Hi All
 
On the topic of bee stings. With bee stings one has to look at the
various aspects of a bee sting. Bee venom contains a phospholipase
(A2) which is an enzyme which disrupts cell membranes it appraoches.
There are also other organic compounds which mark, irritate and so on.
 
All of these are not normal components of our bodies, hence the body
views them as a threat. It will produce antibodies to the foreign
substances. These antibodies will in some cases bind with specialised
cells in the body which will release histamine. This causes localised
swelling and a certain amount of raw plasma will get into your sting
area. This will cause the area to harden a bit amonf other things.
histamine also causes warming of the area.
 
As time progresses you will develop more antibodies to the bee sting.
Hence in theory you will swell more and more till you die with each
sting. (anaphylactic shock) Your body cannot allow this to happen (it
does happen in some cases leading to anaphylaxis etc). It develops
regulator T cells which control the histamine response and soon you
will find that all that your antibodies are doing is lapping up
the offending bee sting compounds and you don't get the swelling
anymore. What you will find is that you will get a little red dot
where the bee stings you, as what happens is that your body basically
cordons of an area with a mat of antibodies, leading to the unreacted
venom being concentrated and eating a little hole. The sting gets
less but still stings, especially on finger tips. The venom does not
spread as muc which is nice as well, and hence the 'I'm in a bad mood
from being stung twenty times' or 'I feel sleepy because I've been
stung twenty times' scenarios don't happen much.
 
Keep well
 
Garth
---
Garth Cambray       "Opinions expressed in this post may be those
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In general, generalisations are bad.
But don't worry BEEEEEE happy.