Sweet Healing

Researchers have found that sugar may help in encouraging blood vessel formation according to the scientists, that could aid in helping with the non-healing skin wounds that are associated with aging, diabetes, and poor blood supply. This break-through research may save money for health service providers say the authors. Academics at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology and from the University of Sheffield suggest that sugar can be good for you.

Studies done by the School of Clinical Dentistry, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield, along with the Interdisciplinary Research Centre in Biomedical Materials Research at COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan, state that sugar may help in aiding the formation of new blood vessels, known as angiogenesis. New vessel formation is key for healing wounds as the vessels carry blood through and around the body that supplies the body with the needed nutrients and oxygen.

Professor Sheila MacNeil from the University of Sheffield says people are living longer but are experiencing more non-healing wounds associated with poor blood supply, diabetes, and aging that are often difficult to treat as well as costly. Stating that this new skin healing technique that uses simple sugars could save time and money by healing the wounds more easily and quickly.

The discovery was made by Doctor Muhammed Yar at the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, while doing research on how tumours stimulate blood vessels, he found 2-deoxy-D-ribose, a naturally occurring sugar, increased when tumours encouraged new vessels to be made. Working along with MacNeil, and Professor Ian Douglas from the University of Sheffield, the team studied the abilities and effects of this sugar group on stimulating formation of new blood vessels and wound healing, of which both provided successful encouraging findings.

This research may be a key step forward in the development of a simple, powerful, low cost efficient wound dressing could be used in the treatment of poor-healing wounds such as diabetic ulcers and chronic ulcers as well as other wounds that are associated with aging, diabetes, and poor blood supply.