Index Antimicrobial Antioxidant Apoptotic Anti-inflammatory and Immune Response Diabetes Cancer Asthma Cardiovascular Diseases Neurological Diseases Gastrointestinal Diseases Conclusion For centuries, our benefactor, the honey bee, has played a significant role in the lives of humans. Honeybees have fascinated and healed humans in so many ways. In the Upper Paleolithic, about 25,000 years ago, art created by human hands on rocks illustrates our ancestors harvesting their golden nectar. Waxy residues and traces of honey have been found on a multitude of Stone Age pottery fragments. Evidence left behind by our Neolithic ancestors provides a glimpse into the important role honey bees have played in supporting humans with vital products throughout our history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay By the early Bronze Age, humans had learned to farm with honey bees. Written remains document our ancestors' skill at beekeeping in regions such as the Hittite kingdom, Sumer, Assyria, and Egypt. The ancient Egyptians valued the honey bee. They left hieroglyphs illustrating their beekeeping practices and went so far as to incorporate the honey bee into their pantheons. A papyrus dating from around 300 BC describes their god Ra crying and tears falling to the ground only to become honey bees. They have provided us with a means to sweeten our daily lives, create beauty with cosmetics, helping us create the tools needed for survival, and most importantly, medicine to cure our ailments. Our fascination with bees has not lost its appeal in current times. A quick internet search will provide people with a myriad of home remedies related to the honey bee. Honey is often considered a miracle cure. Home remedies may include, but are not limited to, treating headaches, anxiety, hay fever, acne, sore throat, cuts, burns, dry skin, indigestion, cough, dizziness, constipation, indigestion, insomnia, diabetes, cholesterol and heart problems. Some of which have been passed down over the centuries by our ancestors. In an age where misinformation could be potentially dangerous, it is critical that we acquire real, scientifically supported evidence relating to these claims. Honey is created as a byproduct of nectar collected by bees from various pollen sources, so the bees concentrate this nectar collection through a dehydration process within the hive. The available pollen that creates this nectar depends entirely on the flora of the specific region in which they reside. The variability of pollen content makes each honey created absolutely unique in its precise chemical composition. To date, around 300 different honeys have been recognized. Unprocessed honey is made up of around 200 different substances. The substances that make up honey include vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, sugars and water. Honey has been reported to have antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-proliferative and anti-metastatic properties due to its ingredients. Antimicrobial Antibiotic-resistant infections have become a growing concern for both medical professionals and patients. In an era where most pharmaceutical remedies have become ineffective in treating infections, some researchers have decided to investigate the validity of some medicinal practices of our ancestors. Honey has been reported to have had inhibitory effects on some species of fungi, viruses and approximately 60 different species of bacteria. Pathogenic strains,such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, Klebsiella pneumonia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Clostridium difficile, and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcustyphi, Staphylococcus aureus, coagulase-negative Streptococcus and E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumonia, have been studied and shown to inhibit growth when treated with honey. Research has revealed that the antifungal characteristics contained in honey are effective in treatments against Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Microsporum gypseum, Candida albicans, Saccharomyces and Malassezia spp. Honey inhibits the growth of fungi by preventing the formation of their biofilm, the destruction of established biofilms and by promoting changes in the structure of the exopolysaccharide. It distorts the integrity of the cell membrane, causing the cell surface to shrink in the biofilm, resulting in death or growth retardation. Current studies have shown that honey has potential antiviral effects. The antiviral effect of honey is attributed to its various ingredients that work in controlling lesions. For example, copper is a trace element found in honey that inhibits viral activity. Similarly, the presence of ascorbic acid, flavonoids and H2O2 production by honey also leads to inhibition of viral growth by disrupting viral transcription and translation. The antimicrobial characteristics are attributed to its high osmolarity, low pH, hydrogen peroxide and phytochemical components. The high sugar content and low moisture content create an osmotic effect that is unproductive to microbial growth. Honey's pH levels range from 3.2 to 4.5, giving it the ability to limit specific pathogens. The hydrogen peroxide generated by most honey, such as Ulmo honey, is due to the activation