Apitherapy and PsychiatryHoney Bee Venom

Usage for Psychiatric Patients

Michael Gurevich, MDHolisticMD.org

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Is there a conflict of interest?

- No

and I will keep it this way

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My credentials

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Michael I. Gurevich, M.D.HolisticMD.orgDiplomat American Board of PsychiatryDiplomat American Board of Addiction PsychiatryDiplomat American Board of Holistic MedicineCertified in: Acupuncture, EMDRAdditional training in:

Applied Psycho NeurobiologyAutonomic Response TestingKinesiological testing

Neural TherapyHoney Bee Venom TherapyOrthomolecular medicineInstitute of Functional Medicine

Guided ImagerySystemic Family Constellation (Hellinger method)

MeditationYoga Positive Psychology Other holistic modalities

My personal induction in to the field

• Dietrich Klinghardt, M.D., Ph.D.- one of the best medical practitioners in US and Europe. He has extensive experience in using honey bee venom (apitoxin) therapy.

• Ruptured meniscus: anything to avoid surgery .• Michael Simics, Apitronic Services- was my first

teacher.• Stefan Stangaciu, MD (Romania),

Apitherapy Internet Course.• Reading, doing it, enjoying it, sharing it.

Challenge: should I give bee venom to my psychiatric patients?

• What if they have arthritis? • What if they have a sport injury?• What if they have Lyme?• Can it also help their psychiatric conditions?• Can we challenge the dogma on two sides?

Conventional vs. vs. vs. vs.

Holistic

Psychiatry

Conventional psychiatry The Power of Diagnosis

• Every one given a diagnosis, often several. • Diagnoses are based on DSM IV (The

Psychiatric Bible) .– DSM III, IV and soon V are put together by a

group of people with strong ties to industry.– Disease definition changes every few years. – Etiology is disregarded.

• Patient is equated with the disease.• And compared with a group of patients with

similar disease.• Individuality is disregarded. What’s your Dx?

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Conventional psychiatryThe Power of Diagnosis

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• Doctors usually assume that Disease is caused be a “Chemical Imbalance”, or “Deficiency in Neurotransmitters” based on…???

• Tests to confirm presumptive deficiency/ excess are available, but are not used…???

Conventional PsychiatryThe Power of Medication

• Medication treatment dominates psychiatry.• FDA approves medications based on:

– Short term, selective, only successful studies– Medications put in a group of ANTI.. –psychotic,

depressants, etc.

• As soon as medication is approved, ANTI- category begins to expand:– …depressants approved to Tx anxiety.– …psychotic approved to Tx depression.

• Medications are non-specific in their action, except they have strong neurotoxic effects.

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Conventional Psychiatry• Non-Specific Diagnosis + Non-Specific

treatment = At best short term remission – In 4-6 weeks, in 20-30% of patients; – 50% of whom relapse within one year and– A LOT of side effects.

• But in spite of these– 20-25 % of all US population are on 1+

psychotropic medications and – ~ 10% of children <15 yo.

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Conventional psychiatry

• Disability due to psychiatric conditions is rapidly growing, now is the largest group among all disabled patients.

• Incredible rise in the Treatment Resistant Psychiatric Conditions (but nobody reports statistics).

Psychiatric Disability for children <18 years old

• 1987: 293,000 total on disability 16,200 (5 % ) due to mental

illness• 2007: 561,000 on disability due to

mental illness. 25 times increase.• Social Security Administration , annual statistical reports on

SSI program, 1996-2008; and Social Security Bulletin, Annual Statistical Supplement, 1988-1992.

Holistic Psychiatry

• Purpose: assist patients to reach their optimal level of health, with minimal cost and no side effects.

• Finding obstacles to healing and matching specific healing to individual patient.

• Magic tools:– Kinesiological testing.– Lechter’s antenna and Bioresonance Analysis of

Health (BAH).

• Medical diagnosis- is not important in resolving patient’s issue (but it is a language that patient/ medical community understands), it signifies certain vulnerabilities we should be aware of.

The 5 Levels of Healing – A Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment

Therapeutic methods are used according to on which level healing

issue is addressed • Physical Level:

– Supplements, Injections, bee venom, etc.

• Energetic Level: – Acupuncture, energy psychology, etc.

• Psycho-emotional– Special forms of psychotherapy, etc.

• Transpersonal– Systemic Family Constellation

• Spiritual- meditation, spiritual interventions.

Where does bee venom therapy fits in my practice ?

• Self-referred patients looking for BV therapy.• Medical patients in my practice: arthritis,

inflammation, injuries (as part of neural therapy).

• Lyme spectrum disorder: joint inflammation, arthritis, bacteriosis.

