Way down in this article they discuss this:
http://www.medicaldaily.com/they-might-sound-gross-intestinal-worms-can-actually-be-good-you-359794
Therapeutic worms?
My laboratory began work a few years ago looking at the sociology of “helminthic therapy,” the use of helminths to treat disease. Working with Janet Wilson, a sociologist at the University of Central Arkansas, we found that thousands of people are using helminths to self-treat a vast array of inflammation-related conditions, from inflammatory bowel disease to hay fever to multiple sclerosis to migraine headaches.At the moment, there is no helminth approved for medical use by the FDA, and we found that people generally obtain their organisms from one of a few companies that sell expensive and often unregulated products, which can be risky.
Part of our study included a survey of helminth users, and most people filling out the survey reported that helminths treated their inflammatory condition more effectively and with fewer side effects than did pharmaceuticals.
We also found that some “self-treaters” are the using a helminth called the rat tapeworm (Hymenolepis diminuta), which sounds truly disgusting. However, people are using this helminth because it is inexpensive and easy to produce, and may provide a very effective treatment for a range of inflammation-related diseases, including migraine headaches and depression. People eat them and report that about 30 worms per month does the job, although the number varies depending on the individual.
After being swallowed and passed into the small intestine, the tiny worms almost certainly hatch out of their jelly-like capsule that has protected them since they first hatched from an egg. At that point, they begin to interact with the immune system, reducing inflammation like any other helminth.
But then, with rare exceptions, they vanish mysteriously, never maturing into adults and producing eggs. Because rat tapeworms don’t colonize our intestines the way that some other types of helminths do, an individual needs frequent exposure to have them in their bodies consistently.
The rat tapeworm has been used in the laboratory for decades and blocks experimentally induced colitis in mice more effectively than daily immunosuppression with steroids.In fact, this is the same helminth we use in my lab to protect the developing brains of rat pups from inflammation. But no researchers have ever studied using rat tapeworms on humans to treat disease.
Why aren’t helminths catching on?
While work in labs, and our own research on people self-treating with helminths is promising, the safety and effectiveness of helminths needs to evaluated in more clinical trials. But perhaps the single greatest barrier to the widespread use of helminths as treatment in humans is the availability of an affordable and effective FDA-approved helminth to the medical community.We have FDA-approved live maggots and leeches, both of which are extremely effective, but we have no effective and safe helminth approved for use.
Perhaps the horrible reputation of helminths has deterred us from taking helminths seriously as a treatment? But we can’t let the ick factor intestinal worms may initially inspire hold us back from further research. Intense and systematic effort needs to be focused on the production of quality helminths. We need to proceed with the domestication of helminths for the benefit of humankind.
William Parker, Associate Professor of Surgery, Duke University
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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