Alternative remedy - taking relief from the sting
January 23, 2007
With doctors urging amputation to stop the gangrene spreading upwards from his toes, Liu Guorong was sceptical when a friend said bee venom might save his foot.
“I was doubting this place,” the 58-year-old diabetes sufferer said in a raspy voice during a visit to the Xizhihe Traditional Medicine Hospital on the outskirts of Beijing.
“When I got here, I had no idea what I was doing and what the bee sting treatment was all about.”
As Liu found out, it was painful. Bees were placed on his foot and provoked to sting him in a bid to rejuvenate the blackened, rotting flesh by flooding it with a rush of protein-rich blood.
A folk remedy for treating arthritis, back pain and rheumatism for 3 000 years in China, practitioners say such pinpointed stings can repair damaged cells, stave off bacteria and ease inflammation.
Doctors at Xizhihe Hospital believe they can even cure liver ailments, diabetes and cancers.
They admit, however, that they do not really know how it works.
“Our knowledge has increased over the years,” said Xu Xiaowang, Xizhihe Hospital director.
“But there are still large areas that are unknown to us all … There are too many unanswered questions,” Xu said.
Drugs Online - Buy Drugs Online at reasanoble prices.DrugOnline.cc provides confortable and easy way to order drugs online including drugs free shipping.
Western-trained doctors dismiss the treatment as unscientific and dangerous.
“It’s alternative medicine and has no basis in western medical science … I would doubt its efficacy,” Professor Christopher Lam, a chemical pathologist at the Chinese University in Hong Kong said.
“People allergic to bee stings can develop hypersensitivity reactions like a sudden drop in blood pressure, swelling of the airways, cold sweats … it may be life threatening,” Lam said.
At 20 yuan (about R18,40) a sting, the treatment offers a cheap alternative to mainstream medicine.
“Doctors at other hospitals were telling me that they needed to cut my foot off,” Liu said. “I’d spent loads of money.”
Liu has been to Xizhihe several times to get stung. He is now on a course of orally-taken bee venom medication and expects to keep his foot.
Posted by toshko under Pain Relief News | Comments (0)