Apitherapy: Honey and Bee Venom for Your Health. Does It Work? |
Apitherapy is the practice of using honeybee products for health purposes. Claims made for its benefitits are quite remarkable, leaving almost no disease category unturned. But I'm here to answer the question, has apitherapy been proven to work?
Does Honey Work for Coughs? Apitherapy proponents could merely react in one way: "Sweet." In the Archives study, researchers used the following doses of buckweat honey nightly: I'd be OK with giving kids honey for cough (but never to an infant under the age of 12 months; it may cause infant botulism). Get articles like this from the experts every month in our free My Family Doctor newsletter.
If you want, you can try honey on scrapes, cuts and burns to prevent infection. But that comes with a couple of precautions. If you still want to try it, Dr. Weil mentions New Zealand manuka honey (not necessarily botulism-free) and a brand of treatments called Medihoney (which are botulism-free). Manuka honey is in some health food stores. Medihoney products are sold in pharmacies.
Last updated and/or approved: October 2011. Original article appeared in May/June 2008 former print magazine. Bio current as of that issue. This general health-care information is not meant as individual advice. Please see our disclaimer. Comments (5)
![]() ![]() written by Manuka honey , December 10, 2012 Yes Manuka honey which comes from New Zealand works well in healing wounds. manuka honey report abuse
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![]() written by James Hubbard, M.D. , July 04, 2011 Hello, Kurt. I might suggest a humidifier. If I heard any wheezing, that could be a source of the cough, so I would treat it with appropriate medication. James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H. Publisher MyFamilyDoctorMag.com report abuse
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![]() written by Kurt Bockoven , June 24, 2011 Seems like my previously prescribed cough medicines for kids are no longer available: Rondec, Silidec, Ceron DM. Interesting about honey. I may recommend it. But what to do for those infants younger than 1 year old. Besides nasal bulb syringe any suggestions? Kurt Bockoven FNP report abuse
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![]() written by Danh H. Nguyen, MD , May 24, 2011 Honey and lemon for the cough. I doubted her all these years. I thought there would be more proven uses for honey, but I guess that's good enough for now until we get more data. report abuse
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![]() written by Cori , November 11, 2010 I have tried honey to treat a burn and it works even better than my aloe vera cream.. I also used honey to treat acne. And my mother uses propolis for her arthritis pain. report abuse
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by Robert A. Pendergrast, Jr., M.D.