Woman dies due to complications from bee sting acupuncture therapy

A number of bizarre lifestyle trends and alternative treatments have become popular among people over the past few years. But while the debate is how effective these practices are, are we asking how safe they are?

While acupuncture in different forms is meant to enhance well being of people, an unnamed woman from Spain died after undergoing a process that involves getting stung by bees. She attended sessions of apitherapy every four weeks for two years without any allergic reactions before.

But she suffered an anaphylactic shock from the bee venom and went into a coma followed by multiple organ failure leading to her death. This comes after actor Gerard Butler admitting that he suffered life-threatening consequences of bee sting therapy.

Apitherapy includes use of substances like honey, propolis and royal jelly coming from honey bees and using venom kills the bee. The process is done by a therapist holding the bee and pinching it till the stinger punctures the patient’s skin.

While it has been claimed that the therapy treats arthritis, multiple sclerosis and stress, there is little evidence for this. Meanwhile the woman’s death raises questions about the procedure.