Worms - Friend or Foe Options

[Oozae]

Ok I noticed that the only thread getting any traffic here is my word association thread so I decided to copy and paste from my other thread in GameBanshee. I have been watching a programme lately about worms, bugs and parasites. Gut worms were featured in the latest episode and they have been a problem in Africa, the gut worms eat the flesh of the gut, they are small so they don't pose a big threat, but people there do not have as much iron available as us, so they can do a fair bit of damage, though they don't kill. A scientist suspected that gut worms stopped allergies, as the people in Africa had no problems with allergies. For some time another scientist has been hosting over 300 gut worms, and what the scientist suspected was proven right. They have been trying to figure out how the gut worms stop people's allergy problems. They have concluded that the worms in the gut after eating leave a chemical behind them, this chemical stops the body from overreacting to foreign substances that aren't neccesserily damaging. A person from Iowa who's body's natural defensive system was viciously attacking her own body (can't remember which bit) feared that there wouldn't be any cure for her rare problem and that she would be crippled for life. So she volunteered to go to the Iowa Medical Research Centre and try out the proto-type treatment, all she did was swallow some gut worm eggs. Amazingly this has worked. All she must do now is drink some liquid every 2 weeks and she is fine. It is a two-way deal, the worms eat some of our flesh, easily healed and they protect us from our own body. Since the virtual eradication of worms from the western world peoples allergies have increased alarmingly, is this the cure?

Comments and/or similiar fascinating finds welcome.

[Oozae]

[quote=Aki][quote=stargelman]I heard that in old times, up until WWI I think, worms and larvae were used for medical purposes. If someone lost a leg, the would needed to be cleaned, and larvae are very well suited for that purpose as they will eat just the dead flesh away. Sure, it might feel totally icky, and the very idea seems abysmal, but if that's your only chance of survival? I'd do it.[/quote]

Theres a world of differance between hosting a parasite for SURVIVAL and for for getting rid of allergies. [/quote]I would get gut worms to get rid of my allergies, they don't do any harm, they only eat a bit of flesh and if you eat iron, you should be fine