PRINCETON, N.J., May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Derma Sciences (OTC Bulletin Board: DSCI), a provider of advanced wound care products, today announced that the journal Skin & Aging, in its annual review of top wound care studies, devoted a section to MEDIHONEY(TM) Wound & Burn Dressings with Active Leptospermum Honey. The article, "Spotlighting the Top-10 Research Findings in Wound Care", discusses the research done by Narelle George and Keith Cutting on the product's in-vitro activity against clinical isolates of MRSA, VRE, and other multi-resistant gram-negative organisms including Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
The author of the article, Dr. Robert Kirsner, MD, PhD, and a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care, states, "A specific honey, the so-called Manuka honey predominantly sourced from the Leptospermum species from New Zealand and Australia, has been found to have other properties that may render it superior to other honeys. Specifically, this honey appears to have superior and broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties." He went on to say that the first Leptospermum honey-based product to enter into the market, MEDIHONEY, is likely to draw significant interest from a public desirous of natural products, and that well-done studies such as the George/Cutting study will help to garner interest by medical professionals.
Derma Sciences CEO Ed Quilty stated, "We are fully aware that, although the benefits of MEDIHONEY have captured the imagination of the public and the medical community alike, it is only through well-designed studies and rigorous clinical evaluations with positive outcomes that widespread adoption and usage of MEDIHONEY will occur. We are glad to see the recognition of the George/Cutting study, and look forward to additional studies on MEDIHONEY being published later this year. Additionally, we continue to receive a stream of positive clinical evaluations from many wound centers around the globe."
Quilty added, "Our next big milestone is the World Union of Wound Healing Societies conference in Toronto during the first week in June. This conference takes place only once every four years and it draws doctors interested in wound care from all over the globe."
Both these points are notable with comparison to the recent Georgina Gethin study presented last Spring at the European Wound Management Association. This 108-patient randomized controlled study showed that 44% of the non-healing venous leg ulcers treated with Active Leptospermum Honey under compression devices healed within the 12-week study duration, in addition to lowering the incidence of infection. This underscores the wound healing benefit of the dressing in addition to its antimicrobial capability, a feature atypical within common antimicrobial dressings. The study also showed that the dressing was associated with improved autolytic debridement (a more natural and less invasive form of debridement than surgical/mechanical debridement).
(Information in this article concerns a use that has not been cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration.)
About Skin & Aging
Skin & Aging provides practical and clinical insight into today's general dermatology issues. This award-winning publication offers dermatologists reader-friendly, timely and informative articles that highlight clinical and practice management advice that easily can be translated into current practice settings.
About Derma Sciences
Derma Sciences is a global manufacturer and marketer of advanced wound care products. Its key product, MEDIHONEY, is sold throughout the world by Derma Sciences and Comvita New Zealand -- the licensor of the patented honey-based technology -- and is the leading brand of honey-based dressings for the management of wounds and burns. The product has been shown to be effective in a variety of wounds and burns, and was recently the focus of two positive large-scale randomized controlled studies on leg ulcers. For more information about Derma Sciences, Inc., visit its home page on the Internet at http://www.dermasciences.com.
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SOURCE Derma Sciences
