Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us Essay

Animals and the Myriad Ways They Can Kill or Heal Us - Essay Example Bee venom is also referred to as apitoxin or bee sting venom. Scientifically, it is also known by such names as apis venenum and apitoxine among others (Stearns, 2012). As the name suggests, bee venom is a product of bees. As a matter of fact, it is the venom that makes it painful when a person is stung by bees. Nonetheless, bee venom should not be confused with honey, bee pollen or royal jelly. Basically, bee venom is a major product of the bees. These insects use it as a defense mechanism or a weapon to protect their territory. This article reveals that bee venom is not only feared but also does magic within human body. Bee venom contains some wonderful substances. In fact, it contains up to forty pharmacologically active ingredients. Some of them include mellitin, apamin, adolapin, dopamine and others. Each of these active substances has a different effect on our bodies. This means that once a bee stings a person, the pain dies after about one hour, and the venom left behind begin s to do wonders. Of course, the introduction (actual insertion of the bee sting into human body) is painful and feared by almost everyone. On the other hand, bee venom can be used to combat a number of ailments including insomnia, headache, inflammation, osteoarthritis, skin problems and others. In fact, it has been said that when a person has severe headache, he or she could have a quick relief via a bee sting. This practice is normally referred to as BVT (bee venom therapy). Astonishingly, bee venom has recently been found to contain a key ingredient that destroys HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). Perhaps, this is a breakthrough, especially considering that HIV/AIDS has continually killed millions of people without cure (Saini & Peterson, 1999). Bee venom has not only been shown to destroy HIV cells, but it also does so without harming other cells. This is very important in treatment of any other disease because the aim is not just to kill the bacteria but also to protect other body cells. Researchers have loaded the toxin (referred to as melittin) onto nanoparticles styled with bumpers that normal cells bounced off unaffected. According to the researchers, HIV cells are small enough and can fit between bumpers. This means that they can make contact with the surface of the nanoparticles where bee venom awaits (ScienceDaily, 2013). Consequently, melittin on these nanoparticles fuses with viral envelopes and ruptures them. Of course, this strips the virus’s shell thereby killing it. The difference between the bee venom technique and existing HIV treatment drugs is that the latter techniques attempt to slow down the virus’s ability to duplicate. It is worth noting that the virus has also evolved to evade most of these anti-HIV drugs. What is more, bee venom ingredients (in particular melittin) attack the virus’ natural structure. There is theoretically no mechanism to grow adaptive evasion responses to this. Altogether, ingredients found in bee venom are strategically placed to destroy HIV. The bee venom antiviral therapy has propositions for areas rampant with HIV. For instance, it can be used by women together with vaginal preventative gel. This prevents the initial infection. In addition, treatments could be devised for drug resistant HIV. Such treatments can be delivered intravenously, potentially clearing the blood of the virus. Let us not forget the possibility for this type of treatment being applicable for couples in