What is Bee Venom Therapy used for?
* Pain: Chronic pain; Arthritis (traumatic, osteo, rheumatiod; Joint swelling and pain; Limited range of motion; Strength/grasp force; Walking duration; Morning stiffness; Painful scars; Fibromyalgia; Rheumatic diseases; Inflammation
Other: Vertigo/vestibular disorders; Eye inflammations (iritis, retinitis, optic neuritis); Autoimmune disorders (multiple sclerosis, lupus, polymyalgia rheumatica, diabetes); General neuropathic changes (peripheral neuropathy, spinal radiculopathy, early reflex sympathetic dystrophy)
* Longer life expectation
What is Bee Venom Therapy?
Originally bee venom therapy (BVT), or apitherapy, used the stings of live bees to relieve symptoms of pain, loss of coordination, and muscle weakness. Stinging was not limited to any specific area of the body, as stings in different places seemed to produce different results.
Apitherapy researchers suggest that certain compounds in bee venom, namely melittin and adolapin, help reduce inflammation and pain, and that the combination of all the “ingredients” in bee venom helps the body to release natural healing compounds. Click here to read more!
Currently, the modern application of bee venom starts with an allergy test to make sure the patient is not allergic to this substance. If a patient is non-reactive, low doses of bee venom are mixed with equal parts of anesthetics such as procaine. This mixture is injected subcutaneously, just under the skin, into painful areas of the body.
Generally, 4 – 6 weeks of treatment is sufficient for prolonged pain relief, but for severe degenerative conditions, longer treatment may be helpful.
After the treatment, there is immediate pain relief, increased range of motion, mild euphoria, and a feeling of warmth. The results of treatment varies from person to person.
What is the history and current data to support Bee Venom Therapy?
All bee products (royal jelly pollen, comb wax and propolis) including bee stings/venom were used in early ancient civilizations. Bee stings were one of the first natural cures for arthritis. Click here to read more!
In China, today there are entire hospitals devoted to the use and research of bee products in health and disease. Here is a recent clinical review:
RESULTS:
Compared with pre-treatment, scores of joint swelling degree, joint activity, pain, and pressing pain, joint-swelling number, grasp force, 15 m-walking duration, morning stiff duration in bee-venom group and medication group were improved significantly (P<0.05, 0.01). Comparison between two groups showed that after the therapy, scores of joint swelling, pain and pressing pain, joint-swelling number and morning stiff duration, and the doses of the administered MTX and Mobic in bee-venom group were all significantly lower than those in medication group (P<0.05, 0.01); whereas the grasp force in bee-venom group was markedly higher than that in medication group (P<0.05). In addition, the relapse rate of bee-venom group was obviously lower than that of medication group (P<0.05; 12% vs 32%). Click here to read the full abstract!
Bee venom has compounds that have antimicrobial activity. The compound mellitin is effective in the treatment of Lyme disease. In addition, bee venom contains neurotrophic substances that are similar to nerve growth factor (NGF) which protects and regenerates nerve cells. This is useful in the treatment of neurologic disorders such as multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, spinal radiculopathy (sciatica) and early reflex sympathetic dystrophy.
“People who are often stung by bees have a longer life expectancy and suffer less from rheumatic diseases. Bee venom has various antibiotically effective ingredients that can also kill Borrelia. Mellitin seems particularly effective. In addition, bee venom contains neurotrophic substances that similarly to Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) protect and regenerate nerve cells. This is useful for (the treatment of) borreliosis/lyme disease.”
