Medical leech – application, use, contraindications. What do leeches treat?

Proven content

Leeches are annelids that live almost all over the world, also in Polish waters. Some of its species have found application not only in the treatment of many diseases, but also in cosmetics. All because of the leech saliva rich in healing substances and nutrients.

Leech – what is it?

A leech is an animal that lives in the aquatic or terrestrial environment. It is well known to us from Polish rivers and lakes. It can be associated with a situation where, while swimming in natural reservoirs, it sucks on the body and sucks blood. Leeches, however, are animals that are analyzed in a broader context in medicine and biology.

Which group does the leech belong to? This animal belongs to the invertebrates, specifically the annelid type. Its food source is the blood of amphibians, reptiles and mammals (mainly rodents). It can suck up to 10 to 15 ml of blood at a time. This aspect has become the reason for the widespread use of leeches in medicine.

Already in antiquity, leeches were recognized by the medics of Greece, Egypt and Rome. Over the years, they did not lose their popularity, although they were mainly used by healers. It was not until the second half of the XNUMXth century that leeches were recognized in traditional medicine. Thanks to this, treatments with their use have become safer. Today, because for hirudotherapy (therapy with the use of leeches), specimens of medical leeches are specially selected and isolated from the action of pathogens.

Also read: “5 parasites dangerous to human health”

Leech – construction

What does a leech look like? It is worth analyzing its structure to understand the mechanism of its operation. The medical leech has a cylindrical body, flattened in the ventral part, semicircular on the dorsal side. It has an olive shade on the underside and green with orange streaks on the back.

The body is approx. 12 cm long with approx. 1 cm in diameter, and tends to shrink and stretch. Leeches grown in laboratories after feeding can increase their volume up to five times. The body of the leech is smooth, but divided into more than 30 inner segments and 6 outer segments.

An important element of the leech’s body is the mouth ending with a round suction cup that leads to the mouth. The bore has three pairs of jaws arranged in a radial pattern, and each pair has between 60 and 100 sharp teeth of microscopic size. The leech sucks on an average of 10 to 15 ml of blood, which it stores in 10 intestinal diverticula.

Leeches – what do they do?

Medical leech is used in treatment because of the saliva it produces. The hidurotherapy treatment consists in the fact that an individual sticks with his numerous teeth into the skin of the victim 1,5 mm deep. During this time, the leeches from the salivary glands, through the secretory tubules located in the cloves, release protein and mucus hiduro compounds. They contain biologically and pharmacologically active substances. These include, among others:

1. hirudin – prevents blood clotting, therefore it is considered a natural anticoagulant,
2. histamine – causes vasodilation,
3. eglin and other painkillers.

The very attachment of leeches to the skin and cutting its structures is painless because of the released analgesic compounds. Thus, the procedure does not cause any discomfort. After a leech bite, however, swelling and itching remain, and slight bleeding may persist for about 48 hours. The leeches themselves used in the treatment are neutralized (killed in alcohol and utilized) and treated as hazardous waste. This means that they can only be used once in hidurotherapy.

Leeches are attached to a specific place on the body. Their number depends on the patient’s weight, sex and the severity of the disease or disease.

Leech – what heals?

The treatment of leeches is extremely broad. First of all, they are used in the case of diseases and ailments of the circulatory system:

1. varicose veins,
2. thrombophlebitis
3. hematomas,
4. blood clots (use of leeches in thrombosis and in emergency cases),
5. atherosclerosis,
6. ischemic heart disease,
7. arterial hypotension,
8. hypertension,
9. hemorrhoids.

What do leeches treat for other ailments? Among others, diseases and diseases of the nervous, respiratory, digestive and skin systems:

1. rheumatism,
2. radiculitis,
3. spine diseases,
4. sciatica,
5. stomach and duodenal ulcers,
6. lung and bronchial diseases,
7. skin diseases,
8. hard-to-heal wounds,
9. allergies,
10. prostate disease.

Leeches are used to a lesser extent for acne, headaches, cellulite, impotence, depression and some gynecological disorders. In addition, it happens that they are used in therapy after limb amputation or sewing on certain parts of the body (ears, fingers), and some medical research gives the green light to use leeches in therapies in postpartum cerebral palsy and even Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Also check: “Innovative treatment of Alzheimer’s disease”

Leeches for beauty

In cosmetology and aesthetic medicine, the leech is used in rejuvenating treatments. Saliva is mainly used, which, apart from hirudin and histamine, also contains a number of substances desired by the cosmetics industry:

1. hyaluronic acid – anti-wrinkle effect,
2. lipids and phosphatidic acids – strengthening the protective layer of the skin,
3. elastin and collagenesis – improving the absorption of hiduro compounds into the skin,
4. steroid hormones, including progesterone, cortisol and testosterone – add freshness to the skin,
5. anti-elastase – gives a rejuvenating effect,
6. phospholipases – support metabolic processes in the skin,
7. collagen – makes skin layers more elastic,
8. endorphins – give the effect of a rested, healthy complexion.

In cosmetology, leeches are most often a source of base substances for the preparation of nourishing masks. Beauty salons offer face, neck and cleavage treatments. Leech saliva masks are free of preservatives and parabens. The procedure takes about 30 minutes.

The leech saliva mask reduces wrinkles, reduces discoloration, gives the skin a young and fresh look, elasticity and silky smoothness. It works well for people struggling with acne, psoriasis and other skin conditions.

In addition, leeches are used in:

1. cellulite reduction treatments,
2. energy-stimulating baths with the use of dried, powdered leeches,
3. soaking the treated part of the body in water in which the leeches stayed for 5-10 days,
4. hybrid therapies using leech extracts and essential oils.

There are many cosmetics enriched with leech saliva on the market, which complement the treatments performed in beauty salons.

Medicinal leech – adaptation to parasitism

As you can easily guess, non-random individuals are used for hidurotherapy treatments. Medical leeches are grown in laboratories under special conditions, separating them from the action of undesirable factors, including pollutants or pathogens. This makes the therapy safe.

There are hundreds of species of leeches in nature, and only a dozen or so are used in medicine. Two types of medicinal leeches are used in Poland:

1. Medicinal leech. The species is under species protection, so trade in its specimens requires permits from the minister responsible for environmental protection. It produces hirustazine, which inhibits the inflammatory response.
2. Verbana leech. In addition to hirustazine, it also produces a tryptase inhibitor, responsible for inhibiting allergic reactions.

Leech breeding is based not only on isolation from harmful factors, but also on controlled blood feeding of veterinary-tested animals. In modern laboratories it is also becoming more and more popular to feed leeches with blood substitutes.

Leeches – contraindications to the procedure

There are situations in which you should absolutely not perform the procedure with leeches. These are:

1. pregnancy,
2. severe anemia,
3. hemophilia,
4. age less than 10 years,
5. malignant tumors,
6. allergic reactions to hiduro compounds.

Particular care should be taken when treating leeches if the patient has:

1. allergy,
2. moderate anemia,
3. low blood pressure
4. menstruation (in women),
5. blood clotting disorders,
6. taking medicines,
7. other comorbidities.

It should be remembered that hirudotherapy is an alternative medicine and cannot replace conventional, recognized methods of therapy.

Leech – what to do?

The presence of leeches in rivers or stagnant water reservoirs proves its purity. However, this is not good news for people who bathe in them. Biting a leech by a lake or river can have negative consequences if it previously fed on a sick organism.

Removal of a leech should not be done by plucking the leech from the skin as it can leave cloves that will rot, creating a dangerous wound. The leech should be removed by treating it with alcohol or salt. Then it will tear itself off by itself.