Man Claims Hookworm Treatment Led to Remission of Celiac Disease

15 hours ago, Guest Vicky said:

Wouldn’t it be the drugs used for the treatment of the worms that may make the differences? I don’t think anyone is suggesting getting infected with the parasite cured them!

There are indeed people who are saying that hosting benign helminths has put their diseases into remission. There are many thousands of helminth self-treaters spread around the world who are enjoying vastly improved health as a result of replacing a few helminths. See the three studies listed at the following link.
The rewards of re-worming

3 hours ago, trents said:

Do you know what the average lifespan of Vikings was? I am always skeptical of people associating healing powers to this or that food or health practice of ancient peoples that usually died before the age of 40. And if the Vikings were in fact healthier than other people groups of the period, was it because of hookworms or in spite of them and actually do to other factors?

The Vikings weren't unique in hosting helminths. Everyone in the world had at least one type of helminth at some point during their lives up until their population became industrialised. Every archaeological dig finds helminth-rich coprolites - if they bother to look for them, of course. Ötzi, "the Iceman" had human whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) in his gut, and King Richard III of England had the roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides. 

History is actually very revealing about how our loss of helminths to industrialisation screwed up our health, and how replacing a few mutualistic worms can improve our health.
The history of helminthic therapy

18 minutes ago, John Scott said:

The Vikings weren't unique in hosting helminths. Everyone in the world had at least one type of helminth at some point during their lives up until their population became industrialised. Every archaeological dig finds helminth-rich coprolites - if they bother to look for them, of course. Ötzi, "the Iceman" had human whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) in his gut, and King Richard III of England had the roundworm, Ascaris lumbricoides. 

History is actually very revealing about how our loss of helminths to industrialisation screwed up our health, and how replacing a few mutualistic worms can improve our health.
The history of helminthic therapy

If the Vikings weren't unique in this, then how is it that health benefits have been ascribed to helminth infestation? And although there are many reasons for this, it is still true that lifespans have increased dramatically since industrialization.

Yes, in fact the average human lifespan has more than doubled in the last 120 years, which can be attributed to better medicine, vaccines, fertilizer, pesticides, access to clean water, better nutrition, increased crop yields, etc.

Still, if hookworms can provide what might be the first true cure for celiac disease and allow, at least some of them, to eat gluten again without issues, it's definitely worth more study and research. My thought here is that it is important to discover the source of exactly how the infection regulates an overactive immune system, and perhaps that could lead to a drug or vaccine that would provide the same effect, without the need to host a parasite.

18 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

Yes, in fact the average human lifespan has more than doubled in the last 120 years, which can be attributed to better medicine, vaccines, fertilizer, pesticides, access to clean water, better nutrition, increased crop yields, etc.

Still, if hookworms can provide what might be the first true cure for celiac disease and allow, at least some of them, to eat gluten again without issues, it's definitely worth more study and research. My thought here is that it is important to discover the source of exactly how the infection regulates an overactive immune system, and perhaps that could lead to a drug or vaccine that would provide the same effect, without the need to host a parasite.

Totally agree. And for all the faults of "big pharma", it is also true that big pharma has given us many valuable health and wellness tools. Same with "big tech". Same with capitalism in general. Progress nearly always contains a mixture of negative and positive dimensions, evil and good.

17 minutes ago, Scott Adams said:

My thought here is that it is important to discover the source of exactly how the infection regulates an overactive immune system, and perhaps that could lead to a drug or vaccine that would provide the same effect, without the need to host a parasite.

Hosting isn't as bad as it sounds. For me, it's a biennial event that takes probably 10 minutes of my time from ordering to application. The rash from the entry wound is unsightly but heals up and disappears. Most of the problem have with hookworms is fear.

There are things to learn. The right number and frequency, how not to injure the hookworms by eating the wrong thing or taking the wrong drug. The Wiki has all that in spades, and the Helminthic Therapy Support Group on Facebook can answer any questions.

Research into making drugs based on helminths has been going on for years. It'll get there. In the meantime I have my solution. The cost is manageable and there are no side effects, besides that painless, temporary rash.

7 minutes ago, dixonpete said:

Hosting isn't as bad as it sounds. For me, it's a biennial event that takes probably 10 minutes of my time from ordering to application. The rash from the entry wound is unsightly but heals up and disappears. Most of the problem have with hookworms is fear.

There are things to learn. The right number and frequency, how not to injure the hookworms by eating the wrong thing or taking the wrong drug. The Wiki has all that in spades, and the Helminthic Therapy Support Group on Facebook can answer any questions.

Research into making drugs based on helminths has been going on for years. It'll get there. In the meantime I have my solution. The cost is manageable and there are no side effects, besides that painless, temporary rash.

 

 

Well said, fair and balanced!

18 minutes ago, dixonpete said:

Hosting isn't as bad as it sounds. For me, it's a biennial event that takes probably 10 minutes of my time from ordering to application. The rash from the entry wound is unsightly but heals up and disappears. Most of the problem have with hookworms is fear.

There are things to learn. The right number and frequency, how not to injure the hookworms by eating the wrong thing or taking the wrong drug. The Wiki has all that in spades, and the Helminthic Therapy Support Group on Facebook can answer any questions.

Research into making drugs based on helminths has been going on for years. It'll get there. In the meantime I have my solution. The cost is manageable and there are no side effects, besides that painless, temporary rash.

 

 

On the other hand, it could be the case that the way helminth therapy works (at least for some) is not based on a particular biochemical compound or compounds they secrete but the dynamic way these parasites interact with the human immune system. This would be the essence of them being immune system "modulators". If this is the case, it may not be effective to simply identify the biochemical or chemicals involved and isolate them in medication form.

1 minute ago, trents said:

On the other hand, it could be the case that the way helminth therapy works (at least for some) is not based on a particular biochemical compound or compounds they secrete but the dynamic way these parasites interact with the human immune system. This would be the essence of them being immune system "modulators". If this is the case, it may not be effective to simply identify the biochemical or chemicals involved and isolate them in medication form.

I hear that refrain a lot in the group. Meds will never be able to replace helminths that have evolved for millions of years to work with the mammalian immune system, and with Necator adapted specifically to human hosts.

Maybe it'll be possible, maybe not, but researchers certainly have their work cut out for them. And the cost of such drugs when they do arrive? Possibly stratospheric.

We have a subgroup of 1000 members or so who incubate eggs from their own stool. Microscopes and such. For them the cost is set up (microscope), and supplies (charcoal, bleach, etc). Me I'd rather work the extra hours and pay rather than mess with all that.

In this trial hookworms were ineffective as a treatment or Celiac disease for over 2>gram a day of gluten but helpful for lower amounts.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7678792/

2 minutes ago, Blue-Sky said:

In this trial hookworms were ineffective as a treatment or Celiac disease.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7678792/

My fridge..

2 hours ago, trents said:

If the Vikings weren't unique in this, then how is it that health benefits have been ascribed to helminth infestation? And although there are many reasons for this, it is still true that lifespans have increased dramatically since industrialization.

Yes, indeed, lifespans have of course increased dramatically since industrialisation, but, in removing our helminths, industrialisation has also robbed us of the essential immune modulation that worms provide.

Restoring helminths to the gut of a helminth-deficient Westerner completes the machinery that was developed over millennia as a result of our coevolution with worms, and allows the immune system to function as it should.

The bottom line is that humans need helminths for optimum health.