Posted on 01/12/2019 4:35:55 AM PST by BenLurkin
Once these larvae — often those of green bottle blowflies — are connected with patients, they get right to work, keeping wounds contamination-free by gulping down dead human tissue and spreading their antibacterial saliva.
This macabre treatment may sound unusual, but it's actually a remedy that dates back to ancient times. For instance, the Australian Aboriginal peoples used maggots to clean wounds. And during World War I, soldiers in trenches also used the critters.
To roll out "project maggot," the U.K. will have field hospitals raise maggots on location. Once the fly eggs are laid, they will be sterilized and then incubated for a day or two. At that point, the maggots are ready for prime time, when they can be put directly into wounds or placed in BioBags, which are then wrapped around injuries, The Telegraph reported.
Sterile maggots are very valuable in places that have limited or basic medical treatment. These bug babies can digest dead and damaged tissue from the wound, according to a 2012 report in the Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery. Maggots can even cleanse wounds faster than surgeons can, Live Science previously reported.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
At least mueller will finally have something useful to do
Outlander.
I had to look it up. :(
A Brit transported to Scotland 200 years in the past played by an Irish actress. Sounds like fun!
I usually love that kind of stuff BTW.
They are raised on “Maggies Farm?”
Long known to be useful to remove gangrene and other rotting flesh - my first thought was that only Democrat doctors would be allowed to treat them....
A book that talked about one of the badly burned employees (maybe military) from the Pentagon on 9/11 was treated this way. Very difficult to read but had to be much worse to go through it..both the burns and the treatment but it worked.
Why would one send progressive congresscritters and journalists in to heal the injured?
Did you read the article? It’s not about discovering something. It’s about a $250,000 project
They (leeches) can be used when a severed finger is re-attached. They are put on the end of the digit to facilitate blood flow and reduce swelling.
That was one of the key first aid items carried by the British soldiers in the “Richard Sharpe” series of books written by Bernard Cornwell. Considering that maggots only eat dead flesh, it certainly sounds like a valid way to promote the healing process ...
Leeches have been used on severed fingers to help pull blood to them and heal.
Yes, I read it. The only “project” portion is that they’re going to grow the maggots in the field. That would be an accomplishment.
OTOH, $250,000 can buy and have shipped a lot of maggots, that are sterile, packaged and ready to go...
Maggots are not suitable or even needed for most wounds, but burns and chronic ones where you can’t debride, they’re great...
You bring up a good point. Luckily it is easy to breed plenty of maggots. I don't know about leeches.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.