A woman in Spain suffered a severe allergic reaction and died during a controversial bee sting therapy session. Apitherapy, or “bee therapy,” is a type of acupuncture that uses bee stings, rather than needles, to stimulate specific energy points in the skin.
Bee therapy has been promoted by actress Gwyneth Paltrow and other holistic health individuals.
According to HuffPost, the woman was treated with live bee stings for two years without suffering any ill effects.
But during her last bee sting session, she suffered a severe allergic reaction, slipped into a coma and died from multi-organ failure.
A previous study by researchers found that “repeated exposure to the allergen was found to carry a greater risk of severe allergic reactions.”
The study that was published in PLoS One in 2015 found that “nearly 30 percent of patients experienced some kind of negative reaction to bee sting therapy”.
“The risks of undergoing apitherapy may exceed the presumed benefits, leading us to conclude that this practice is both unsafe and unadvisable,” the study concluded.
The practice of acupuncture is filed under “quackery” by the medical profession in the U.S. But most patients say acupuncture helped to relive a variety of conditions, including psychological disorders, arthritis, diabetes, and even weight loss.
Stock photo by Nataba / Getty Images
