Disgustingly Healthy
biotherapy with leeches and maggots
biotherapy with leeches and maggots
At the clinic in Essen-Mitte, Dr. Andreas Michalsen is studying the painkilling effects of leeches. His research on leech treatments for knee joint arthritis is causing a worldwide sensation. In his experiment he attached leeches to the arthritic knees of 400 patients. 80 per cent of the subjects reported major pain relief and a surprising increase in mobility. After only one such treatment, these effects continued in most cases for a very long time.
Many patients these days suffer from immune system deficiencies. Thus it is important for doctors to know which bacteria live in the blood of a leech before they decide whether to use leeches as medical treatment. It is also important to know which bacteria are in there which prevent infection. As with all living creatures, leeches are not sterile; and are the home of many bacteria. If a leech is squeezed as it is removed from the skin, it may regurgitate into the fresh wound. This can lead to infection. As leech therapy is used more and more, the need for studies of the bacteria in the bellies of the beasts is becoming more and more important.
the birth of the leeches
Until recently it was assumed that leech stomach bacteria were all aerobic; however, new studies point to a richer array of bacterial dwellers. Jörg Graf, a German biologist and researcher at the University of Connecticut, has been studying leeches intensively for years. His team has succeeded in verifying and breeding another breed of bacteria. The new bacteria are anaerobic and propagate only in oxygen-free chambers.
When the circulation of blood is blocked from the heart, heart attack may occur quickly. If this isn't treated correctly and swiftly, an oxygen deficiency may occur and consequently the muscles of the heart can die. Patients with coronary thromboses are therefore routinely treated with a blood-thinning agent such as Aspirin or Heparin to avoid further attacks. Still, the danger is there: The treatment is unfortunately not 100 per cent effective.
no leeches on the surgery area
New Zealand researchers at the Green Lane Hospital in Auckland are working on this problem. They have surveyed the effectiveness of a new medication called Bivaldurin through clinical trials. Interestingly, this substance is a genetically altered form of the enzyme Hirudin, found in leech saliva. Bivaldurin has a lasting anti-coagulant effect and reduces the likelihood of another heart attack by one third. This leech saliva enzyme-based medication has been found to be 30 per cent more effective than the conventionally used Heparin.
The study was based on clinical trials of 17,000 patients. One group of post-coronary patients was given Heparin and another group was given Bivaldurin. The question was how many patients would later suffer a further heart attack.
"Of a thousand patients who received Bivaldurin within 30 days of their heart attack, there were far fewer cases of later coronary incidents than with the patients treated with Heparin," explains research scientist Harvey White from Green Lane Hospital.
