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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 1/9/2008 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

For those of you who know me, will remember that I tried TSO in 2006 but couldn't afford to carry on with it.  TSO is a whipworm ovum that is transient through your body.  Throughout 2007 I have been looking into worms that stay in your body, hence hookworms.

This morning I was given 10 hookworm larvae, if anyone is interested in my experience with hookworms then let me know and I will keep you posted through here.

Bal

p.s. if you want to read more about hookworms then see

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/press-releases/index.phtml?menu=pressreleases&code=SCI-130/06&create_date=20-jul-2006

Posted 1/9/2008 11:21 PM (GMT 0)
keep us posted!!!

:)
Posted 1/9/2008 11:44 PM (GMT 0)
You have more nerve than I, Bals. Good luck.
Posted 1/9/2008 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Why are you talking about hookworms????
Posted 1/10/2008 12:18 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry Steve for not introducing the topic.

It is believed that Ulcerative colitis is a disease of the intestine caused by the immune system over-reacting - in this disease the white blood cells attack the gut as though it's a foreign invader, making it bleed.  The University of Nottingham team believes the tiny worms could help to 'down-regulate' the human immune system, to stop it reacting in a way that causes the symptoms of diseases like Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's.   The university and a clinic in Mexico have treated crohns patients with considerable success.  I believe if it can work for crohns then it can work for Ulcerative colitis as well.   there are various article on people who have tried this with great success so i'm just experimenting with a theory which I hope will set me in remisson for life.

If you're interested in reading some more on hookworms and UC then let me know and i'll post some intersting links

Bal

Posted 1/10/2008 12:24 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck I hope it works for you.
Keep us posted.
Posted 1/10/2008 1:51 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck. Definitely keep us posted.
Posted 1/10/2008 2:29 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck, you are brave!
Posted 1/10/2008 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck with the new treatment Bal! Hope you had a nice vacation in California!
Posted 1/10/2008 7:15 AM (GMT 0)
Good luck and keep us posted!

I am rather jealous - I've been trying to get into that trial, but it hasn't come to Australia yet. I've spoken to my GI but he can't see any trials of that nature coming up here any time soon :-(
Posted 1/10/2008 2:18 PM (GMT 0)
What's the up to date situation with this treatment? I've never read anything in literature from the hospital or by Dr's about using it. From what I've researched on the net ot was being trialled/researched a few years ago but then nothing further.
Is this being considered a viable treatment yet and are there any figures from research already carried out?
Cheers.

**Please keep signature to 10 lines or less**

Post Edited By Moderator (tjf) : 1/11/2008 6:21:55 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 1/10/2008 4:44 PM (GMT 0)
The original research was done by Dr Weinstock in 2003 then Detlev Goj launched www.ovamed.org in 2004 in germany which offered Whipworm ovum. In September 2007 Jasper Lawlence opened a clinic autoimmunetherapies.com in mexico. Jasper Lawlence walked in cameroon, bare footed to acquire hookworms. Nottingham Universirty (Prof. Prichard) is leading the research in Hookworms, they have successfully conducted trials with Hayfever and asthma sufferers in 2006. In 2007 they conducted controlled trials with crohns but the results have not been published yet (I think). I spoke to one person on the crohns trial, who was pred dependant but is now off pred, back to work and just can't believe how his life has changed. My understanding is that the university is not interested in giving hookworms as a means to put people into remission but wants to develop a drug which will down-regulate the immune system. The trails being conducted now are towards the safety of giving hookworm type treatment. When they first give hookworms, it actually causes inflammation and then the immune system kicks in and is regulated. Now they are interested in checking where the inflammation occurs i.e. if UC patient is given hookworms, will they get crohns from it!!
So my understanding is and please note that this is my opinion, that the teatment will not be available for few years yet. however next time I see Prof. Pritchard or Dr Fortun, I will ask them when they would expect this to be readily avialable.
Bal
Bal
Posted 1/10/2008 4:54 PM (GMT 0)
For those of you who are interested in reading more about the experiences of people taking hookworms in the mexico clinic, you can join the yahoo health group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/helminthictherapy/
Posted 1/10/2008 5:13 PM (GMT 0)

It seems to me that there is further study to be done on this treatment.  I'm sure there will be a lot of (potentially dangerous) risks taken as well.   Nobody has a clue (yet) what the long-term ramifications could be with these parasitic creatures occupying your gut.

One thing we do know, is that Bals has a lot of balls.... cool

Good luck!

Posted 1/11/2008 12:53 PM (GMT 0)
When I said that hookworms cause inflammation, I meant in a very minor sense. They are no real risks with the dosage I've taken.
The real dangers of hookworms are well understood in that we have eradicated them in the westinised countries. Only a large number of hookwoms are dangerous causing aneamia etc. The dosage I've infested myself with (10) are more like vaccine portion i.e. similiar to receiving Measles vaccine. It'll trigger the immune system but will not cause any damage. The life line of hookworms is about 5 years so I have the option of taking medication to kill them or leave them there for 5 years. If this works then I will be UC free for 5 years, by then (I hope) my lymphocytes might have forgotton about attacking my bowel unnecessarily (i.e. I might be back to pre UC days - well I can dream :-) ).

