Useful vampires or leech’s secret

One more type of therapy has been applied at the Ilizarov center starting from 2008 – hirudotherapy. Hirudotherapy is a treatment using medical leeches. This kind of therapy is known from the ancient times for treating a variety of diseases such as osteochondrosis, arthritis, atherosclerosis, hypertension, myocardium infarction, ischemic heart disease, bronchial asthma, gastritis, and some others. The method of hirudotherapy has been efficiently applied in urology, surgery, and gynecology; for metabolic, nerve, eye and endocrinal diseases; for diseases of the ear, throat, nose, mouth and skin.

With the development of science the action mechanism of leeches’ saliva was deciphered. It contains a large number of biologically active substances that contribute to the improvement of health. The saliva secretion of leeches has anti-inflammatory and anesthetic effect. The physicians of the Ilizarov center use the method for postoperative complications. Leeches remove intercellular liquid that contains toxins on the operated area and improve capillary flow thus contributing to wound healing.

Healthy people are recommended to have the procedure once a year for prophylaxis.

Note. Current hirudotherapy uses leeches grown at special biofactories in Perm, Saratov, St. Petersburg and Moscow. They are grown for one and half year and considered conditionally sterile as they are fed with purified bovine blood. Before being used in clinic they are kept starved for 4 months so that semi-starved species were more effective. One medical leech is used per 10 kg of patient’s weight. The procedure itself is painless and by sensation resembles electrophoresis. Leeches are kept on skin from 15 to 80 minutes and trigger the cells of affected area to recover.

Some facts. Hirudotherapy dates back to 10 thousand years B.C. according to Chinese sources. Useful vampires are depicted on the walls of Egyptian pyramids. The first world congress on the use of leeches in medicine was held in 1992. In 2002 the ministry of health of the Russian Federation issued recommendation on the use of hirudotherapy. The 44th WHO session in Geneva stated the positive effect of hirudotherapy basing on scientific data.