Title: Bee venom therapy for Arthritis on MedicineNet.com
Headings: Sting the Pain Away
Sting the Pain Away
Unproven Results
Most Got Better
Bee Venom Studied
Caution Needed
SLIDESHOW
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Content: Because one to five percent of the population is allergic to bee venom, apitherapy patients must first be tested. Moreover, the practitioner should have close at hand a bee sting kit which can remedy allergic reactions. "From where I sit, most bee venom therapy treatment is done on arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and relieving numbness in an arm or leg," says Ross Hauser, a doctor at the Caring Medical & Rehabilitation Service in Oak Park, Illinois. In a study as yet unpublished, Hauser followed for one year 51 patients with documented chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. The subjects started bee venom therapy with one injection weekly and increased to an average of eleven shots every other week. "Fifty-eight percent had a very positive response and got significantly better," says Hauser. " But 30 percent had no benefit, and one patient got worse." The patients who improved could walk and climb stairs better and had better bowel and bladder control, as well as more control over the activities of daily living. The downside, according to experts, is that some patients can't endure the injections or bee stings. Says Hauser, "I've had patients who did very well with bee venom therapy but found the injections too painful."