The article "The Relationship between inflammation and atrophy in clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of multiple sclerosis" caught my eye immediately, as this class has opened my eyes to how huge of an impact inflammation has on the functions of the body. In this case, the study investigated a possible relationship between inflammation (in patients with Clinically Isolated Syndrome) and brain atrophy; although the triple-dose gadolinium-enhanced MRI scan was found to be successful method, the hypothesis was found null: inflammation and brain atrophy do not proceed in parallel. This was surprising to me, I would think an inflammation disease affecting the brain and spinal cord would have an effect on the decrease in brain tissue volume, since it can have degenerative effects a lot of the time.
Inflammation, however, does have a serious effect on MS patients. Apitherapy has also sparked my interest into finding out why a bee sting could improve the quality of life of an MS patient. Bee venom contains extremely potent anti-inflammatory components, including melittin and adolapin. Melittin is a 100x more potent anti-inflammatory that hydrocortisone. It also has anti-microbial effects, including inhibiting the bacteria causing lyme disease, in which cytokine production is decreased and TNF-alpha is disregulated resulting in pro-inflammatory outcomes. Adolapin, also a highly potent anti-inflammatory, inhibits cyclooxigenases, which generate prostanoids and play a regulating role in inflammation. Apamin, another component of bee venom, is a neurotoxin that blocks Ca2+ activated K+ channels in the central nervouc system. Specifically, apamin blocks SK (small conducted) channels, which play roles in hyperrepolarization occuring immediately after an action potential. It seems to me that apamin in this case would be of more use to MS patients that the anti-inflammatory components of bee venom. Melittin and adolapin do not do anything specific enough to MS inflammation to be worth the therapy; however, the apamin's inhibitory effects dirrectly affect the CNS, which is what is directly affected by MS. If apamin inhibits the channels which play roles in hyperrepolarization, action potentials would then proceed at a slower pace, which could in turn slow down the degradation of the myelin sheath during MS. Therefore, I think bee venom seems to only be a decent therapy if used for slowing down the degradation process of MS, but as far as anti-inflammatory effects go, I have yet to be convinced it can be worth all those stings!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
It seems that bee sting therapy is a way to alleviate pain and symptoms of MS but it is definitely not a cure. The fact that these patients swear by the curing effects of this therapy to me seems as if the dopamine and serotonin present in the bee venom could be contributing factors in their opinions.
KatieM495: what an intriguing propostion. Certainly, as you pointed out...I would not necessarily want to endure bee stings as part of therapy (but are needles any better?). I wonder, was there evidence of a dose response effect in the paper you read? It would seem that a single bee sting might have variable 'doses', and these doses could impact the clinical outcome. ?? Most interesting. TLH
This topic is in need of much more research before conclusions can be drawn
I have never (I don't think I have anyways) been stung by a bee before. But if I had MS and had to deal with all the pain that came with MS, I think I would be willing to atleast try the bee stings. Even though it is not a cure for MS, I think that anything that can be done to ease the pain and not cause any other problems should be done. Some patients would not want to be stung by a bee that might or might not help ease thier pain which is completely understandable.
Desireel495...thanks for the reminder you've given us about the human experience of illness. The reminder is that the experience of illness is very personal. Many patients with MS may be willing to try anything, including bee stings, to ease their symptoms. It is easy for us to say that we would never endure the stings, but on the other hand, we do not necessarily understand what it is like to have MS, a devastating disease. Thank you again, TLH
Post a Comment