# Bee Venom Therapy for MS sufferers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568 "2001-04-11T07:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568/1 "2001-04-11T07:13:25Z")
I’ve recently seen a program that showed the success stories of 2 practitioners of this treatment. The program stated that approximately 10,000 people suffering from MS are trying this therapy. There doesn’t appear to be alot of scientific research into this practice, or its effects, so my questions are: Does it really work, or were the 2 success stories given just examples of the placebo effect? If it does work to relieve some symptoms (partial blindness and lack of feeling in the feet were given in these cases), _how_ does it work? Other than having an allergy to bee stings (or developing one), are there any other possibly damaging things the practitioners could be doing to themselves? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568/2 "2001-04-11T12:58:24Z")
Try [this site](http://www.wendys-ms-site.addr.com/beevenom.html). Or [here](http://www.theness.com/beevenom.html) for the “anti-view” [Apitronics](http://www.beevenom.com/) actually sells the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568/3 "2001-04-11T14:18:03Z")
I seem to recall Dr Dean Edell answering this, based on the thought at the time (about five years ago). He said that the prevailing notion at the time had something to do with the auto-immune response from the bee venom, not the bee venom itself. MS is thought to be an auto-immune disorder (I think), and the (possible) abatement from the symptoms was the result of the body’s response to the venom. ---
**Author:** ![FunkDaddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc79bd/32.png) [@FunkDaddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FunkDaddy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568/4 "2001-04-11T22:38:27Z")
My cousin’s actually using this to treat his MS. He hasn’t seen any great improvement, but it gives him some hope. I won’t speak to the efficacy overall, since I’ve only seen one person use it, but it seems mostly to basically give him something to believe in. He’s not in great shape, so there’s some value in that… but I’ve never been a fan of offering empty hope to people, so I’m in the ‘nay’ camp for this particular alternative treatment. FD. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bee-venom-therapy-for-ms-sufferers/61568/5 "2001-04-11T23:45:44Z")
My guess is that a component of the bee venom is chemically similar to a neurotransmitter which is in an abnormal supply in MS patients