Disgustingly Healthy
biotherapy with leeches and maggots
biotherapy with leeches and maggots
Diabetes and stubborn wounds are causing more and more amputations. A
new study concludes that one third of these patients could have saved their
feet or toes if their doctor had used maggots for treatment! This cure might
sound bizarre but it is often more effective than antibiotics. And certainly
cheaper!
Biotherapy instead of pharmacology?
Patients with arthritis of the knee joint are in constant pain and sometimes
even have to take morphine. The regular use of leeches could free 60% of
these individuals from pain for at least a few months. To treat such a patient
with leeches the doctor places three to 12 of these little vampires on the
painful sites and waits until, after about a half an hour, the animals are
satiated and fall off.
Are leeches just disgusting or are they useful?
Our two-part series “Disgustingly Healthy” tells the story of the riveting rise, the dramatic fall, and the surprising renaissance of the leech and the maggot in western medicine. It also tells of the centuries old love-hate relationship between man and these little monsters – a liaison alternating between attraction and disgust. Since the American Food and Drug Administration recognized leeches and maggots as a medical device in 2004, more and more doctors worldwide have overcome their own prejudices and advised their patients to set their repulsion aside to see these squirming and crawling creatures as what they really are – a wonder of nature. The agonizing pain of arthritis, wounds that will not heal, limbs that are about to wither away – leeches and maggots have the power to heal and bring relief, and they might even have more in store than we know of today.
a two-part series by OVAL Filmemacher