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Potato Powder Stops Bleeding, May Help Surgery

Posted by timothy on from the a-spud-for-your-spurting dept.

Big E writes "'A powder made from the common potato appears to help blood to clot, closing minor cuts and aiding surgical procedures, new research suggests'. Reuters story is here. According to the company that produces it, Medafor Inc. , it is "Effective even in areas of profuse bleeding". That's a bit more than closing minor cuts and they are seeking approval for use during chest and intestinal surgeries. Maybe this will prove to be the biggest thing since the Band-Aid maybe even revolutionize emergency & combat medicine." Here are some Scanning Electron Micrographs of this sweet potato in action, too.

2 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. -1 Offtopic? Not Necessarily by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The next step of the research may find that carving a suppository out of a potato makes an excellent treatment for bleeding hemorhoids.

  2. Sugar/Honey by drox · · Score: 3, Interesting
    If you don't happen to have a supply of potato powder around, table sugar is reported to have a similar effect.

    I don't know about the clotting effect, but sugar (and even better, honey) can help prevent infection in wounds. It works the same way that concentrated sugar and salt solutions work to preserve fruits and vegetables without boiling/sterilizing in preserves and pickles. The solution MUST be sufficiently concentrated to prevent bacterial growth. Pouring salt on a wound would be just too painful, but sugar and honey both work.

    Honey is even better for treating wounds than sugar for (at least) two reasons: It's already a superaturated sugar solution right out of the jar, and it contains, in addition to some interesting sugars (mostly levulose, maltose), some natural antibiotics/bacterial growth inhibitors.

    It's not just for toast and tea!