Editing Apitherapy

{{Short description|Pseudoscientific alternative medical therapy using bee products}}
[[File:Apiterapia1.png|thumb|Bee sting being applied during an apitherapy session.]]
{{Alternative medicine sidebar |fringe}}

'''Apitherapy''' is a branch of [[alternative medicine]] that uses [[honey bee]] products, including [[honey]], [[pollen]], [[propolis]], [[royal jelly]] and [[bee venom]]. There has been no scientific or [[evidence-based medicine|clinical evidence]] for the efficacy or safety of apitherapy treatments.<ref name=acs/><ref name=cass/> Bee venom can cause minor or major reactions, including [[Allergy#Pathophysiology|allergic responses]], [[anaphylaxis]] or death.

== History ==
References to possible medical properties of bee products can be found in Chinese, Korean, Russian, Egyptian, and Greek [[traditional medicine]] practices.<ref>{{cite journal|pmc=4549745|year=2015|last1=Silva|first1=J|title=Pharmacological Alternatives for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders: Wasp and Bee Venoms and Their Components as New Neuroactive Tools|journal=Toxins|volume=7|issue=8|pages=3179–3209|last2=Monge-Fuentes|first2=V|last3=Gomes|first3=F|last4=Lopes|first4=K|last5=Dos Anjos|first5=L|last6=Campos|first6=G|last7=Arenas|first7=C|last8=Biolchi|first8=A|last9=Gonçalves|first9=J|last10=Galante|first10=P|last11=Campos|first11=L|last12=Mortari|first12=M|doi=10.3390/toxins7083179|pmid=26295258|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Russian Federation; In: WHO Global Atlas of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Part 2; page 136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VO8K9h9GvaoC&pg=PA136|publisher=World Health Organization|access-date=8 September 2017|date=2005|isbn=978-9241562867}}</ref> Apitherapy has been practiced since the times of [[Hippocrates]] and [[Galen]].<ref name=Grassberger/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilcox |first1=Christie |title=Venomous: How Earth's Deadliest Creatures Mastered Biochemistry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUsBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA186 |date=9 August 2016 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-71221-1 |page=186}}</ref> Modern use of [[bee venom]] appears to have originated with Austrian physician, Philipp Terč, and his 1888 article "About a Peculiar Connection Between the Bee Stings and Rheumatism",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Terč |first1=Philipp |date=26 August 1888 |title=Ueber eine merkwürdige Beziehung des Bienenstichs zum Rheumatismus |trans-title=About a Peculiar Connection Between the Bee stings and Rheumatism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNAcAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1261 |journal=Wiener Medizinische Press |volume=29 |issue=35 |pages=1261–1263 |language=de |publisher=[[Urban & Schwarzenberg]]}}</ref> but his claims were never tested in proper clinical trials.<ref name="Wilson2006">{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Bee |date=June 2006 |orig-year=2004 |title=The Hive: The Story of the Honeybee and Us |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312342616/page/216/ |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |edition=1st U.S. |isbn=0-312-34261-6 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> More recent alternative medicine practice is attributed to the Hungarian physician [[Bodog F. Beck]] who coined the term "bee venom therapy" in 1935,<ref name="Grassberger">{{cite book |last=Kim |first=Christpher M.H. |date=4 June 2013 |chapter=Chapter 4: Apitherapy — Bee Venom Therapy |editor1-last=Grassberger |editor1-first=Martin |editor2-last=Sherman |editor2-first=Ronald A. |editor3-last=Gileva |editor3-first=Olga S. |editor4-last=Kim |editor4-first=Christopher M.H. |editor5-last=Mumcuoglu |editor5-first=Kosta |title=Biotherapy – History, principles and practice: A practical guide to the diagnosis and treatment of disease using living organisms|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcJEAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA79|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-94-007-6585-6|pages=77–78}}</ref> and to [[beekeeper]] Charles Mraz (1905–1999) in the latter half of the twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Apitherapy|url=http://medicineworld.org/alternative/apitherapy/history-of-apitherapy.html|publisher=Medicineworld.org|access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref> In 1957, the [[USSR]] [[Ministry of Health (Soviet Union)|Ministry of Health]] sanctioned use of bee venom to treat certain ailments by approval of [[Nikolay Artemov]]'s "Instruction for Bee Sting Venom Apitherapy".<ref name="Berenbaum2010">{{cite book |last=Berenbaum |first=May R. |author-link=May Berenbaum |title=Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jh-i1SD1Ll0C&pg=305 |date=January 1995 |publisher=Helix Books |isbn=978-0-201-62499-1 |page=175}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Palmer |first=D. J. |title=Collecting bee venom for research |date=27 February 1964 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Eodgt6aCuo0C&pg=PA546 |magazine=[[New Scientist]] |location=London |volume=21 |issue=380 |pages=546–547 |issn=0262-4079}}</ref>

Humans have historically used bee products in various ways: [[beeswax]] was used in casting metals and making incendiary weapons, [[honey]] was used for food and religious offerings, [[propolis]] was used as an adhesive, and pollen was used for agricultural work such as [[plant breeding]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|vauthors=Yaacov M, Lensky A|editor-first1=Avshalom |editor-first2=Yaacov |editor-last1=Mizrahi |editor-last2=Lensky |title=Bee products: properties, applications, and apitherapy|date=1997|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4757-9371-0|doi=10.1007/978-1-4757-9371-0 |oclc=1012443288|url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4757-9371-0}}</ref>  Much later, there was an attempt to use bee venom clinically via injection by J. Langer at the University of Prague in the late 1890s and 1930, a firm in south Germany named Mack produced bee venom solution commercially.<ref name=":02" /> Apitherapy is used in [[traditional medicine]] in countries in Europe, Asia, and South America including China, Korea, and Russia.<ref name=":02" />

