Poison as Medicine
By Caledonia Rice
Perhaps you’re running around in the grass as a child or at a picnic with sweet sticky lemonade and then bees decide that it’s time for them to make an appearance. We all have those not so fun stories of the times we’ve gotten stung by a bee. The tears as a child, and perhaps the cursing as an adult, are both side effects of the unpleasant burning and irritating sensation associated with a bee sting. You very well may have said that just one bee sting per lifetime is more than enough, but what about people who get stung over and over again. On purpose. Some people see bee stings as not annoying backyard pests but as literal life savers . What are their side effects like and why do they choose to do that to themselves?
We know that bees are extremely important for a variety of reasons. They sustain our agriculture with their pollination, they give us honey, and they’re an important part of the ecosystem. We can now add the healing properties of bee venom to the list of why bees are just so darn important.
Bee venom therapy is a subcategory of apitherapy, which includes all treatments with bee products, such as honey, pollen, royal jelly, and propolis. Apitherapy comes from the Latin word apis which translates to bees. “Bee” is a general term that refers to insects in the family of insects known as Hymenoptera. Honeybees, yellow jackets, hornets, and wasps belong to this family, and all have the ability to inject venom through a painful sting. Honeybees are the species typically used for bee venom therapy. (neurologycare.net)
The use of bees for medicinal purposes dates back to over 5,000 years ago when it’s first recognized as being helpful in the treatment of diseases and injuries. There are images of bees drawn on rocks by early hunter gathers that depict honeybees as a source of medical treatment. This particular subcategory of apitherapy, bee venom therapy, was used by ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Greek therapists, including Hippocrates. All of these ancient civilizations understood the vast importance of the bee and its venom.
While the word venom might seem as a thoroughly negative word, it actually brings about some very positive affects in patients who use this bee venom for medical purposes. It may be hard to understand why anyone would ever actually want to voluntarily get stung by bees, but the venom from a bee sting can be used to treat a wide variety of health issues such as but not limited to; arthritis and other systemic inflammations, acute and chronic injures and pain, lyme disease, and multiple sclerosis. Through live bee stings, there can be relief and healing to various spinal, neural, joint, or musculo-skeletal ailments.
There are a variety of different elements in bee venom that help patients with so many different diseases and illnesses. Honey bee venom contains atleast 18 active substances. The most prevalent substance is Mellitin and it is one of the most potent anti-inflammatory agents known. It is 100 times more effective than hydrocortisol, which is steroid frequently prescribed to people suffering from arthritis. Adolapin is another strong anit-inflammatory substance in bee venom that also acts as a painkiller. There are measurable amounts of Norepinephrine which helps to support adequate levels of blood pressure. Dopamine and Serotonin are also present, adding to the already impressive list of helpful substances found in bee venom.
The research about bee venom therapy is far and few between with not many definite answers presented so far. This would make many skeptical about the benefits of bee stings but the testimonials from patients may be enough to sway you to the side of positivity. One woman, S. Crede, had an extremely successful experience with this alternative form of medicine. “Bee venom therapy has completely eradicated the disabling fatigue associated with my MS. Within two months of following instructions for Bee Venom Therapy and MS, I was able to stand from my wheelchair for the first time in four years. After four months, I was able to stand using a walker and move about the room and make turns. After nine months, I was able to go upstairs, or make it to the bathroom unassisted using only the walker. I took a break for awhile when we moved, and some of my symptoms resumed, and once again I need some assistance. However, I am looking forward to starting bee venom therapy again soon and continuing my long-term improvement. It has also helped considerably with bladder control. I think it is time for doctors to pay attention to this treatment.” (beewelltherapy.com)
Even though there isn’t significant research out there currently about bee venom therapy, with most, if not all, of the testimonials being this overwhelmingly positive, it’s seems to be easy to sway to the pro-poison as medicine approach to healing. If and when there is more significant research to be done about bee venom therapy, it would be interesting to see the results when the placebo effect is factored in. More professional research to be done about bee venom therapy treatments would bring a more scientific approach to the conversation and patients seeking this therapy wouldn’t have to rely mainly on usually biased testimonials. It’s surprising that more research hasn’t been conducted yet since the medical community is always looking for new and innovative ways to help people. Perhaps it’s hard for people to view bees as helpful when for so long they have only seen them as dangerous.
