Among the higher "Eeeuwwww!"-factor medical treatments are the use of maggots to clean gangrenous wounds, and leeches for therapeutic blood reduction; now comes the lowly pig whipworm for imflammatory bowel disease(IBD).
http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/74/89187.htm?printing=true "..."It turns out that countries where IBD is common are those industrialized, developed nations like the U.S., where there are no intestinal helminths. Conversely, where helminths are prevalent, the incidence of IBD is very low," says gastroenterologist Robert W. Summers, MD, of the University of Iowa College of Medicine. "In fact, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis really emerged in the U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s, when we began to shift to improved plumbing and sanitation and we no longer fertilized soil with both human and animal waste," he tells WebMD. "Until then, these parasites were very common. And we didn't have much IBD." "Besides protecting against IBD, Summers' research indicates that parasitic worm eggs may also provide relief to those with Crohn's and ulcerative colitis, which typically strikes during the teens or 20s and can last a lifetime. "He and his colleagues administered to seven IBD patients a solution containing thousands of eggs of Trichuris suis, the so-called "whipworm" (named for its whipping tail) commonly found in the intestines of pigs. "During the initial treatment and observation period all the patients had showed evidence of improvement, defined as improved scores in a quality-of-life questionnaire and as a drop in a symptoms score. "All had active IBD when the study began and weren't doing well on medications," he says. "On the initial dose, we noticed an improvement, but their symptoms recurred. So we continued with additional doses every two weeks. Some patients have continued getting the doses for years now and are doing well. And we have yet to detect any side effects in any patient..." Here is the paper's abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=14499784&dopt=Abstract It is a tiny study (N=7), but intriguing. It also seems to be another variant in the 'hygiene hypothesis,' in which the effects of early (infant or toddler) exposure to gut bacteria and living animals appears to be an improved immune system, and less asthma/allergies, in later childhood and adulthood. Debbi You Want Me To Drink *What*?!! Maru __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
