remedy for Influenza with No Side Effects

By Kyle J. Norton

Scientists may have found a natural alternative for the treatment of Influenza, according to studies.
Influenza, also known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by an influenza virus.

Most common symptoms include high fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pains, headache, coughing, sneezing. A healthy individual may recover from influenza without medication in a few days with the symptoms that may last for a week.

However, people with the weakened immune system may have a problem to recover themselves without the assistance of medication. In severe cases, influenza can induce complications of pneumonia, ear, and sinus infection and death.

People with medical conditions such as heart, lung, kidney, liver disease, AIDs, severe anemia are at a higher risk of the onset of influenza, particularly in the elderly with the weakened immune system.

Children and adolescents who are receiving long-term aspirin therapy are at risk to be infected by the virus.

Furthermore, some researchers suggested that obese individual also are more likely to be infected by influenza, compared to non-obese individuals.

Dr. J Justin Milner, the lead scientists in examining the obesity and influenza infection severity said, "Obesity also increases susceptibility to bacterial and viral infections [2]. In 2009, the CDC identified obesity as a risk factor for hospitalization and death from pandemic H1N1 influenza virus infection".

And, "An association between obesity and severe influenza outcomes, including seasonal influenza, has since been corroborated in other epidemiological studies".

The finding strongly indicated the risk of influenza in obesity.

Honey is the miraculous product made by bees using nectar from flowers.

The rich golden liquid It is considered one of healthy sweet food for replacing the use of white sugar and artificial sweetener by many people.

With an aim to find a natural whole food for the treatment of influenza, researchers examined the anti-influenza viral activity of honey from various sources.

Antiviral activities of honey samples were evaluated in MDCK cells. Injection of Manuka honey efficiently inhibited influenza virus replication (IC50 5 3.6 1.2 mg/mL; CC50 5 82.3 2.2 mg/mL; selective index 5 22.9).

Furthermore,. In the presence of 3.13 mg/mL manuka honey, the IC50 of zanamivir or oseltamivir was reduced to nearly 1/1000th of their single use.

The finding clearly suggested that Manuka honey processes a strong anti-influenza activity when used alone or by promoting the function of conventional medicine when used combinationally.

Some researchers suggested that manuka also inhibited the symptoms of influenza such as blocked sinuses, sore throat and coughs through its major compound Methylglyoxal (MGO).

Moreover, Manuka honey also inhibited the production of proinflammatory cytokines during the acute phase of influenza, thus providing the instant relief fa or a sore throat and cough.


In the immune perspective, Manuka honey also increased the expression of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) which plays a critical role against the onset of infection by microorganisms.

Dr. Ogi M, the lead scientist after taking into account co and confounders said, "The relative risk for bacterial infection among patients with serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels below 600 mg/dL was 6.74 compared with that for patients with serum IgG levels over 600 mg/dL (95% confidence interval, 1.22 to 36.32; P = 0.029)"

And "In patients with serum creatinine levels over 2.0 mg/dL, the relative risk of bacterial infection was 5.31 compared with patients with serum creatinine levels below 2.0 mg/dL (95% confidence interval, 1.08 to 26.09; P = 0.040)". 

The finding also suggested that Manuka honey also can modulate the immune expression to prevent the infection caused by the influenza virus by increased production of immunoglobulin G.

Taken altogether, there is no doubt that Manuka honey can be considered a functional remedy for the prevention and treatment of influenza, pending to the confirmation of large sample size and multicenter human study.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Anti-influenza viral effects of honey in vitro: the potent high activity of manuka honey by Watanabe K1, Rahmasari R1, Matsunaga A1, Haruyama T2, Kobayashi N. (EL SEVIER)
(2) Manuka Honey the best Natural Cold and Flu Remedy By Mr. Vitamins
(3) Risk factors for infection and immunoglobulin replacement therapy in adult nephrotic syndrome by Ogi M1, Yokoyama H, Tomosugi N, Hisada Y, Ohta S, Takaeda M, Wada T, Naito T, Ikeda K, Goshima S. (PubMed)
(4) Obesity and influenza infection severity by J Justin Milner & Melinda A Beck. (Future Medicine)