Friday, May 16, 2014

Video: Bee Venom Helping Relieve Pain

Honey Bee venom is being used to help take away knee pain.
OKLAHOMA CITY —Hillcrest Clinical Research in Oklahoma City is turning to honey bee venom to take the sting out of knee pain.
Dr. Vicki Conrad, principal investigator in the clinical trials, said, "We very quickly have seen some of our subjects just respond beautifully and they’re much better.”
The honey bee venom is collected, processed in a lab, then shipped to Hillcrest in vials. It’s later mixed with the local anesthetic Lidocaine so the injection is not painful.
First, the doctor uses a syringe full of the purified honey bee venom and injects it in a few small areas right around the knee. The skin will bubble up slightly, similar to an allergy test, and then the venom goes to work.
The treatment is relatively new in the U.S. but it’s actually been around for thousands of years. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates used bee venom to treat joint pain and arthritis…

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