The Effect of Bee Pollen on Healing of Pressure Ulcers in Diabetic Patients

Introduction: In recent years, there has been significant increase in the number of diabetic patients, the rate of hospitalization and non-traumatic lower limb amputation. The last two mentioned are known as the major complications of diabetes.  In addition to it, there has been a considerable tendency among the medical therapist in applying  apitherapy a branch of alternative medicine that deals with natural agents containing effective chemical compounds in this specialized field. Following what was explained we decided to reexamine the effects of Bee pollen as a natural support to promote the process of diabetic pressure ulcer healing. Method: This study is a one-blinded clinical trial study included 84 diabetic patients suffering from diabetic ulcers. These patients were referred to the wound clinics under supervision of Alborz University of medical sciences in Karaj. The study group was divided into two groups: experimental group (E.G), the patients who were given Bee pollen and control group (C.G.), those whom were given placebo .patient educated to solve one tea spoon powder in milk or water  three times a day and drink, preferably before meals. Equal care was provided to all patients by wound experts over a twelve week period of time. During this time the PUSH questionnaire was completed for each patient by wound experts twice weekly. Result: To match the research, we selected these two groups from similar demographic variables such as: age, gender, education, marital status, underlying disease, body mass index, fasting blood sugar, hemoglobin and the size of the wounds.  Comparing the PUSH score at the end of sessions 6, 12, 18 resulted in lower scores in E.G., while at the last session of 24 the PUSH score in C.G. was reported lower than E.G. Yet, no significant difference between the two groups was founded. Discussion and Conclusion: In this study, Bee pollen as a nutritional supplement in diabetic ulcer healing stimulation has not been proved. Hence, more studies are needed.