In honor of Halloween coming up, I figured that this week I will spotlight "creepy crawly" critters and their ability to help us heal. Enjoy!
You've got worms?!
When you heard about someone having worms, it's usually something that they are getting treated for, not a treatment.
But today, you will learn that some worms are actually being used to help people fight some pretty serious disorders: Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease and Type I Diabetes to name a few.
Jasper sounds pretty extreme and maybe that might put you off from thinking about helminthic therapy, but he's not the only one with these findings. Here's a website that lists many studies and their results for people with diseases ranging from allergies and asthma to autism and psychiatric disorders.
All of the studies seem to agree, that the more sterile we become, the more likely we are to have our bodies attack themselves. We have an immune system, let's put it to work in a positive way!
Pass the dirt please!
You've got worms?!
When you heard about someone having worms, it's usually something that they are getting treated for, not a treatment.
But today, you will learn that some worms are actually being used to help people fight some pretty serious disorders: Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease and Type I Diabetes to name a few.
Don't see the connection? It turns out that the these diseases, along with other autoimmune diseases are a result of an overactive immune system. So the thought behind using the worms, or "helminthic therapy" as it's called, is that your body now has something to fight, besides itself.
Interesting theory, right?
Well one guy named Jasper Lawrence was so determined to try hookworms to cure his asthma that he went to Cameroon (the one place the World Health Organization mentioned as having hookworms). You can read about his adventure and how he traveled to Africa with the sole purpose of getting infected with hookworms.
He now, is a vendor of hookworms and his asthma is in remission.
Jasper sounds pretty extreme and maybe that might put you off from thinking about helminthic therapy, but he's not the only one with these findings. Here's a website that lists many studies and their results for people with diseases ranging from allergies and asthma to autism and psychiatric disorders.
All of the studies seem to agree, that the more sterile we become, the more likely we are to have our bodies attack themselves. We have an immune system, let's put it to work in a positive way!
Pass the dirt please!
Where can I read more about Jasper's adventures?
ReplyDeleteOn the link above. It's pretty gross.
ReplyDelete