==Alternative medicine ==
{{further|Honey#Medical use and research}}
Apitherapy is promoted as [[alternative medicine]] for several uses,<ref name=cass>{{cite book |last1=Barry R. |first1=Cassileth |author-link=Barrie R. Cassileth |title=The Complete Guide to Complementary Therapies in Cancer Care: Essential Information for Patients, Survivors and Health Professionals |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J6kLNKw5baYC&pg=PA221 |year=2011 |publisher=World Scientific |isbn=978-981-4335-66-9 |pages=221–224 |chapter=Chapter 36: Apitherapy}}</ref> but its [[health claim]]s are not supported by [[evidence-based medicine|scientific evidence]].<ref name=cass/> Bee venom or other honeybee products are ineffective for the treatment or prevention of [[cancer]].<ref name=acs>{{cite book |publisher=[[American Cancer Society]] |title=American Cancer Society Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Cancer Therapies |pages=704–708 |chapter=Apitherapy |edition=2nd |year=2009 |isbn=9780944235713 |editor1=Russell J |editor2=Rovere A |quote=practitioners claim ... bee venom can be used to treat various diseases, including several types of arthritis; neurological problems such as multiple sclerosis, lower back pain and migraine headaches; and skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis, and herpes.}}</ref> Evidence for using honey in wound treatment is of such low quality that firm conclusions cannot be drawn.<ref name=Jull2015>{{Cite journal |title=Honey as a topical treatment for wounds |last1=Jull |first1=Andrew B. |last2=Cullum |first2=Nicky |last3=Dumville |first3=Jo C. |last4=Westby |first4=Maggie J. |last5=Deshpande |first5=Sohan |last6=Walker |first6=Natalie |year=2015 |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2015 |issue=3 |pages = CD005083|pmid=25742878 |doi=10.1002/14651858.cd005083.pub4 |pmc=9719456 |quote=Honey appears to heal partial thickness burns more quickly than conventional treatment (which included polyurethane film, paraffin gauze, soframycin-impregnated gauze, sterile linen and leaving the burns exposed) and infected post-operative wounds more quickly than antiseptics and gauze.}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Majtan |first1=J |title=Honey: an immunomodulator in wound healing |journal=Wound Repair and Regeneration |date=2014 |volume=22 |issue=2 Mar–Apr |pages=187–192 |doi=10.1111/wrr.12117 |pmid=24612472|s2cid=40188613 }}</ref>

== Risks ==
[[Adverse effect|Adverse reactions]] to bee venom therapy are frequent.<ref name="Park2015">{{cite journal |last1=Park |first1=Jeong Hwen |last2=Yim |first2=Bo Kyung |last3=Lee |first3=Jun-Hwan |last4=Lee |first4=Sangun |last5=Kim |first5=Tae-Hun |date=21 May 2015 |title=Risk Associated with Bee Venom Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=5 |page= e0126971|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0126971|pmid=25996493 |pmc=4440710 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1026971P |doi-access=free }}</ref> Frequent exposure to the venom can also lead to [[arthropathy]].<ref name="arthropathy">{{cite journal|last1=Cuende|first1=E.|last2=Fraguas|first2=J.|last3=Pena|first3=J.E.|last4=Pena|first4=F.|last5=Garcia|first5=J.C.|last6=Gonzalez|first6=M.|title=Beekeeper's Arthropathy|journal=The Journal of Rheumatology|date=1999|volume=26|issue=12|pages=2684–2690|doi=10.1016/j.reuma.2018.02.012|pmid=29530760|s2cid=165720541 }}</ref> In sensitized persons, venom compounds can act as allergens, causing a spectrum of allergic reactions that can range from mild, local swelling to severe systemic reactions, [[anaphylactic shock]], or even death.<ref name="spaindeath">{{cite journal|last1=Vazquez-Revuelta, Madrigal-Burgaleta|title=Death due to Live Bee Acupuncture Apitherapy|volume=28|issue=1|pages=45–46|url=http://www.jiaci.org/revistas/vol28issue1_6-2.pdf|journal=The Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology|publisher=Esmon|access-date=21 March 2018|pmid=29461208|year=2018|doi=10.18176/jiaci.0202|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In March 2018, it was reported that a 55-year-old woman died after receiving "live bee [[acupuncture]]", suffering a severe anaphylactic episode which the apitherapy practitioner did not respond to by administering adrenaline.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sfgate.com/science/article/bee-sting-acupuncture-apitherapy-death-12768293.php|title=Woman dies after undergoing 'bee acupuncture' treatment famously touted by Gwyneth Paltrow|work=SFGate|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref> While stabilized by ambulance personnel on the way to the hospital, she died a few weeks later from complications resulting in [[multiple organ dysfunction syndrome|multiple organ failure]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lagerquist|first1=Jeff|title=Woman's death after bee sting therapy shows the practice is 'unsafe': study|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/woman-s-death-after-bee-sting-therapy-shows-practice-is-unsafe-study-1.3850922|website=CTV News|date=20 March 2018|publisher=Bell Media|access-date=21 March 2018}}</ref>
Live bee acupuncture therapy is "unsafe and unadvisable", according to researchers who studied the case.<ref name="spaindeath" />

== See also ==
* [[List of ineffective cancer treatments]]
* [[Melittin]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Alternative medicine|state=collapsed}}
{{Insects in culture|state=collapsed}}
{{Unproven and disproven cancer treatments}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alternative cancer treatments]]
[[Category:Apitherapy| ]]
[[Category:Bee products]]
[[Category:Biologically based therapies]]
[[Category:Naturopathy]]