Remember Keah's Worms ???

  Sorry 'bout that, Keah. Calling them "your" worms. Anyway, there's been some success treating Crohn's w/sterile worm eggs that was developed right here in the US that Keah had some success with.

Well, now Necator americanus, a hookworm, has been found to have some success in treating hay fever and asthma sufferers. They stimulate the body to produce white blood cells called regulatory T-cells, that dampen down the immune response. There are plans for studies on Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis.

"If you superimpose a map of where hookworms are found, you will see that asthma and hookworms seem to be mutually exclusive," he said. "Similarly, Crohn's disease seems to be a disease of the developed world."

It was decided the correct dosage was ten - any more resulted in discomfort; any fewer and the immune-suppressing effects were not strong enough. The worms cannot reproduce inside the body and are eradicated with tablets.

The full article can be found at:

http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=1476962007

I got one word "ewww"! lol

It is said that hookworms is a helper, and it's healthy to walk barefoot in the grass, just because we are depending on those to keep a good immune system. So throw your shoes, and walk in the sunshine ...... and may we hope it's a wormy day ;-)

Ingrid :)

I am surely not a Worm person unless it is on the end of my hook lol for a fish ............

If it works for others thats great ............

thanks for the info

Luvs
LYN

The curiosity factor here is that on the other side of the coin the UK is also researching the use of Viagra to treat Crohn's on the theory of improving blood flow to the intestines. Interestingly, Viagra was developed originally as an alternative medication to nitroglycerin.

yea but it wouldn't stay hooked shaped would it.
LOL

Well...My wife has put the brakes on combining both treatments...she figures that with the boost from the Viagra she might end up with my worms and that is way too much to think about....it really is an "in the mood" killer.

I am just curious if anyone here has ever seen a hook worm in real life?  For 2 years, I lived in the back country of the Philippines and I have seen hundreds of people that are suffering from the hookworms that have burrowed into their skin.  Most of the people that had them were children and men that worked all day in the water of the rice paddies. At first the worms are really small and burrow into someones skin or bottoms of their feet without the person knowing.  Then they begin to live off of the flesh of the person and begin to grow.  The area in which the worm occupies looks like a big vein that just is close to the skin.  As the worms grow longer and fatter, they will circle and curve and become very noticeable.  Many of the workers have them on their lower legs and extend all the way up to their upper torso.  I watched a doctor pull one out once, all he did was make an incision at the base of the bludge of the vein lookalike and began to pull the worm out.  It was over 8 feet long before he finally got it out. I was instructed to never let my bare feet touch the soil or floor there at anytime.(flipflops are worn in the shower)

  As for the tapeworm post, I sufferred from a tape worm for nearly 18 months of my stay there.  I lost 35 lbs. my first month, and began to have a visit from my friend(his name was Al) every time that I went to the bathroom.  Believe it or not, the symptoms of the tapeworm and crohn's were almost identical for me.(all except seeing 6-8 inches of worm in the toilet everyday)  Infact, when I began getting sick and was diagnosed with crohn's, my doctors really thought at first that I still had the tapeworm.

  I am not trying to knock down your excitement about the article that you presented(it was very interesting), but trust me when I say from personal experience that I would much rather have remicade, surgery, steroids, and all the other crappy crohn's drugs over having any type of worm enter my body again.  The only good thing that came out of that situation is that when my wife eventually gets pregnant for the first time, I might be able to relate on some level about having something that is growing and living in my body.j/k

Worms are parasites, they live off our bodies and cause damage in the process. Not sure the trade off would be worth it.

working for an animal hospital I saw live worms, dead worms, worm segments, and eggs. Plus all those lovely lunch seminars of slide shows showing people with worms....what a lovely topic at lunch