Honey Bee Pollen in Allergic Rhinitis Healing

The most common atopic disease of the upper respiratory tract is allergic rhinitis. It is defined as a chronic inflammatory condition of nasal mucosa due to the effects of one or more allergens and is usually a long-term problem. Under those conditions, it is desirable to avoid excessive and irrational application of chemical drugs and to consider the use of supplemental medicaments. The purpose of our study was to test the efficiency of apitherapy in allergic rhinitis healing by the application of honey bee pollen. Apitherapy is a branch of alternative medicine that uses honey bee products. Honey bee pollen can act as an allergen and cause new allergy attacks for those who suffer from allergic rhinitis. Conversely, we hoped to prove that smaller ingestion of honey bee pollen on a daily basis would desensitize participants to pollen and thus reduce the severity of allergic rhinitis. We conducted this research with 46 individuals between 22 and 47 years old, treated for allergic rhinitis. The patients filled in a questionnaire, with a visual analogous scale linked with the individual feeling of sneezing and other symptoms of rhinitis before and after the therapy. There was a significant difference (p = .000; α = .05) between symptoms of users before and after therapy conducted using honey bee pollen. After the pollen application, we recorded reduced symptoms with all participants and therefore the results support the main hypothesis. According to our research, the application of the honey bee pollen as therapy for allergic rhinitis is efficient and justified. Also, pollen therapy resulted in positive responses with participants suffering from other health issues.