Can eating parasitic worms or their eggs treat some diseases?
Helminthic therapy – ingesting live roundworms – is growing in popularity as a means of fighting various autoimmune disorders, but more evidence is needed of its efficacy, and the treatment is not approved in Hong Kong
Can ingesting parasitic worms help treat certain diseases?
The straight answer: the jury is out
Would you eat worms or their larvae to help cure what ails you? Helminthic therapy – the deliberate ingestion of a controlled number of live parasitic roundworms called helminths – is gaining popularity in treating chronic autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease and asthma. Whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) is an example of a helminth that is typically used in this therapy.
How does it work? According to Dr Sunny Wong, clinical assistant professor at the Institute of Digestive Disease at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, it is based on the hypothesis that many of these illnesses have a hyperactive immune component, which may be suppressed by the immune-regulating effects of the helminths once they have been ingested.
Helminthic therapy advocates believe that replenishing the intestinal biome by swallowing parasitic worms, and thereby “balancing out” an overactive immune system, can prevent it from causing harm.
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A 2015 review published in the Journal of Evolutionary Medicine estimated that up to 7,000 people worldwide are successfully self-treating inflammatory bowel disease, allergies and more with helminths. This therapy is experimental, though, and whether this type of immunosuppression would be beneficial for certain diseases remains to be seen.