News in brief

The sweetest healing

The latest pioneering research at the University of Wolverhampton involves the unusual ingredient of sugar. Senior Lecturer in Adult Nursing Moses Murandu grew up in Zimbabwe and his father used granulated sugar to heal wounds and reduce pain when he was a child. But when he moved to the UK,

he realised sugar was not used for this purpose here.

Moses, from the School of Health and Wellbeing, carried out research into the effect of sugar on patients’ wounds at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. He was recently awarded the Fondation Le Lous Scientific Research Innovation Award and £25,000 to enable him to continue his innovative work.

Mr Murandu said: “I was happy for the patients who suffer from terrible and debilitating wounds with little hope of getting better, as this treatment can ease their pain.”

Sugar can be used on wounds such as bed sores, leg ulcers and even amputations. It works because applying sugar to a wound draws the water away and starves the bacteria of water.