title: "Coffee plus honey" versus "topical steroid" in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis: a randomised controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral mucositis is one of the common complications of cancer chemotherapy and about 40% of the patients who take chemotherapy protocols, experience this irritating problem. The purpose of this study was to draw comparison between the therapeutic effects of our treatment modalities (topical steroid, honey, honey plus coffee) in patients suffering from oral mucositis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a double blinded randomised clinical trial of a total of 75 eligible adult participants which they randomly fell into three treatment groups. For all the participants a syrup-like solution was prepared. Each 600 grams of the product consisted of "20 eight-mg Betamethasone solution ampoules" in the Steroid (S) group, "300 grams of honey plus 20 grams of instant coffee" in the Honey plus Coffee (HC) group, and "300 grams of honey" for the Honey (H) group. The participants were told to sip 10 ml of the prescribed product, and then swallow it every three hours for one week. Severity of lesions was clinically evaluated before the treatment and also one week after the initiation of the intervention. This study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and guidelines of Good Clinical Practice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study showed that all three treatment regimens reduce the severity of lesions. The best reduction in severity was achieved in HC group. H group and S group took the second and third places. In other words, honey plus coffee regimen was the most effective modality for the treatment of oral mucositis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral mucositis can be successfully treated by a combination of honey and coffee as an alternative medicine in a short time. Further investigations are warranted in this field.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT: 201104074737N3, (9 May 2011).
authors.forename: Mohammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Raeessi
authors.affiliation: Chemical Injuries Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. raeessi_neda@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Neda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raeessi
authors.forename: Yunes
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Panahi
authors.forename: Homa
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gharaie
authors.forename: Seyyed Masoud
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Davoudi
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saadat
authors.forename: Ali Akbar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Karimi Zarchi
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Raeessi
authors.forename: Seyyed Mostafa
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jalalian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D040503:Coffea / Q000737:chemistry*; D003069:Coffee / Q000378:metabolism; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013256:Steroids / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013280:Stomatitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D003069:Coffee; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013256:Steroids
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