Bee-Sting Therapy Provides Relief to Egyptians

Xinhua, 10/1/2016

CAIRO, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Dozens have gathered at Heba al-Sayeh's place in Egypt's Giza Governorate for bee-sting therapy to cure muscle problems, kidney failure and cancer.

Al-Sayeh, whose family originally works in beekeeping business, has turned two rooms of her house into "clinics" to treat patients free of charge with the stings of live bees, a practice known as apitherapy.

With a master degree in apitherapy, the doctor in her late thirties said that she started the treatment some 15 years ago as the first practitioner of apitherapy in Egypt.

Though denounced by many researchers for lacking sound medical evidences, apitherapy, which can date back to ancient Egypt, is a form of alternative treatment that has spread in recent decades to many countries.

Ibrahim, al-Sayeh's younger brother who learned the skill from her, was taking care of male patients in a two-room clinic at the ground floor, while a smaller room on the first floor was packed with women waiting for treatment by al-Sayeh herself...