There is a lot that we don't know about bees and our own immune systems.
Although there is a general lack of hard research, we do know that people
differ in response to a variety of things depending on contact, inhalation, or
oral ingestion. I've suffered from allergies all my life, took 5 years of
shots when I was very young - started when I was 4. The shots helped a lot, and
I'm a strong advocate of them for children. Allergy shots for adults
generally require routine boosters.
With a child and allergy shots, you have a chance to 'reset' the immune
system (my terminology) with some long lasting benefits - I don't take shots
anymore, and I haven't for nearly 45 adult years. Of course, some children grow
out of allergies, but many don't, and some get worse.
I've been lucky to have some very good allergists work with me and with our
projects. One of them was among the first to discover a higher incidence of
bee-related allergies among the family members of beekeepers. His also warns
that skin tests are a highly unreliable means of assessing allergy to bees.
These doctors generally concede that there may be some benefit to ingesting
small amounts of allergens such as bee pollens. In my own case, if the honey
has too much of something I'm highly allergic too, I get a reaction. And,
although the primary pollen in honey are from bee pollinated sources, we've
found a surprising amount of supposedly wind pollinated pollen in some honeys
- e.g., pine and fir pollen in spring honey.
So, I'll disagree a bit with Jim on this one - eating local honey may be a
placebo effect, but there's some evidence that it may help. Unless you are
like me and are highly sensitive to some pollens in honey, there's not much to
risk other than eating a tasty product. I do suggest starting with small
amounts of local honey if you've got severe pollen allergies. Consumption of
pollen itself is something I can't do - so be very careful if you try it.
My allergist friends indicate that there is some evidence that oral
ingestion of some things to which a person is allergic may have an affect similar to
shots - so they don't think its totally a placebo effect.
Now, one other thing that I've found about allergies. I'm mildly allegic to
bananas - I can eat them cooked, or cut up, but if I peel one back and the
banana touches my lips - instant swelling. Uncooked apples make me nauseous.
Avocados can be deadly - instant swelling, shortness of breath.
Fortunately, I'm cautious, so I've managed to keep the doses small, avoided going into
shock, but I've been close.
In recent years, I've found out what is going on - its cross-reactivity to
proteins, mainly those in trees. The same materials in resin that kill
invading pathogens, have counterparts in the skin of fruit, some vegetables.
Plants like birch trees, rubber trees, etc. produce proteins that are close
enough to those in some fruits and vegetables that people like me have a
reaction that is really based on the response of my immune system to the
materials produced by these trees - so technically, I'm allergic to them and NOT to
the proteins in the fruit. Funny, seems like an allergy reaction to me -
swelling, itching, shortness of breath, upset stomach. Good thing I don't often
encounter the primary allergen. Not many rubber (latex) trees in MT,
although we have birch.
Finally, as per cancer. I'd be very cautious about implying bee stings can
cure cancer. Any beekeeper who gets melanoma can't really say that bees
stings then cured it. Presumably the beekeeper had been stung before developing
the melanoma.
As per arthritis, my father was a farmer. He injured a finger joint and it
froze, wouldn't bend at all. He was like that from my childhood through my
college days. Then he got stung (in this case by a wasp during corn harvest).
He got hit on the finger (the wasp was on the tractor steering wheel).
Swelling ran all the way up his arm, we took him to the emergency room.
When the swelling went down, the finger had fully range of motion, and
continued that way until he died in his 80s. A single case, but fairly dramatic -
and I don't think it was placebo, he didn't know anything about stings and
arthritis until after the fact.
Jerry
**************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for
fuel-efficient used cars. (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007)
****************************************************
* General Information About BEE-L is available at: *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/default.htm *
****************************************************
|
