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Apitherapy (Bee Venom Therapy)

Literature Review

  • Chapter
Potentiating Health and the Crisis of the Immune System

Abstract

Apitherapy is the medicinal use of various products of Apis mellifera (the common honeybee) including raw honey, pollen, propolis, beeswax, royal jelly and venom. Various studies attribute antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative and anticancer potentiating properties to honey.(1)

In China, for example, raw honey is applied to burns as an antiseptic and a pain killer.(2–3) Recently, propolis has been identified as containing substances called caffeic esters that inhibit the development of precancerous changes in the colon of rats given a known carcinogen.(4) Preparations from pieces of honeycomb containing pollen are reported to be successful for treating allergies and bee pollen is touted as an excellent food. This review focuses on related research materials about bee venom to treat chronic inflammatory painful illness.

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  1. International Pain Institute, Inc., Red Bank, New Jersey, 07701, USA

    Christopher M.-H. Kim

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  1. The Israeli College of Complementary Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Avshalom Mizrahi

  2. Consultancy and Research Services, Clil Village, Israel

    Stephen Fulder

  3. The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, Kadima, Israel

    Nimrod Sheinman

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Kim, C.MH. (1997). Apitherapy (Bee Venom Therapy). In: Mizrahi, A., Fulder, S., Sheinman, N. (eds) Potentiating Health and the Crisis of the Immune System. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0059-3_24

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