Woman dies after undergoing 'bee acupuncture' treatment famously touted by Gwyneth Paltrow

An apitherapy practitioner administers a bee sting to the hand of a patient at Cibubur Bee Center on April 15, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bee acupuncture or apitherapy, is an alternative healing practice where bee stings are used as treatment for various conditions and diseases. A Spanish woman died recently after undergoing a bee sting treatment, according to a recent journal report. less An apitherapy practitioner administers a bee sting to the hand of a patient at Cibubur Bee Center on April 15, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Bee acupuncture or apitherapy, is an alternative healing practice where ... more Photo: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images Photo: Dimas Ardian/Getty Images Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Woman dies after undergoing 'bee acupuncture' treatment famously touted by Gwyneth Paltrow 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

A Spanish woman died after undergoing an acupuncture treatment that uses live bee stings in lieu of needles.

The 55-year-old had undergone apitherapy – an alternative style of medicine involving honeybees and/or the substances they produce – once a month for two years to treat stress and muscle tightness.

Immediately after receiving a live bee sting in one session, the woman's breathing became labored and she suddenly lost consciousness, according to a report published recently in the Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology.

It took 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, whereupon emergency medical personnel administered a double dose of adrenaline, a saline infusion, corticosteroids and antihistamines. The patient's heart rate stabilized en route to the hospital.

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Several weeks later, the woman died of multiple organ failure. According to the journal report, the patient suffered a "massive watershed stroke and permanent coma" due to persistent hypotension stemming from her severe anaphylactic episode.

The report claims this "is the first reported case of death by bee venom apitherapy" following anaphylaxis. A 2015 report found a 65-year-old woman died after receiving bee venom therapy from an unlicensed apitherapist in South Korea.

Things may have ended differently for the Spanish woman had the apitherapy practitioner administered adrenaline immediately after her symptoms appeared, and had the ambulance arrived more quickly.

"However, these measures may not be possible," state the report authors, P. Vazquez-Revuelta and R. Madrigal-Burgaleta of the Ramon y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid.

The doctors conclude that live bee sting treatments are "both unsafe and unadvisable."

Some benefits of apitherapy have been previously reported, though published evidence of the practice's safety and effectiveness is scarce. According to the American Apitherapy Society Inc., bee products "promote healing by improving circulation, decreasing inflammation, and stimulating a healthy immune response." The organization claims the treatment is effective for pain, wounds, gout, burns, tendonitis, infections and multiple sclerosis.

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Bee venom treatments have been the talk of gossip magazines for some years now, with celebrities like Kate Middleton and Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly touting the benefits of the allergen.

In a 2016 New York Times interview, actress and Goop creator Paltrow admitted she'd been stung by bees in the name of beauty.

"It's a thousands of years old treatment called apitherapy," she said. "People use it to get rid of inflammation and scarring. It's actually pretty incredible if you research it. But, man, it's painful."

Most hypersensitivity reactions occur after accidental bee stings, the report claims. Only a few incidents of allergic reactions to acupuncture have been reported, most stemming from regions where traditional medicine is widely practiced, such as China and Korea.

Repeated exposure to bee venom may lead to greater risk of a severe allergic reaction.

Michelle Robertson is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com or find her on Twitter at @mrobertsonsf.