PROGRESS so far - I had 10 hookworm larvae placed on a laster which was placed on my arm, I felt like slight itch on my arm which is a sign of the larvae entering my body. I kept this plaster on for 24 hours and will be taking the plaster back next week for the doctors to check that all 10 larvae entered my body. On that day I will also swallow a camera (SB Capsule Endoscopy) so that they can take lots of pictures (every 2 secs) of my inside to baseline my inflammation.

Bal
Posted 1/11/2008 5:46 PM (GMT 0)
Bals,

I admire the fact that you're trying something different that may give hope to the rest of us.

Keep us informed.

NBT
Posted 1/11/2008 5:49 PM (GMT 0)
Are you doing this as part of a study, or how did you get doctors to agree to try this on you?

Good luck!
Posted 1/11/2008 6:20 PM (GMT 0)
There will be a study later on this year, where the university will be looking for volunteers, i will let people on this forum know incase my experience prompts others to want to try, the beauty of the next study is that it won't be a controlled one i.e. you will definately be given hookworms. I spent most of last year trying to convince people at the hospital and the university to let me try hookworms for Ulcerative Colitis, they had trials running for Crohns in 2007. It was hard work, lots of dissapointments and crying but eventually they managed to find a way of giving it to me.
Nottingham University has 2 programmes running to find a cure for this disease and they are conviced that they will find it in the next few years, hookworms and stemcell see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130223834.htm
I have got to know Professor Hawkey, Prof. Pritchard, Dr Fulton and Dr Shonde because of their interest in hookworms, they are very intelligent people who I beleive will find us our cure, I feel honoured to know them because I truly beleive they will give me my life back.
Posted 1/11/2008 9:12 PM (GMT 0)
Well, one benefit of the hookworms that I can already see is that you do not have to ingest them!  You have to ingest the T Suis worms.  This definitely eliminates the gross-out factor!

Seriously, BalS... good luck to you with this and please do keep us posted.  I will be very curious to see how you fare with this treatment.  My GI is a big fan of the T Suis treatment, and he told me long ago that it is worth trying if you can get it through customs in the U.S.  I've been following it as an option ever since. 

Posted 1/11/2008 10:07 PM (GMT 0)
This is from a stem cell and crohns article...

As part of the programme, Professor Hawkey also outlines another current study, which is investigating the use of hookworms to help in the fight against Crohn’s.

Professor Hawkey and his colleague Professor David Pritchard, with Dr Fortun and Dr Shonde, are seeking to establish whether the tiny parasite, Necator Americanus, could help to reduce symptoms of Crohn's and aid the search for an effective long-term therapy in patients who suffer from a milder form of the disease.

Scientists believe the gut parasite may be linked to levels of autoimmune diseases, as infestation is thought to ‘down-regulate’ the immune response. It is thought that the hookworm is able to reduce the immune response in order to survive inside the gut for years at a time. If the mechanism that allows it to do this can be identified, it could be harnessed as a potential new treatment for a number of conditions.

Patients in the hookworm trial, which is already well underway, are deliberately infected with a small number of the gut parasites to see whether it can achieve such positive results.

Both the stem cell and the hookworm studies into Crohn’s Disease at The University of Nottingham are funded by the Broad Medical Research Program of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, a philanthropic organisation based in California.

Here is the link with the full article...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071130223834.htm

:)

Posted 1/12/2008 1:41 PM (GMT 0)
You are a braver soul then I that's for sure! Good luck and yes, I am interested as well to see if this works for you. Good luck!
Posted 2/29/2008 8:51 AM (GMT 0)
For those of you who quite naturally wonder about the safety of hookworm remember this. about 1 billion people world wide have them and the only circumstances in which they cause harm are in cases of extreme malnutrition and very high infection levels - many hundreds of hookworm in a single person. It is estimated that many hundreds can be hosted by a healthy well fed adult - one researcher at Nottingham claims to host 300.

Another thing to consider, all the literature on hookworm infection, of which there is an enormous amount, indicates that it is very safe. It does not cause disease or morbidity except in conjunction with malnutrition. A therapeutic dose according to all the researchers so far is anywhere up to fifty organisms. Bal has 10, the proof of concept study for crohn's in australia used 50. This is way fewer than the dose at which they cause problems, and they do not proliferate within a host.

Also, humans and most of our genetic forbears hosted hookworm. Millions of years of living together means the kinks have been worked out. No successful parasite kills its host after all.
Posted 1/7/2011 4:45 PM (GMT 0)
any updates on your progress?
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