A new 'medicinal honey' that is proving beneficial to cancer patients
experiencing the devastating side effects of chemotherapy is now available in Ireland. Life Mel - the culmination of 30 years' research by Russian-Israeli microbiologist, Dr Alexander Goroshit - has been shown to boost the white blood cell count of cancer patients. Research published in Medical

Oncology and hundreds of personal accounts stand as testament to Life Mel's success in helping people all over the world to maintain a better white blood cell count while on chemotherapy.

Chance Discovery
Life Mel started with a chance discovery, back in the USSR of the seventies. Dr Alexander Goroshit became inspired to explore the medical potential of honey when, as a student doctor doing field-work in a small Russian town, he noticed that two areas of the town had remained oddly untouched by a cholera epidemic that had ravaged the wider community. Visiting the areas, he learned that both were populated by the families of beekeepers...

Having established that the food consumed by bees affects the properties of the honey they produce, Dr Goroshit went on to show that the key therapeutic properties of plants are contained in the leaves, roots and stem, rather than the flower. So he focused his research on developing a method to feed the bees certain therapeutic herbs and plants, including Siberian Ginseng, Echinacea, Uncaria Tomentosa and Avena Sativa - ingredients abounding in vitamins, minerals and flavenoids known for their positive effects on the immune system. No ingredients were to be added after extraction from the hive.

Neutropenia
Life Mel is now gaining global attention for its possibilities in reducing the incidence of Neutropenia and chemo-induced anaemia in cancer patients. Neutropenia - a low white blood cell count - is a blood disorder that diminishes the number of infection-fighting cells in the body, leaving sufferers open to life-threatening disease and sometimes weakening them to the extent that their bodies can't take any more of the life-saving chemotherapy.

In trials at Sieff Hospital in Israel, 40 per cent of Neutropenia-suffering cancer patients who took 5g of Life Mel each day for five days from the start of each new chemo treatment, suffered no further episodes of Neutropenia and required no further CSF treatment.

(CSFs are colony-stimulating factors that increase white cell production and are given as a drug treatment for Neutropenia - unlike the honey, they produce side-effects. They've also been found to make a limited difference to survival rates and to fending off infection.). Some 32% of the Sieff Hospital patients reported 'improved quality of life', and Life Mel also proved effective at reducing anaemia in 64%. Results of the study were reported in the journal of Clinical Oncology.

ITV Resident Doctor, Dr Chris Steel, has spoken about Life Mel; "The nutritional value of honey has been long recognised, and in fact, due to its high content of natural sugar, vitamins and minerals, it is often the food of choice for both convalescents and athletes. With regard to Life Mel, the results of early studies demonstrates that there is significant benefits attached to this uniquely developed honey and that further research in to the benefits associated with Life Mel would be valuable. Personally speaking I am both intrigued and excited by the results of the early hospital study and look forward to hearing more about this innovative product."