ࡱ;  Rrtteotn ; RFbWjstuotnra@;`DC Fittino͝d@CompObjrtdeejfjdr0;QM ;MQ@\p WordDocument@ @\H@XH0ObjectPool@@8F&lieE&idtV&eiwI&sn7d7d0;( FMicrosoft Word 6.0 DocumentNB6WWord.Document.6;  Oh+'0   #/7 ?Kh pz KThe Server:Applications:Microsoft Office:Microsoft Word 6:Templates:NormalDSFLDSFL'@sd@v@sd@ܥhO  e0 **-----V-V-V-V-V-n- x- V-/K---------//////&%0X}0/------/--------------0->--------- BOSTON SUNDAY HERALDPRIVATE  SEPTEMBER 24, 1995 BY Dana Norton Let it bee She looks like any other 20-something -- fit, fashionable, ready for action. Kelly Ames smiles often, moves quickly and talks fast. Anyone meeting the Arlington woman today would find it difficult to imagine the condition she was in less than a year ago. "I wouldn't leave the house without a cane -- my legs were limp and numb. I lost the vision in my left eye," said Ames, who has multiple sclerosis. She felt so disoriented she held her head down most of the time. Her medications "didn't help a lot." But all that changed, says Ames, 27, once she turned for help to a tiny creature that sends most people scurrying in the opposite direction. From last November to April, Ames let herself be stung by honeybees three times a week, up to 13 stings a day. Painful it was. But after three months of bee venom therapy, she put aside her cane. After six, she was "95 percent better," she says, and could see out of her left eye again. "It's a miracle. It's given me my life back," said Ames, who works part time at Harvard Business School. "With the bees I don't feel like I have the disease. I have to remind myself I have it." Now Ames, along with Ann, a woman with MS who did not wish her last name to be used, runs a free bimonthly support group in Lexington to introduce other -- most with MS, some with arthritis -- to the alternative treatment. Both women stress they're neither doctors nor scientists. And they don't claim bee venom is a cure for MS, a disease which affects the brain and spinal cord and can cause vision problems, lack of coordination, weakness and other symptoms. But because of their personal experiences with the therapy, used by a small but growing number of people around the country, they believe bee venom helps sllevieate the disease's symptoms. Not everyone agrees, particularly those within the medical community. "There have been no controlled studies on be venom therapy in MS, so it's imposssible to know whether it works or not," said Dr. Howard L. Weiner, co-director of the Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "I think it's difficult to evaluate something if there aren't studies done on it, especially in a disease such as MS that spontaneously or naturally con improve on its own." Despite this, people like Ann swear by bee venom therapy. Before beginning treatment the Lexington resident, who was diagnosed with MS in 1993, says she walked with a cane and had enormous difficluty seeing, hearing, and talking. "I had no concept of anything. I was totally removed from reality. I would put a toothbrush in my mouth and not know what to do with it," Ann said. After five and a half months of being stung by bees, her health improved. "All of a sudden one morning I woke up and it was, "OH, my gosh, I think I'm functioning. I think I can see -- I don't have any fog here," Ann recalled. "I didn't need the cane anymore -- I walked normally." How bee venom therapy works, especially in cases of MS, is not entirely clear, say advocates. In his book "Health and the Honeybee" (Queen City Publications, 1995), Charles Mraz, a Vermont beekeeper who has treated hundreds of people with bee venom since the early 1930s, contends bee venom "stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, a hormone that has anti-inflammatory properties." However bee venom therapy might operate, many who come to the Lexington support group are eager to learn how to use it, say the group's organizers. Ann and Ames explain how the therapy can be done at home and how to obtain bees free from local beekeepers or order them by mail. A family member or friend must commit to administering the stings to the patient three times a week for six months -- with a sting kit on hand that contains a syringe for injecting adrenaline in case of a severe reaction. The stinger is left in place for five to 15 minutes. Women can receive as many as 20 stings at a time in different parts of the body and men as many as 40. Side affects are minimal, according to Ames. Some people may experience flulike symptoms at the beginning of the treatment. As for pain, "it hurts for five minutes, maybe a little longer, but it's not undoable," she said. Both she and Ann now use bee venom therapy in maintenance doses whenever symptoms reappear. As with MS, there have been a number of anecdotal accounts over the years of successful people with arthritis. But many doctors remain skeptical, believing the positive outcomes may be due to the strong expectation and desire that a new, innovative treatment will work. "Rheumatoid arthritis has a very prominent placebo response rate (40 to 50 percent), even in very good controlled studies," said Dr. Lee S. Simon, a rheumatologist and assistant to the president for medical education at the Deaconess Hospital in Boston. "Therefore patients who calim that they get better may be extremely motivated and that may be the reason thry've gotten better, not becaus the (treatment) is so dramatic." But people like Ames and Ann remain true believers. While they acknowledge being stuung by bees all over the body is not the easiest treatment in the world, the results, they say, are worth it. "If we had to, we'd do it again -- in a minute," Ann said. "We know what it's fone for us." For information on the bee venom therapy support group, call 860-0989, or write to BVT, 405 Waltham St., P.O. Box 163, Lexington, MA 02173. To order "Health and the Honeybee," call (800) 603-3577.  ....()()))()()K:phoenix⫧̥ȧȶƳƐƕƟƇƂȂČ҅ƷՔΌՔȅȂƫƢȂڶȢƷƎƁƨƕƵƤƤǂ֏Â㫇㥊⩖⠏奧‚ⵇ‚ﲃ⧓䧕‚⣞SummaryInformation(Microsoft Word 6.0.12 ࡱ; 㲉‚悏ŏŠŏQfŠ悏^ffXfŏŠƏ悏Ƃ17JւŏŠƏ悁$f筂 ffffXf1䂏ꁦgŏQfŠ悏悏^fՁXfՏ穂Տ祂Տ終Տ䵧ׂgfIffIff$f筂ŏŠƏ悏ꁦgꁧgŏŠfggIfIff$f筂ƂŏWJg_悏ŏ笂fgfgŏŠÊ悏gf$f筂笂ɏҁ؏碂碕-碕-碕-碕-ŏQfŠ悏^fƏ悁$f筂碂壔䠩0f̏磂ɏҁ؏碂ُ碂碂碕䠥0ffFf䠵0f̏砂悏f堵0f̏硂ɏҁ؏碂碕-ُ碂碂碕Ƃf碕悁整f̏箂؏碂碕‚ُ碂碂̏硂碕f悁8f粃Ffύ?i鍀ꪨ͛뢮ɋ쬮񸴼ӑ޺ŷړݝߍ۹^غŃ殯昙顠闖diMAINdϫԦ˂ GR<$uuDUuDCcGC uDC !56FGSTVTR Z 7  _V2B$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,0,H)!K"@"Normal3 ]a c"A@"Default Paragraph Font+@ Endnote Text *@ Endnote Referenceh@ Footnote Text &@! 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