3 ms·

I know it's relatively early-stage research as yet, but have you come across Helminthic Therapy? I believe that's had some promising initial results for UC pat

I know it's relatively early-stage research as yet, but have you come across Helminthic Therapy? I believe that's had some promising initial results for UC patients. Obviously not the sort of thing many people would want to consider before the intestine-removal stage, but at that point it might be worth looking into.

btilly 13y ago
Actually not that early-stage research. Just stalled by the FDA that decided it is a medical treatment and needs approval. The FDA approval process usually costs about $150 million, and there is no way to recoup it for anything not patentable. Hence research in this area died because it is not getting through the FDA process. How many other cheap treatments are not available for the same reason?
tocomment 13y ago
I couldn't find much information about the treatment details. Do you know if anyone has looked into sterilizing the worms? It seems like the only downside is worrying about the worms reproducing. If you could make them sterile before applying them, and then just take new ones every month or so.
- refurb 13y ago
  They don't need to sterilize the worms, they just use worms that can't reproduce in humans (i.e. pig whipworms) I'm keeping an eye out for the trial results. If it works, it would greatly expand our understanding of immune diseases. http://biotechtranslated.com/2011/07/30/the-hygiene-hypothesis-goes-on-trial/ http://biotechtranslated.com/2011/07/30/the-hygiene-hypothes...
  - tocomment 13y ago
    I didn't realize that. That's pretty smart. Do you know if you still get weight loss with pig whipworms? I've always thought worms would be preferable to surgery for obesity too.
    - refurb 13y ago
      As far as I know the whipworm infection is over relatively quickly. Usually the weight loss you see with parasite infections is due to prolonged illness.
  - ef4 13y ago
    Even some worms that are specialized for humans can't complete their entire lifecycle in the gut. The mature worms produce eggs in the gut, but the eggs will only hatch in the soil. The larval stage stays in the ground, and then the young worms infect another person through the skin. People who deliberately want to maintain an infection need to actually poop onto some soil, then come back later and walk on it.
ca98am79 13y ago
Thank you - I have looked into this. I think it's definitely worth researching more. At the time I looked into it, it seemed somewhat more risky and difficult to do than FMT.

btilly 13y ago

Actually not that early-stage research. Just stalled by the FDA that decided it is a medical treatment and needs approval. The FDA approval process usually costs about $150 million, and there is no way to recoup it for anything not patentable. Hence research in this area died because it is not getting through the FDA process. How many other cheap treatments are not available for the same reason?

tocomment 13y ago

I couldn't find much information about the treatment details. Do you know if anyone has looked into sterilizing the worms? It seems like the only downside is worrying about the worms reproducing. If you could make them sterile before applying them, and then just take new ones every month or so.

refurb 13y ago
They don't need to sterilize the worms, they just use worms that can't reproduce in humans (i.e. pig whipworms) I'm keeping an eye out for the trial results. If it works, it would greatly expand our understanding of immune diseases. http://biotechtranslated.com/2011/07/30/the-hygiene-hypothesis-goes-on-trial/ http://biotechtranslated.com/2011/07/30/the-hygiene-hypothes...
- tocomment 13y ago
  I didn't realize that. That's pretty smart. Do you know if you still get weight loss with pig whipworms? I've always thought worms would be preferable to surgery for obesity too.
  - refurb 13y ago
    As far as I know the whipworm infection is over relatively quickly. Usually the weight loss you see with parasite infections is due to prolonged illness.
- ef4 13y ago
  Even some worms that are specialized for humans can't complete their entire lifecycle in the gut. The mature worms produce eggs in the gut, but the eggs will only hatch in the soil. The larval stage stays in the ground, and then the young worms infect another person through the skin. People who deliberately want to maintain an infection need to actually poop onto some soil, then come back later and walk on it.

ca98am79 13y ago

Thank you - I have looked into this. I think it's definitely worth researching more. At the time I looked into it, it seemed somewhat more risky and difficult to do than FMT.