Bee an excellent doctor?

Comment on "Ouch bee therapy causes a real buzz" (China Daily, Sept 14)

I would like to encourage people to believe in bee sting therapy. In 1980, my arthritic hands were saved by this therapy. At that time, it was practiced in Canada by - as far as I know - only one doctor and his three sons and one daughter. The 80-year-old doctor, who used to swim two hours a day throughout the year, had developed a technique to extract the venom from bees and re-inject it in his patients with tiny syringes.

A bee sting is used to treat a patient at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]

The efficient bee sting treatment was discovered by chance in ancient times, when beekeepers were stung inadvertently while trying to extract honey from honeycombs. It is said that people who suffered from arthritis recovered mysteriously after being stung by bees.

Since the therapy in Canada was not covered by the healthcare system, patients had to pay for the treatment but it was worth it. Denounced by other doctors, however, the bee-sting-therapy doctor and his family were later barred from practicing medicine and their clinic was closed down. By that time I was already in China and had already been healed.

I hope the Chinese medical authorities view the bee sting therapy with a more open mind and let the practice continue, under close monitoring of course. Patients who suffer from arthritis have nothing to lose in giving it a try.

Lisa Carducci, via e-mail

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(China Daily 09/23/2013 page9)