
Are Hookworms the Next Claritin? - iamelgringo
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2009/07/22/are-hookworms-the-next-claritin/
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ikitat
WNYC's Radiolab did a great segment on one of their recent shows.

<http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2009/09/07/parasites/>

People take dangerous steroids and/or extremely expensive biological
treatments to knock down active immune systems. Worms seem like they have
potential.

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aaroneous
I <3 radiolab so hard.

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Perceval
This guy writes up his adventures infecting himself with hookworms over at k5:
<http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2009/3/16/3408/66053>

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NathanKP
I believe that the reason why this works is because the bodies immune system
fights the hookworms rather than wasting energy fighting allergens.

The basic reason why allergy suffers like me have such adverse reactions to
common things such as pollen and cat dander is because the immune system over
reacts.

From How Things Work:

 _As amazing as the immune system is, it sometimes makes mistakes. Allergies
are the result of a hypersensitive immune system. The allergic immune system
misidentifies an otherwise innocuous substance as harmful, and then attacks
the substance with a ferocity far greater than required. The problems this
attack can cause range from mildly inconvenient and uncomfortable to the total
failure of the organism the immune system is supposed to be protecting._

So hookworms give the immune system something else to fight rather than
allergens.

For that matter contracting AIDS would probably also limit or stop your
allergies. (I'm not completely positive on that, just a theory.)

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nobody_nowhere
I'm married to a Crohn's Disease sufferer, one of the conditions people talk
about hookworms as a treatment for. It's one of those squidgy conditions that
doctors don't understand that well and can have a hard time treating. The
remedies might have unpleasant side effects (steroids - weight gain,
methotrexate - cancer).

The Discover article is typical crap science writing, but if you've got a
condition that puts you on the toilet with diarrhea four times a day, getting
infected with some little worms can start to sound like an appealing
alternative. To stop a little bout of hay fever? Not so much.

~~~
tjpick
> To stop a little bout of hay fever? Not so much.

how about to stop uncontrollable sneezing, blocked sinuses, itchy streaming
eyes for half the year?

Not that I'm rushing out to buy me some worms - but don't trivialise hay
fever. It's a bitch, too.

~~~
nobody_nowhere
Fair enough... I guess my impression was that existing treatments were pretty
tolerable

~~~
tjpick
tolerable... but also expensive and pretty ineffective IMHO

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ShabbyDoo
How quickly can conventional medicine rid me of hookworms should I dislike the
results of harboring them?

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nobody_nowhere
The interwebs say a drug called mebendazole "cures more than 99 percent of all
cases of hookworm if given twice per day for three days cures more than 99
percent of all cases of hookworm if given twice per day for three days"

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nwjsmith
WNYC's Radiolab just aired a show on parasites, which included an impressive
story on the ability of hookworms to heal.

Check it out: <http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/>

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chrischen
Is this supposed to work with any parasites? 'cause my doctor said I have
scabies, and I still have allergies. But then again, my doctor was probably
wrong... scabies??

~~~
NathanKP
No scabies is an external mite infestation. The theory is that the hookworms
are internal so something about them stops allergies.

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lurkinggrue
Ummmmmm, I'll stick to Calritin thank you very much.

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aaronblohowiak
Why not local organic unpasteurized honey?

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berntb
Human parasites in honey? Must be a weird life cycle! References?

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sp332
Not parasites, just honey. Sorry no references, but the idea is that honey
from local allergens (flowers) allows your body to "recognize" the allergens
as not harmful, and stop producing spurious antibodies to fight them.

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UncleOxidant
Side effects?

~~~
ikitat
Mostly asymptomatic unless you get a severe infection (lots of worms) which
can lead to anemia and protein deficiency.

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rizzn
This sounds like the least desirable treatment for allergies ever.

I'm all for alternative medicines, but this sounds fraught with peril.

~~~
maxharris
This isn't really alternative medicine. You need to become better acquainted
with the hygiene hypothesis:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis>

We've covered this material in both of the immunology courses at my
university. It's a fairly uncontroversial idea nowadays (and it should be that
way, given the evidence).

You might have this idea that you're somehow a biologically independent
organism from the commensals in your gut and skin, but you're not. Humans (and
other animals, of course) evolved symbiotically with their intestinal flora,
and are heavily dependent on it for survival.

If still you feel that this is yucky, remember that you have about three
pounds of bacteria in your gut (at least in an average healthy human adult),
and you need it to live!

This does not mean that we shouldn't find another way of treating people (with
a vaccine that stimulates IgE production against worms, for instance). For the
moment, however, worms are cheap (and they appear to work). And if you purify
your culture properly, they really aren't a bad idea; clinical trials with
them are underway for a variety of conditions (MS, for one).

Finally, remember that anti-vaccine nutters often invoke phrases such as
"fraught with peril" when railing against vaccines. But consider the peril we
would all be in without them!

~~~
jonny_noog
Came across this topic in another unrelated thread on this very site the other
day. The below link was given and was quite informative about the "Old Friends
Hypothesis" and Helminthic therapy:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy>

I have a personal interest in any new treatments for MS so I am following this
topic with great enthusiasm.

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modelic3
The article mentions something about immune systems not developing properly
but I'm sure there are better ways of exercising your immune system other than
infecting yourself with parasites.

