Researchers said that honey was more effective in relieving the symptoms of cold and flu-like illnesses than the usual commercial remedies, and could provide a safer, cheaper and more available alternative to antibiotics.
They encourage doctors to recommend it to patients instead of prescribing antibiotics, which can cause side effects and lead to antibiotic resistance if used too much.
Honey has long been used as a home remedy for coughs, but its effectiveness in treating common diseases has not been heavily studied.
Doctors from Oxford University Medical School and Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences analyzed existing evidence to determine how the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) responded to. URTIs are often cold-like diseases that affect the nose, sinuses, pharynx or larynx.
“It offers a widely available and inexpensive alternative to antibiotics. Honey could help efforts to slow the spread of antimicrobial resistance, but further high-quality, placebo-controlled threads are needed.”
Researchers collected the results of 14 studies, of which nine involved only children. Most compared honey with more conventional treatments such as medicinal medicines.
However, when looking at studies comparing honey to a placebo, the authors were not able to reach the same conclusion as they did when looking at the other comparative studies. They said more research needs to be done on that comparison.
“Since the majority of URTIs are viral, antibiotic prescribing is both ineffective and inappropriate,” the study’s authors wrote. “A lack of effective alternatives, such as a desire to maintain the patient-physician relationship, both contribute to over-the-counter antibiotics.”
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