Natural thyme honey has a dry mouth

Thyme honey helps with dry mouth through cancer therapy
Thyme honey has been shown in a recent study to be an effective and safe means of relieving dryness-induced dry mouth and improving the quality of life of those affected.

For tight mucus with cough, thyme tea is a tried and tested home remedy. Well, a recent study also relieves dry mouth. (Image: Manuel Adorf / fotolia.com)

Dry mouth is one of the most common side effects of radiation or chemotherapy in head and neck tumors. Saliva production can be reduced by up to 80%. Eating and drinking are complicated with serious consequences for the nutritional status of patients. A dry mouth is also prone to infection and inflammation.

In a randomized clinical trial, a team of researchers from Cyprus investigated to what extent treatment with a thyme honey mouthwash can alleviate the dry mouth caused by cancer therapy. The scientists divided the subjects, all patients with different head and neck cancer after chemotherapeutic treatment, into two groups.

One group made mouth rinses with 20 ml of thyme honey in 100 ml of water. The control group used saline for the flushes. Rinses were started in each case in the fourth week of the total of seven weeks of radiotherapy treatment, immediately before and after the irradiation and six hours later.

Patients should use their mouthwash solution in the mouth so that the mouth and throat are well wetted and then spit out. After completion of the radiotherapy, the patients irrigated the oral cavity with the respective solution three times daily for a further four weeks at home.

The severity of dry mouth, associated pain, taste and dysphagia were significantly improved by treatment with thyme honey compared to the baseline and control group.

The participants of the verum group rated their quality of life significantly higher. The scientists could not observe any unwanted side effects. Source: Carstens Foundation.