Apitherapy is the use of bee venom or honey in the prevention or treatment of various diseases and conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Utilizing bee venom for therapy has been reported from ancient Chinese medicine. Bee venom therapy (BVT) is so widely used because if its anti-inflammatory properties but there are only a hand-full of studies to prove this. Honeybee venom contains mellitin, a powerful anti-inflammatory, which is said to be 100 times stronger then hydrocortisone. Mellitin stimulates the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol, thus reducing the immune response. Interestingly enough, cortisol is sometimes used in the treatment of RA.
Looking at blogs and various websites, I found testimonies from RA sufferers regarding BVT. Many patients turn to this naturopathic remedy after drug therapies proved not to work. To determine if bee venom works, one must visit a naturopathic doctor or an apitherapist. First, it must be determined if the patient is allergic to bee venom. If they aren’t allergic, the bee venom is administered as a shot or a sting from a live bee into trigger points. The therapy is continued daily for four to six weeks, depending on the severity of the disease.
Not only does bee venom have healing properties but honey does as well. It turns out that honey has anti-fungal and anti-microbial effects. It has been used in wound therapy, treatment of infection and treatment for serious skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. Scientists are unsure as to why honey has such beneficial outcomes.
The only concern regarding Apitherapy is allergic reaction. Administration of bee venom could possibly result in anaphylactic shock if one is not careful. Thus, speak with your doctor or a health professional before you go out and catch bees to use on areas of inflammation or infection!
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3 comments:
The use of Bee Venom as a treatment is very interesting. The fact that it can be used for several different conditions is also interesting, for there have been several treatments to several of the diseases that we have studied that are used on a number of different things. I was wondering if it was in fact the inflammation that is the stem of infection. What do you think?
I was just curious if the bee venom had to be from a particular type of bee and if other animal venoms work as well? I find this whole topic of bee venom therapy very interesting!
I agree, the use of venoms is quite interesting to treat a disease. I had one professor who told me that she had known a man who had a severe malignant cancer and had unintentionally got bitten by a black widow. The man was literally on the verge of death because of the venom, but somehow he was able to recover not only from the venom but his cancer. No one knows if it was the spider’s venom that treated his cancer or the other medications given to him.
I have heard the use of other animal venoms like snake to treat certain dieseases. I am curious as to how some venom can alter the immune system.
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