1er April 2005 – Researchers at the University of Iowa (USA) believe that the incidence of certain autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, may be associated with excessive … hygiene.
The results of an open trial1 recently carried out in 29 patients with Crohn’s disease refractory to conventional treatments indicate that treatment consisting of the administration of live eggs of intestinal worms resulted in the recovery of 21 of the subjects and relieved 2 others without causing adverse effects .
The intestinal parasite chosen for this trial was swine whipworm (Trichuris am), a pig-specific helminth (intestinal worm), which can only survive for a few weeks in the human digestive system. Every 3 weeks, subjects were given a preparation comprising approximately 2,500 live eggs for 24 weeks.
Researchers from the Dr Joel Weinstock had observed that the incidence of inflammatory abdominal infections, including Crohn’s disease and hemorrhagic colitis, was inversely associated with the presence of intestinal parasites. In fact, the number of cases of Crohn’s disease has increased dramatically in industrialized countries since the 1950s, along with the decline in infections with various intestinal parasites.
The Dr Weinstock and colleagues deduced that the absence, or very low presence, of helminths in our digestive systems could be the cause of the increased incidence of inflammatory abdominal infections. This type of disease is relatively rare in countries where the population is more exposed to intestinal parasites.
Researchers believe that the helminths that once colonized our digestive systems had a beneficial effect on the immune system and that their disappearance, a consequence of better hygiene, could explain the increased incidence of several autoimmune diseases: abdominal infections. inflammatory diseases, multiple sclerosis, asthma, allergic rhinitis, etc.
It goes without saying that this is a working hypothesis which needs to be confirmed and that the results of the present trial are not sufficient to conclude on the efficacy and safety of the eggs of pig whipworm. to treat Crohn’s disease. It is also a safe bet that your pharmacist has, for the moment, some difficulty in obtaining live eggs of this intestinal parasite …
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to Medical News, Reuters Health, The Globe & Mail and Medscape
1. Summers RW, Elliott DE, Urban JF Jr, Thompson R, Weinstock JV. Trichuris suis therapy in Crohn’s disease. Gut. 2005 Jan; 54 (1): 87-90.