Apitherapy

Apitherapy is the medical use of honey bee products. This can include the use of honey, pollen, propolis, royal jelly, and bee venom.

Most claims of apitherapy have not been proved to the scientific standards of evidence-based medicine and are anecdotal in nature. A wide variety of conditions and diseases have been suggested as candidates for apitherapy, the most well-known being bee venom therapy for autoimmune diseases and multiple sclerosis.

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History

The exact origins of apitherapy are difficult to pinpoint and can be traced back, in a general sense, to ancient Egypt, Greece and China. Use of honey and other bee products can be traced back thousands of years and healing properties are included in many religious texts including the Veda, Bible and Quran. These are mostly attributed to nutritional benefits of consumption of bee-products and not use of bee venom.

The more modern study of apitherapy, specifically bee venom, was initiated through the efforts of Austrian physician Phillip Terc in his published results "Report about a Peculiar Connection Between the Beestings and Rheumatism" in 1888. More recent popularity can be drawn to Charles Mraz a beekeeper from Vermont, United States over the past 60 years.^[1]

Clinical practice

While 'Apitherapy' encompasses use or consumption of bee products, the most commonly associated is bee venom therapy and not the consumption of honey or other bee products.

Bee venom therapy is claimed to be of use in arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, dissolving scar tissue (e.g. keloids), Herpes zoster (shingles), etc.

The most abundant active component of the venom is melittin, which has a powerful anti-inflammatory action. However, bee venom is a complex mix of a variety of peptides and proteins, some of which have strong neurotoxic and immunogenic effects.

There is no standardized practice as some proport the location of the sting is important and is likely a combination of acupuncture. Others report the location is not important. Number of stings also varies wildly from a few to hundreds and some are administered by live bees and others by injection. Extreme caution should be used before considering this, as anaphylactic shock can be fatal.

Scientific research

In a controlled study from Allegheny University of the Health Sciences in Philadelphia, bee venom was found to have no positive effects at any dosage in mice with Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, the animal model for multiple sclerosis. Additionally many of the animals expressed worse symptoms from the placebo groups.^[2]

Phase I of a study at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC, funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America (MSAA) was geared towards safety in administering bee venom treatments to humans with multiple sclerosis.^[1]

References

Critical

• Bee Venom Therapy - By Steven Novella MD, President of the New England Skeptical Society
• Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Bee Venom Study