• Tx Resistant Mood Disorder.• Anxiety with accompanying arthritis. • Substance abuse.

Getting off psychotropic meds using bee venom

• Harriet W. is 58 yo retired school teacher, avid golf and tennis player

• Dx : Treatment Resistant Major Depression for >10 years; came on 5 psychotropic meds.

• Started BV because of elbow and knee pain (had several surgeries).

• Initially: severe itching. Persevere, because of immediate pain↓.

• Itching persisted for 3 weeks.• Over the next 4 month she slowly tapered her

meds. Feeling better than in years.

Pitfalls: Be careful with psychiatric patients; they are prone to panic

• Antoinette is a 57 yo WF suffering from anxiety, depression, and chronic back pain. She was more comfortable with remaining on meds.

• She received 1 BVSE divided in 20 doses in a usual way.

• She became frightened about itching reaction. She was admitted to ER and received steroids and IV infusion.

Manic Switch? Or Just stress?

• Bill O. is a 38 yo WM, single, struggling with chronic depression for years. Physical abuse and neglect as a child. Reduced his meds by himself. Several trials of supplements failed.

• Exercise is the best for him, but stopped because of pain due to overtraining.

• HBV injections started at my office; later doing at home with assistance.

• Depression lifted in 2 weeks. Lost 20 lb.• But… in 2 mo. He became almost hypomanic.

Stress: he was buying his first house.• Has been doing well for > year

Vertigo- relieved by neural therapy with bee venom

• 65 yo WM, retired Gym teacher, father of my former “hopeless” patients.

• Comes with C/o lightheadedness, connected to viral infection.

• Neural therapy with bee venom injections behind ear resolves Sx after two Tx.

• Sx reoccur and respond to Tx every 8 to 15 months.

Possible Use of Apitoxins in Normalization of Alcohol Drinking

Drinking

• I.Krivopalov-Moskvin, et. Institute of Clinical Apitherapy, Chelyabinsk, Russia

• 4,300 patients have been treated in over 10 years.

• 679 of them observed and included in study.

Possible use of Apitoxins in Normalization of Alcohol

Drinking drinking

GroupsRemission

6 month%Remission

1 yea%Remission

3 years %

Alcohol abuse (412)

84.9 77.9 69.9

Alcohol Dependence

(267)79.9 69.8 55.1

The Apitox Program For Narcomania Treatment

• I.Krivopalov-Moskvin, et. Institute of Clinical Apitherapy, Chelyabinsk, Russia.

• 3 year study: inpatient and outpatinet observation for one year; 61 patients.

• Reduction of main symptoms of abstinence observed in 75% in 2-3 days.

• 44% of patients remain in remission up to 6 months.

What does it take to inject dried honey bee venom

(apitoxin) ? 1. Michael Simics collecting dried honey bee

venom, preparing it, standardizing it meticulously, shipping it.

2. Using procaine 1%, preservative free.3. Putting it in 3 CC syringe.4. Adding apitoxin .1 cc per one honey bee venom

sting (or less if it is Venex 20).5. Putting 30 g needle.

6. Making multiple intra-cutaneous (into the skin) injections (see video).

Injecting bee venom

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A few tips:

• Be careful about adrenal fatigue!• Injections in the area of adrenal

glands and below diaphragm – helpful for depression.

• Injections behind ears have great effect for early Meniere's Disease.

• Muscle test where to inject and BAH’s if to inject.

Family feud:

• Life honey bee venom stings • vs. • Dried honey bee venom/ procaine

injections.• Few thoughts and • …lets just work together and support

each other .

Live Honey Bee Venom (BV) vs. Dried Honey Bee Venom (Apitoxin)

  Live Bee Venom Dried Bee VenomPotency/ storage Depending on

season, area, storage, how long applied, etc.

Predictable, standardized, easy to store, long shelf life

All BV fractions Yes NoAdministration: easiness & speed

Cumbersome Easy and fast

Honey Bees fate Sacrificed Minimal effectPain Moderate to severe Mild to moderateWho can administer?

Anybody Need a licensure to inject & trained patients

Live Honey Bee Venom (BV) vs. Dried Honey Bee Venom (Apitoxin)

Bee venom supply Any bee keeper Only few manufactures in the world

Cost per injection ??? $0.40-0.75, including all supplies

How many practitioners are using it?

??? Very few. (Only one on East Coast- MG)

Head to Head Comparison

Not available. Some anecdotal stories. Except…

Summary

• Do not avoid patients with psychiatric conditions and substance abuse, just bee careful.

• If you have a licensure to inject, consider injectable apitoxin: it is easy and reliable to use.

• Spread the good word about how effective honey bee venom therapy is!!!

Questions???•Questions??•Questions?