Leeches making comeback as pain reliever
London, Sept 17 Reuters
Small German pilot study of osteoarthritis sufferers
Leeches, the tiny blood sucking parasites used by doctors to treat a variety
of ailments before the advent of modern medicine, can help relieve
chronic pain caused by osteoarthritis, according to research published on
Monday.
Doctors at the Essen-Mite Clinic in Germany said the slimy creatures
relieved pain without any side effects in 10 patients suffering from
osteoarthritis in a small pilot study.
"We regard the observed clear treatment effect as remarkable; treatment
with leeches reduced pain significantly after three days and up to four
weeks," Dr Gustav Dobos said in a letter to the journal Annals of
Rheumatic Diseases.
The leeches were left on the patient's knees for 80 minutes. Some
complained that the initial bite of the leech was painful.
The researchers said the blood suckers produced faster pain relief than
conventional drugs given to patients in a control group.
Leeches remove blood through a tiny incision in their teeth. The saliva of
leeches contains analgesic and anaesthetic compounds, as well as hirudin,
an anti-blood clotting agent.
Dobos and his colleagues called for further studies to confirm their
results.
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Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.cri.nz>
http://www.annelida.net/
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