Sorry, but if bee stings reduce cholesterol, then mine should be hardly
measurable. I am six feet tall, weight 170 pounds, am reasonably fit,
exist on a low fat diet (whenever I am home and under the control of my
wife), don't smoke, etc., but my cholesterol remains much higher than the
it should.
Stung so many times, I rarely even develop a welt and unless she hits a
nerve ending, they don't even hurt (especially in my hands and forearms).
The recent article by Visscher and others concerning how to remove a
stinger raises an interesting point. They argue that it is more
important to remove the sting promptly than whether it is scraped out or
pinched out. I have no doubt that the longer the poison sac pumps away,
the bigger the dose of venom. Can't respond to whether pinching or
scraping releases more or less venom.
However, measuring welts raised on their arms seems a bit iffy. Having
been a life-time suffer of numerous allegies (but not to bees), I have
undergone the scratch tests on my back several times, so I know that is an
accepted method for evaluating an allergic response. But here's the
problem - bee stings to my hands do not produce a welt or even turn red.
Bee stings on my forearms might raise an occassional small welt (less than
1/4 inch) that fades fast. Hit the inside of my wrist, and it puffs a bit.
Stings to my face, even the eye lid, rarely produce any welt, but a sting to
the ear lobe always hurts and turns red.
Stings to my back and lower legs sometimes produce a small welt, but they
always redden or flush.
My point is that in my case, the size of the welt (if any) is governed by
the part of my body that gets stung. In fact, anything that generates a
mild allegic response always raises two 1/2 inch welts, one on the inside
of each of my forearms. Why? Because the Doctors always tested the
potency of my allergy shots in those two spots. 40 yrs later, they are
always the first to respond.
Jerry Bromenshenk
The University of Montana-Missoula
[log in to unmask]
http://grizzly.umt.edu/biology/bees
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