Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Infect and forget': A dose of hookworms could help patients manage inflammatory bowel disease
Medical Xpress / Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ^ | June 16, 2023 | Thomas C Mules et al

Posted on 06/19/2023 12:35:01 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

Could a dose of hookworms provide a medication-free alternative to people with inflammatory bowel disease? The Malaghan Institute's team thinks it's possible. The feasibility study found hookworms were a safe and long-lasting treatment for participants with ulcerative colitis.

In this randomized controlled trial, patients currently in remission from ulcerative colitis were infected with a controlled dose of hookworm larvae or given placebo, and followed up over twelve months.

"We believe that the effect of hookworms may not be strong enough to push someone from an active disease state into disease remission. However, once someone is in remission hookworm could keep them there, prevent them from having disease flares and reduce the need to take medication, such as steroids, which suppresses the immune system and has adverse effects."

"One of the key findings from this study was that a single dose of hookworm can reside in the body for several years, if not longer," says Dr. Mules. "This means that if hookworm is effective at preventing disease flares you can get infected and potentially no longer have to daily medicate. 'Infect and forget'. The worms just sit there in the background and do their thing. I think that's where the power of this therapy lies."

"We did see that around the 6–8 week mark participants reported mild tummy symptoms, but those had all resolved by week 10–12," says Dr. Mules. "Otherwise, compared to the placebo group there was no significant differences in adverse events.

"The fact that these worms are well tolerated and safe to give to people with inflammatory disease is really important. One of the big safety questions was if the immune response triggered by the hookworm in the early stages of the infection could trigger a flare of ulcerative colitis. We did not see this, in these patients."

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: bowel; gitract; hookworms
A positive use for parasites.

Just be careful to not infect others.

1 posted on 06/19/2023 12:35:01 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Mazey; ckilmer; goodnesswins; Jane Long; BusterDog; jy8z; ProtectOurFreedom; matthew fuller; ...

The “Take Charge Of Your Health” Ping List

This high volume ping list is for health articles and studies which describe something you or your doctor, when informed, may be able to immediately implement for your benefit.

Email me to get on either the “Common/Top Issues” (20 - 25% fewer pings) or “Everything” list.

2 posted on 06/19/2023 12:35:41 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind
Just be careful to not infect others.

Indeed.

The patient's feces would have to be treated as a biohazard.

And ... "mild tummy symptoms"??? Can we talk like adults?

3 posted on 06/19/2023 12:39:19 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

How to hookworms tolerate ivermectin?


4 posted on 06/19/2023 12:48:00 PM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Ya ..and a bleeding with leeches always brings my fever down .. me at the barbor shop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIi6hYpUoQ


5 posted on 06/19/2023 12:52:25 PM PDT by 1of10 (be vigilant , be strong, be safe, be 1 of 10 .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorthMountain

a little 7-up....or Cocoa Cola......warm...and no bubbles...


6 posted on 06/19/2023 12:54:12 PM PDT by Sacajaweau ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Been interested in this for over a decade when I read an article about a guy who has stopped the effects of an autoimmune disease.

I came this close to doing it but then realized….. i’d be infested with worms. There’s a Futurama episode about something like that.


7 posted on 06/19/2023 12:56:40 PM PDT by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

I have that. I think I’ll do stick with my pills.


8 posted on 06/19/2023 1:21:36 PM PDT by roving (👌⚓)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorthMountain

Before long, we’d ALL have hookworms from the Mexicans fertilizing vegetables using hookworm feces. What’s worse, hep A or hookworm?


9 posted on 06/19/2023 1:40:29 PM PDT by SgtHooper (If you remember the 60's, YOU WEREN'T THERE!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SgtHooper

Hookworms are curable.

Ivermectin, IIRC, will do the trick quite nicely.

I hear tell your feces are incredibly foul smelling at first, before the infestation is completely cleared.


10 posted on 06/19/2023 1:50:45 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Hookworms have been used for years now against lethal type asthma attacks. Because most of the hookworms, which used to be endemic to the US South, were wiped out with both outhouses and indoor plumbing, they had to recover a sample of hookworm eggs from Africa.

Raising them in a terrarium, a smear of hookworm eggs would be applied to the arm. After a short time, the larvae would burrow through the skin, causing a slight rash, then travel in the bloodstream to the lungs, causing a distinctive cough.

One treatment would work for several months, but then they would be naturally eliminated from the body, so another smear would have to be applied.

Oddly enough, a different worm, the pig whipworm, has been shown to be effective against Crohn’s disease. There is a breed of human whipworm that can live for a long time in the human body, but it has detrimental effects, so they use the pig whipworm, as it will only live in a human for a few weeks.


11 posted on 06/19/2023 2:14:16 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy ("All he had was a handgun. Why did you think that was a threat?" --Rittenhouse Prosecutor)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

I have UC, 4 years of living hell. If I were to go into remission and they offered me hookworms to keep me there, I’d probably do it.


12 posted on 06/19/2023 2:21:02 PM PDT by inkdude
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

“’Infect and forget’: A dose of hookworms could help patients manage inflammatory bowel disease”

Sounds like a plan, and then once you’re cured, take Ivermectin and those worms will be toast!


13 posted on 06/19/2023 2:52:47 PM PDT by BobL
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

The hookworms are presumably feeding on the organism or material causing the inflammation labeled "colitis". Fine. How about we identify the causative agent and eliminate it instead of adding a parasite to feed on it? Or would that interfere with the advancement of GMO foods, pharmaceutical medications, or accidentally cure cancer?


14 posted on 06/19/2023 4:00:08 PM PDT by so_real ( "The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: so_real

I believe it is what it secretes to prevent our bodies from attacking it.

It greatly tunes down immune responses to anything in the gut.


15 posted on 06/19/2023 4:27:14 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: inkdude

Inkdude, I believe that is exactly what these people arrived at, and were happy with the result.


16 posted on 06/19/2023 4:28:12 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: BobL

Unfortunately, it can’t permanently change the immune issue, so you need to keep them.


17 posted on 06/19/2023 4:29:23 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: ConservativeMind

Interesting. I wonder where one would get these hookworm samples.


18 posted on 06/19/2023 4:59:37 PM PDT by Boomer (The biden regime / identity politics is a clear and present threat to this constitutional republic.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NorthMountain

That horse paste will kill you. We were told it’s very dangerous in 2021 and 2022.


19 posted on 06/19/2023 6:16:02 PM PDT by wgmalabama (Censored !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson