Regular sugar heals leg ulcers: A boon for collapse medicine

Every so often something happens that really can change lives. A low-tech fix that works and works consistently. In a world where people often go to bed hungry and can’t even consider medical treatment because of the cost such a fix would be life-changing.

In view of what I’m about to tell you I have to wonder why this hasn’t been plastered all over the news, why it hasn’t been publicised to the nth degree.

The sad truth is there’s no money in it that’s why. Big pharma don’t want you to know about this because it will cost them billions a year in lost revenue.

What is this miracle?

Sugar. Normal, regular household sugar. Let me explain.

Moses Murandu is a nurse working in the UK. He was born and raised in Zimbabwe. Seeing patients struggling for years with disability brought on by leg ulcers that wouldn’t heal he asked if he could try a traditional African treatment of using regular sugar on the wounds.

The bacteria that causes the breakdown of the skin lives in a thin slimy film on top of the ulcer, antibiotics very rarely work and the dressings that supposedly ‘heal’ ulcers are extortionately expensive and again they prevent further infection but rarely actually heal the defect.

The smell caused by leg ulcers is appalling and it’s something you can’t mask however much air freshener you use.

In Africa it’s common practice to put sugar on not only leg ulcers but other flesh wounds and minor burns. Recovery is relatively swift and pain is reduced almost instantly. The smell starts to diminish within 15 minutes.

Moses wanted a full clinical trial but it was decided that was too expensive, so he initially went solo, treating patients that flocked to him on hearing the amazing results that had resulted from the two patients that the hospital had agreed to let him treat.

The cheapness of the treatment is the problem, nobody will back a clinical trial that they know won’t earn them a profit. To hell with the patients.

You can read the research here and it’s worth reading just to see the before and after pictures that I am not allowed to publish due to copyright issues.

Now Moses and his research have grabbed the attention of  The  US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health. here is a quote:

Results: In vitro tests demonstrated that sugar inhibits bacterial growth. All three types of sugars had MICs ranging from 6-25% in the bacterial strains tested. The diffusion tests showed that strains were able to grow well in low concentrations of sugar but were completely inhibited in higher concentrations. The two granulated sugars were found to be slightly more effective than Demerara sugar, so the latter was excluded from the clinical pilot study. Twenty-two patients (20 inpatients and two outpatients) with sloughy or necrotic wounds were recruited into the clinical study. Two patients had MRSA and two had Staphylococcus colonisation at baseline. Blood sugar levels remained stable in the seven patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. All wounds were clean/debrided in a mean of 11.13 days. Pain and malodour reduced markedly. Patient and staff surveys revealed overwhelming support for the sugar therapy.

Conclusion: The pilot study achieved its aim of developing a protocol for a RCT. Preliminary data suggest that sugar is an effective wound cleansing and is safe to use in patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. In vitro studies demonstrate that sugar inhibits bacterial growth.

So, the results are known by  national recognised government health bodies in two countries but nothing is said. Nobody is told that there is a cheap, simple and consistently effective way to heal the leg ulcers that has lead to some people becoming housebound for years.

Del Ripley, a patient in the UK who used the sugar treatment tells how once the wounds on his legs healed he asked his wife to get him his shoes so he could go outside. But after 13 years of ulcers and being unable to walk she’d given them all to charity. You can see photographs of Del’s legs ulcers and the remarkable healing that took place in just a month here.
Now thankfully I have never had a leg ulcer, but I can tell you that this works on cut, including ones from exceptionally sharp kitchen knives, burns both on the skin (after running the burn under the cold tap for five minutes) and hard to treat mouth burns and mouth ulcers.

To treat a wound with sugar pour on a liberal amount and cover in a lint free dressing. Change the dressing every other day.

In the case of leg ulcers put on a large amount of sugar that totally covers the defect, if the ulcer is wet keep adding sugar until it isn’t immediately dampened. Cover in a lint free dressing held in place with a bandage. Change every 12 hours for the first three days, then every 24 hours then every other day.

DO NOT remove the old sugar when applying more, it will dislodge the very friable, the very delicate healing skin. Add more sugar and fresh dressing and bandage.

Anyone undergoing treatment may bathe or shower but the wound should not be rubbed or washed and no additives should be added to the water. Pat the ulcer dry VERY gently and re-dress immediately to avoid bacterial contamination from the air.

Be sure to TOTALLY Cover the wound every time you change the dressing.

I am going to make it a mission to spread the word about this and I ask for your help in doing the same. So many people have suffered years of pain and isolation because of leg ulcers and the answer to their prayers has been sitting in the kitchen cupboard the whole time.

Take care

Liz