Hirudotherapy - Leech Therapy

2024 Author: Rachel Wainwright | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 07:39

Hirudotherapy - leech therapy

Among the methods of treatment that have stood the test of time, it is especially worth highlighting hirudotherapy, or treatment with leeches. This method is highly effective in the treatment of many diseases, primarily diseases of the cardiovascular system, such as hypertension, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins. Treatment with leeches is also successfully used in the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases of the urinary tract, digestive tract, joint diseases, congestion of the circulatory and lymphatic systems, as well as in the treatment of nervous diseases, including such common ones as insomnia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Hirudotherapy stimulates the immune system, has a tonic and rejuvenating effect on the body as a whole.

The therapeutic effect is provided by a complex of biologically active substances that enter the bloodstream with the saliva of a medicinal leech. One of the main substances, hirudin, has anticoagulant properties, due to which blood does not clot for a long time after a leech bite. Hirudin, penetrating into the blood, changes its rheological properties, which, translated from scientific into ordinary language, means that the blood becomes thinner, becomes more fluid, and accordingly, it better penetrates into places of chronic inflammation, where there is always a lack of trophism.

Another substance that makes leech therapy so effective is the enzyme hyaluronidase. This enzyme acts on the connective tissue, which is in excess in chronic inflammatory foci, loosening it and thereby also improving tissue nutrition in this area. The third component of hirudotherapy is controlled blood loss, which triggers the processes of renewal and restoration in the body, and also stimulates the immune system.

However, in order for the treatment with leeches to bring benefit, and not harm, certain rules must be observed. The main one is to avoid charlatans, who are attracted by the effectiveness and seeming ease of the technique. An experienced hirudotherapist will first write a referral for the patient for examination, and only then will he plan the treatment. Leeches are not placed randomly, but on acupuncture points, which are different for various diseases. Precautions are also necessary because leeches come in direct contact with blood, which means they can carry diseases ranging from hepatitis to AIDS. In certified hirudotherapy centers, the leech is used only once, after which it is destroyed. At the same time, only one species is used - medical leeches (and there are 400 species in total), specially grown on biofarms.

Contraindications to leech treatment are pregnancy, lactation, blood diseases, recent surgery and early childhood.

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