of an enzyme called glucose oxidase. This enzyme oxidizes glucose producing gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. However, there are honeys that present these antimicrobial characteristics without the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Responsible for the antibacterial activity is the presence of specific phytochemical components such as methylglyoxal. Manuka honey produced from the pollen of the manuka tree is one of the honeys whose antimicrobial effects are not due to the hydrogen peroxide content. Antioxidant The flavonoids and polyphenols present in honey give it antioxidant properties. Antioxidants help eliminate free radicals that lead to aging and are contributing factors to various diseases. The darker the honey, the more antioxidants the honey contains. Apoptotic Apoptotic, also called programmed cell death, is a biological kill switch for cells that have the potential to create cell growth and tumor formation when they do not function properly. If it malfunctions, the lack of cell death is more likely to lead to cancer. Honey has been reported to help regulate the apoptotic process in cancer cells. This makes it an excellent candidate to use in combination with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is used to induce programmed cell death in cancer cells. Anti-inflammatory and immune response Inflammation is a biological defensive mechanism exhibited by tissues within an organism in response to pathogens or stimuli responsible for injury. Inflammation can be classified as acute or chronic inflammation. Acute inflammation is the body's initial biological response to a stimulus. Indicators of acute inflammation include redness, pain, itching andloss of ability to perform functions. Acute inflammation can become chronic if not adequately treated in its early stages. Chronic inflammation can damage cellular tissues that are trying to heal. Compounds found in honey have been reported to reduce inflammation in cells. Clinical studies have reported increased generation of T and B lymphocytes, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes, antibodies, and natural killer cells during primary and secondary immune responses in tissue culture. Diabetes There is clear evidence indicating the beneficial effects of honey in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. . These findings highlight the therapeutic prospects of using honey or other potent antioxidants in addition to standard antidiabetic drugs in the control of diabetes mellitus. In one of the clinical studies in type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, honey application was associated with a significantly lower glycemic index than sucrose or glucose in type 1 and normal diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has similar values ​​to honey, glucose and sucrose. In diabetic patients, honey can induce a significant reduction in plasma glucose level compared to dextran. In normal and hyperlipidemic patients, it also reduces blood lipids, homocysteine ​​and C-reactive protein content. CancerCurrent studies demonstrate that honey may exert anti-tumor effects through several mechanisms. Honey has been shown to prevent cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, modify cell cycle progression, and cause mitochondrial membrane depolarization in several cancer types such as skin cancer (melanoma) cells, epithelial cells of the adenocarcinoma, cervical cancer cells, endometrial cancer cells, liver cancer. colorectal cancer cells, prostate cancer cells, renal cell carcinoma, bladder cancer cells, human non-small cell lung cancer, bone cancer cells (osteosarcoma), and leukemic and oral cancer cells (oral squamous cell carcinoma) ). Additionally, honey may be able to inhibit several forms of cancer in animal models, including breast cancer, carcinoma, melanoma, colon cancer, liver cancer, and bladder cancer. AsthmaStudies have indicated that honey has the ability to reduce and possibly prevent asthma and related bronchitis. symptoms. Research has also found that hyperplasia of mucus-secreting goblet cells can be removed through inhaling honey. Cardiovascular disease Flavonoids, polyphenols, vitamin C and monophenols, the antioxidants found in honey, may be linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular failure. The protective qualities conferred by flavonoids include its antioxidant, antithrombotic, anti-ischemic and vasorelaxing characteristics. This leads to improvements in coronary vasodilation, reduction of blood clots, and low-density lipoprotein trapping. Neurological diseases Numerous studies indicate that the polyphenols contained in honey may have beneficial nootropic and neuroprotective properties. The polyphenolic components present in honey inhibit biological mechanisms that lead to neurotoxicity, aging and pathological deposition of misfolded proteins, including amyloid beta. Polyphenols in honey counteract neuroinflammation in the hippocampus, a part of the brain involved in memory. This could help in the prevention of memory disorders and induce memory production. Gastrointestinal diseases Research suggests that some strains of honey may have bactericidal effects against Helicobacter pylori. Clinical treatment of infants and children hospitalized in.