Good Doctor Askarid
Treatment with worms will save humanity from allergies and autoimmune diseases
Robin Anne Smith's article The worms within is published in the Scientific American Blogging Network.
Translated by Evgenia Ryabtseva
According to one theory, first proposed in the 1980s, excessive disinfection, characteristic of the lifestyle of the population of the Western world, significantly reduced the prevalence of some diseases, but created new ailments.
Over the past few decades, there has been a rapid increase in the incidence of asthma, allergies and autoimmune diseases, ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to type 1 diabetes.
This trend is particularly pronounced in rich developed countries. So, about 4 out of 10 US residents suffer from allergies, and 1 out of 10 develops autoimmune pathology during their lifetime.
At the same time, these diseases are practically not registered in developing countries.
Duke University immunologist William Parker is one of hundreds of researchers working to figure out the exact mechanisms that ensure the stable functioning of a healthy immune system, and how modern life makes it "go off the rails."
According to Parker, there are definitely genetic reasons for the disruption of the immune system. Environmental factors, such as viral infections or exposure to chemical compounds, may also be involved. However, there is something beyond that. Some experts are sure that this "something" may well be the absence of helminths living in the intestine.
Old associates?Until the last century, there were practically no people among the world's population who were not infected with helminths.
For most of its evolutionary history, man has acted as a host for a number of parasitic worms. Hookworms, nematodes and whipworms have long made their home warm moist folds of the human intestine, constantly washed with liquid contents rich in nutrients.
It is believed that today more than 30% of the world's population is still infected with helminths. Parker, who grew up on a farm, suspects that his intestines are also home to parasites, whose eggs got there along with the water he drank from the stream as a child.
Many intestinal parasites are transmitted from person to person when microscopic particles of feces get on your fingers or when walking barefoot on infected soil. Wastewater treatment and the use of running water prevents the transmission of helminths from person to person, but this has not always been the case.
According to Parker, people seem to have forgotten that not so long ago, less than 100 years ago, our grandparents for the first time had the opportunity to enjoy plumbing and sewerage and access to modern medicine. Before that, the human intestine was inhabited by more than one species of worms, which were gradually expelled from there.
Excessive cleanliness is harmfulParker and some other experts suspect that we have to pay for the absence of parasites.
To obtain evidence, he began a study, the object of which were creatures, also brought by modern life to an almost sterile state – laboratory rats, as well as their wild relatives.
Scientists began breeding rodent lines for laboratory experiments about 150 years ago. Rats are periodically given anthelmintic drugs and given clean water to drink, that is, in a certain sense, the conditions of keeping laboratory rats are similar to the living conditions of modern humans.
About 5 years ago, Parker began to catch wild rats in Durham (North Carolina) and its surroundings and compare them with rats grown in the laboratory. Wild rats are much less friendly than laboratory rats. Unlike the latter, they are exposed to a variety of parasites, not only helminths, but also fleas and ticks – carriers of bacteria and viruses, which their immune system is forced to fight.
A comparison of the immune reactions formed by the spleen cells of wild rats with the reactions of the cells of their obscenely pure laboratory relatives revealed the hypersensitivity of the cells of the latter. This hypersensitivity can explain what is happening in the human body, freed from parasites.
Disturbed harmonyTo avoid expulsion from the host's body, worms secrete chemical compounds that suppress the activity of natural defense mechanisms just enough to avoid an attack by the immune system without harming the host itself.
According to the theory mentioned above, during millions of years of co-existence, the human immune system first learned to put up with such guests, and eventually the usefulness of its work began to depend on their presence in the body.
In the absence of parasites, the activity of the body's natural defense mechanisms gets out of control. The immune system of modern people raises the alarm when confronted with completely safe substances, such as bed mites and cat dandruff. In autoimmune diseases, it attacks what it should protect – the body's own tissues.
According to Parker, our immune system simply has nothing to do, so out of boredom it starts looking for imaginary enemies. It is quite possible that for normal functioning it needs factors synthesized by helminths.
Blurring the line between enemies and friendsWhat should we do?
Some researchers offer a solution not for the squeamish. If the elimination of parasites triggered an increase in the incidence of allergic and autoimmune diseases, can their return restore the health of mankind?
A growing body of scientific evidence suggests that for a confused immune system, a dose of worms is exactly "what the doctor prescribed." Initially, this idea was tested on laboratory rodents, after which its validity was confirmed by the results of studies involving humans.
Scientists from the University of Iowa treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease (this general concept includes Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and a number of lesser-known diseases) with "cocktails" containing microscopic eggs of whipworms. This is very similar to a shamanic drug, but for patients with a disease characterized by diarrhea, bleeding and fever, such a game is worth the candle. The participants in this study tested numerous therapeutic approaches to no avail, none of which could alleviate the symptoms they experienced. However, 24-week "worm therapy" led to remission in 23 out of 29 patients.
Worm therapy has also demonstrated its effectiveness against other diseases, including multiple sclerosis, a disability–causing disease in which the immune system attacks its own nerve cells. Researchers from Argentina have been monitoring several hundred patients with multiple sclerosis for 4-6 years. During the study, about a dozen of them were randomly infected with intestinal parasites. Comparison of the observation results showed that in this group of patients, exacerbations of the disease were observed much less frequently than in patients without intestinal parasites.
Upcoming changes in medical careHowever, scientists do not suggest that we abandon the rules of personal and public hygiene.
Dozens of infectious diseases, ranging from cholera to typhus, are transmitted from person to person by fecal-oral route. In some parts of the world, where defecation in natural conditions is the main cause of drinking water pollution, isolation and disposal of biological waste is a matter of life and death.
Parker imagines a solution to the problem in the form of introducing worm therapy into routine healthcare practice. He describes it as a regular visit to the doctor to check the "level of worms", similar to how many people currently check the level of cholesterol in the blood, and, in case of illness, getting the exact dose of helminths of the type required in each case.
He notes that this will be a big change for doctors whose task is to prevent infection. We used to think that the presence of worms in the intestine is harmful to health. People with anemia or physical exhaustion can really suffer a lot from them. However, helminths taken in controlled doses under medical supervision should not cause any problems. In this case, the existing minor risks are significantly less than the potential benefits.
Intestinal reactionWhy not identify the mysterious compounds synthesized by worms and create drugs with a similar effect?
According to Parker, while moving through the body, each helminth constantly secretes dozens, if not hundreds, of different molecules. Their effects are extremely difficult to reproduce with the help of a drug.
Currently, various methods of helminth therapy are still very far from receiving official approval from regulatory authorities, so some people decide to take extreme measures and purposefully infect themselves with worms in the hope of relieving symptoms.
However, at the current stage, such treatment is still a lottery, since specialists still know a lot about the mechanisms of action of helminth therapy. Researchers have yet to answer many questions, including: what types of helminths should be used and in what quantity? What are the optimal application modes to ensure the stable functioning of the immune system? Which diseases can be cured after the onset of symptoms, and which can only be prevented, but not cured?
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru20.03.2012