Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article, I answer questions about hirudotherapy. The theme branched off from the story about viscous blood.
Question: Author, that's the question. They say that anti-blood clot drugs (sorry for the style) do not dissolve them, but tighten them. It's true? And here's another question, what do you think about hirudotherapy? The leech dissolves the blood clot with its enzyme and feeds on it, why is this method so little used?
Answer: It is not true. Blood clot medications do not seal clots.
Leeches precisely dissolve blood clots, so blood flows from each of their bites for a day. This method is used in plastic surgery. When, for example, a severed nose was sewn to a person, and he was swollen. A leech is put on his nose (literally). The leech gnaws a hole in the skin, and then blood and intercellular fluid flows out through this hole for 24 hours. It turns out a kind of valve for bleeding off excess pressure. So the swelling from the nose subsides.
Even leeches are officially used to treat pain in osteoarthritis of the knee joints. They put 2 - 4 leeches to the knee and only once. It turns out that the officially approved leech treatment is very boring. You can't make money on it. All other leech therapy is pure commerce.
Question: Is there an infection from leeches?
Answer: Gram-negative water microbes live inside leeches. They need them to preserve blood. These microbes keep other microbes out of the eaten blood. Sometimes such microbes cause inflammation and suppuration of the wounds.
Question: Are leeches bactericidal?
Answer: They are not bactericidal. They are a breeding ground for infection. Therefore, leeches should not be placed on infants and people with impaired immunity.
Question: Why, then, is hirudotherapy officially allowed - a breeding ground for infection?
Answer: I did not say that hirudotherapy is a breeding ground for infection. I said that the leech is a breeding ground for infection. Therefore, the official course of treatment in hirudotherapy is 2 - 4 leeches per month. Our people like to put 8-10 leeches a day for 10 days in a row. That is, it will easily get 100 breeding grounds of infection per month. In addition, leeches should not be used on infants and people with weakened immunity.
Question: I meant leeches, why then they will not be banned, if this is a breeding ground for infection?
Answer: Because there is no need to prohibit them if the rules are followed.
