A Type of Venom That Helps Parkinson’s

In the past, I’ve given you a lot of information on how to fight Parkinson’s. It’s a hard disease to treat.

Parkinson’s is so hard to treat, I like to throw everything I can at it. So here’s something you might want to try.

It combines a popular alternative treatment with a type of venom.

Researchers recently looked at 43 men and women with Parkinson’s disease who had been on a stable dose of anti-Parkinson’s medication for at least one month. All the participants were assessed using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, the Parkinson’s Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Berg Balance Scale, and the time and number of steps required to walk 30 meters.

Then they divided them into three groups. One group had standard acupuncture in 10 particular points twice a week. The second group had the same acupuncture points treated, only they were treated with bee venom twice a week. The third group had no treatment. At the end of two months, they retested the men and women to see if the treatments had any effects. Here’s what they found.

The men and women in the standard acupuncture group showed improvements in some aspects of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory. However, the group that got the bee venom acupuncture showed significant improvement in all aspects of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. They also had significant improvement in the Berg Balance Scale and the 30-meter walking time. The group that did not get any treatment showed no significant changes in any of the tests.

Several other experiments have reported on the effects of acupuncture on Parkinson’s symptoms, but only a few found significant improvements in motor symptoms. One study showed improvement in some symptoms, such as tremors, handwriting, and difficulty walking. However, even that study did not show any significant changes in motor scores. In contrast to these studies, the current study with bee venom showed “significantly improved motor symptoms.” But I’m sure many of you are asking the question, “Why bee venom?”

Nobody knows for sure. What is known is that both bee venom and acupuncture have properties that protect nerve cells. For example, when mice are induced to develop Parkinson’s disease by being exposed to a chemical called MPTP, acupuncture inhibits inflammation and cellular destruction.

In addition, acupuncture promotes the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and decreases oxidative stress to the dopaminergic neurons responsible for Parkinson’s. Why does adding bee venom to the equation get even better results? For one, bee venom has its own separate protective effects on dopaminergic neurons.

So where can you get bee venom? You don’t actually need a bee to cooperate. It’s available in ampoules. I’ve been using it for years for arthritis. I just inject 1/10th of a cc intradermally, which is the equivalent of a bee sting. Ask your doctor to give it a try.

Yours for better health,

Frank Shallenberger, MD