Patients who decide on bee venom therapy, with or without a look into the little research out there, usually make the transition for one main reason. Many patients switch to the more holistic approach of bee venom therapy because they want to move away from over the counter drugs, which sometimes aren’t all that helpful and come with a handful of negative side effects. Holistic medicine is a form of healing that considers the whole person- body, mind, spirit, and emotions- in the quest for optimal health and wellness. Western medicine doesn’t usually take all of these factors into consideration.
One such patient, K. Gray, who was suffering from MS, decided to switch away from medications prescribed by her neurologist and try the more holistic treatment of bee venom therapy. “Bee Venom Therapy has helped give me my life back. More importantly, it has given me hope that my neurologist, with all his modern drugs, never could. If you have been newly diagnosed with M.S. or the drugs you are taking are not helping you, the best thing you could ever do is try BVT. It hurts at first, but what you gain in the end is immeasurable.” (beewelltherapy.com) This natural medicine has worked far better than opioid prescription drugs for so many people with a wide variety of health issues.
So now that we know all the components of the venom can be used for medicinal purposes and all wonderful effects that bee venom therapy can bring about , what exactly takes place during the actual act of this somewhat magical form of therapy? It can be performed by a beekeeper, a doctor, the patient or a partner who is taught how to use the bees. After storing the honey bees in a cool jar for a just a short time to slow down it’s movements, you are able to remove one at a time with tweezers and hold it over the area which you wish to inject with the venom. Be sure to have a firm grip on the bee so you’re able to hold it in place exactly where you want to get stung. But also don’t be too strong that you squish the little guy. Honeybees should be used for bee venom therapy. It’s often thought that all bees die after stinging, but the honeybee is able to sting multiple times and still survive.
When treating illnesses such as arthritis, you should have the bee sting right on the affected area but with other illnesses it’s more beneficial to apply the sting to acupuncture points. A combination of the two is the most effective for total overall anti-inflammatory and painkiller effects throughout your entire body. Depending on the reason for treatment, 1-5 stings over the course of a week may be enough to help the condition but there are people who use up to 80 or more stings in a single session to help their disease or illness. The average person can safely tolerate 10 stings per pound of body weight with the average adult being able to withstand around 1,000 stings but I can’t imagine that would be pleasant in any way at all.
While many of the affects from the bee stings are overall positive, it’s important to keep in mind that things might not go as planned. Since there isn’t a substantial amount of research out there on the subject yet, the effects may not be as promising as you’d expected. It’s also a wise idea to keep a bee sting kit nearby just in case something goes wrong. Some of the negative side effects associated with bee stings are nausea, skin reactions, and in extreme cases anaphylaxis, which can turn deadly quickly if there’s no immediate medical attention.
Bee venom therapy doesn’t necessarily have to be with live bees through stings. There are bee venom extraction techniques where the venom is able to be collected and put in a syringe and then administered that way . Whether through live bee stings or extraction, the honeybees aren’t harmed or killed in either technique. There are those who believe, without much scientific research to back it up, that bee venom therapy through live bee stings has proven to be much more effective than when administered with a syringe. If you’re going to be crazy enough to voluntarily put poison into your body, I would say that the best way to do it is the all-natural painful straight up bee sting way.
Bee sting therapy can also appeal to people who suffer from a bee allergy. Depending on how severely allergic you are, by using BTV it’s possible to greatly reduce the allergic reaction associated with a bee sting. By getting stung repeatedly, your body gets more accustomed to the venom and doesn’t send out symptoms of distress so intensely or as frequently as before. If you’re someone with a bee allergy and also suffering from an ailment that could benefit from bee sting therapy, it’s probably best to consult an expert before moving forward with any sort of treatment as the two combined together can make for some crazy and potentially scary outcomes.
This bee sting therapy trend seems to be growing rapidly. As scary as it may sound, many are coming around and seeing the positive benefits of the odd form of therapy. Society as a whole has started to turn away from pills to treat health issues and instead start to look at more natural types of medicine such as bee venom therapy.
While it may be hard to understand why anyone would ever actually want to get stung by bees, there are definitely seems to be health benefits that can come from such a painful and unorthodox therapy.
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