Submitted by: Brett Well
Helminthic therapy consists of deliberately infecting the subject with hookworm or other helminths (parasitic worms) to modulate the immune system.It is now widely appreciated that humans did not evolve as a single species, but rather that humans and the microbiomes associated with us have co-evolved as a super-organism , and that our evolution as a species and the evolution of our associated microbiomes have always been intertwined.All mammalian species with the exception of humans in post-industrial societies and their domesticated animals co-exist with a wide range of intestinal worms, called helminths. Unfortunately, we are only now beginning to appreciate the consequences of our deceptively painless separation from these animals.The co-evolution of helminths and their host s immune systems has shaped the biology of both parties. Helminths have evolved to secrete dozens of molecules that exquisitely turn down the host immune system. It is reasonable to hope that host immune systems have, in turn, adapted to the presence of helminths.This therapy has emerged from extensive research indicating a probable connection between a reduction in parasitic worms in industrialized societies to a significant and sustained increase in autoimmune diseases and allergies.It is an experimental therapy and is not approved neither by FDA nor by any governmental body. However, many countries have approved research that has yielded very promising results in the treatment of autoimmune diseases with helminths.
Helminthic therapy appears to be an effective therapy for several diseases involving immune mis-regulation as autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.Hookworms have a long history of involvement with humans and helminth s life-cycles and possible detrimental effects in humans are well understood. This history of human testing makes Helminthic therapy easier to understand and faster to develop.Helminthic therapy with N.A. can not damage to those living in affluent societies. Some of those using hookworm therapeutically suffer transient side effects, such as gas, diarrhoea, cramping, fatigue and less commonly joint pain and fever. These symptoms are associated with the initial immune response on first exposure to hookworm, they are not caused directly by the hookworm themselves. All these side effects, while unpleasant for a small minority of those using Helminthic therapy, cause no harm and typically resolve within a few weeks.Hookworms are being investigated as a possible treatment for multiple sclerosis. The idea is this: people infected with hookworms experience a suppression of the immune system. That suppression may be enough to slow the rate of relapse or even modify existing symptoms.In the study, being conducted at the University of Nottingham and funded with 400,000 pounds, people with multiple sclerosis is been infected with 25 hookworms through a patch placed on the skin (it is painless). Nine months later those worms are flushed from the people’s bodies. The good news is that it is very safe and very cheap. A prior study showed that people with parasite infections have fewer relapses than the parasite-free.
Researchers at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital have shown for the first time that parasitic hookworms could hold the key to treating coeliac disease, which is caused by gluten intolerance.The scientists recruited 20 participants for their human trial through the Coeliac Society.The study’s co-author, Dr James Daveson, says patients with the parasitic gut worm fared dramatically better to gluten exposure than those without.Previous research has shown people infected with them do not suffer from allergies including asthma.Successful studies have encouraged further research, and the therapy is gaining ground quickly.
About the Author: Gonzalo Landin has been financing research for helminthic therapy and nows runs IMMUNOLOGICA a company devoted to promote helminthic therapy.For more information please visit us at
immunologica.co.uk
Source:
isnare.com
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