The application of beeswax in medicine has a long history. It was first recorded in the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" that beeswax has multiple functions such as the treatment of continuously broken wounds, gold wounds, diarrhea, pus and blood. In addition, the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" also records that it can be used for scalds, burns, and ulcers, as well as pain relief, sore astringency, and muscle regeneration. With the development of science and technology, the use of beeswax in medicine has also been developed.
1 The effect of lowering blood lipids
Liu Fajin and Sun Dongmei's study found that triacontanol, triacontanol and octacosanol in beeswax have significant effects on increasing serum high-density lipoprotein and reducing low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol and triglycerides.
2 Treatment of acute ulcers
Some researchers found that the long-chain alkanol D-002 in beeswax has a good therapeutic effect on various gastric ulcers caused by ethanol, aspirin and cold water stress, and then Xu Hongdan of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine used alcohol to obtain acute ulcers in mice. Experiments have proved that beeswax has a good therapeutic effect on acute ulcers.
3 Anti-platelet aggregation and thrombosis
Molina et al found that the combination of aspirin and long-chain fatty acids in beeswax can significantly prolong the bleeding time, and then have antithrombotic and platelet aggregation effects.
4 Wax therapy
Beeswax is a substance with high heat capacity, good heat transfer, no moisture and generally no heat convection, and the heat it carries disappears very slowly. Therefore, when people perform wax therapy, ensuring the thickness of the wax therapy can play a role in keeping warm and preventing burns due to excessive temperature.
5 Improve immunity
Xie Zhixun applied beeswax to a vaccine for animal husbandry, which improved the duration of the immunization period in livestock. In addition, Zhu Junyan put forward the view that the enhancement of immunity depends on the proliferation of thymus and spleen cells through experiments. Although this is only a view he speculated based on experimental phenomena, if this view can be confirmed later and the active ingredients in beeswax are isolated, This will be a huge boon for the treatment of human immune diseases.
6 Prevent chapped nipples
The wax ester contained in lanolin has a good effect on chapped nipples, but it is expensive and difficult to popularize and use. Later, Zheng Xiaolong found that the wax ester in beeswax is similar to lanolin wax ester, and it also has the effect of preventing chapped nipples. Its price is only 1/200 of that of lanolin, which can be widely used. If this research can achieve drug production, it will solve the pain of many lactating women, and it will be of great significance to promote exclusive breastfeeding of infants in my country.
7 Making pills
The use of the immiscibility of beeswax with water can slow down the release rate of the drug, thereby making the drug effect more pronounced. And its antioxidant properties can also extend the shelf life of pills for better transportation and use.
8 Enhance lipid metabolism
After research, it was found that stearyl alcohol promotes lipid metabolism in beeswax. The researchers tested high-fat diet rats and found that the content of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the rats in the stearyl alcohol group remained unchanged. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol levels were significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner within a certain range. In addition, it was also found that octacosanol may inhibit the activity of heparin phosphohydrolase so that the content of triglycerides in plasma decreases and the content of high fatty acids increases.
