BBC

 Wednesday, August 4, 1999 Published at 17:52 GMT 18:52 UK




Diet of worms solves gut problems

Parasitic worms could hold the key to good digestive health

Drinking live parasitic worms has been found to be an effective treatement
for Crohn's Disease and Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD).
Researchers at the University of Iowa think that the virtual elimination of
such creatures from the human gut over the years has left the body vulnerable
to the massive immune reactions which typify the conditions.

Although only six sufferers took part in this trial, the results were so
impressive that larger experiments could now follow.

All six were given a drink containing microscopic worms which can survive,
although not reproduce in the human gut.

Between two or three weeks later, their symptoms completely disappeared, and
stayed away for about a month.

A sterile existence

Dr Joel Weinstock, who carried out the tests, said: "We're living in boxes,
breathing sterile air and drinking sterile water.

"As we've de-wormed, people have developed immune systems which are not
damped.

"The worms living in the gastrointestinal tract have been with us for three
million years, and our immune systems have got used to their presence."

Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and other forms of inflammatory bowel
disease appear to be cause by an overactive immune system, which causes
inflammation in the digestive system.

Symptoms include abdominal pain, bowel obstruction and bleeding.

The condition is incurable, and normal treatments include steroids, which can
reduce the inflammation, although these have been known to produce side
effects.

Dr Weinstock pointed out that the rise in such diseases over recent years has
coincided with a reduction in the incidence of parasitic worms in humans.

Four tenths had worms

As little as 70 years ago, he said, 40% of US children enjoyed the company of
worms which could grow up to 20 centimetres long.

Dr Mark Cottrill, a Lancashire GP with a special interest in IBD, said the
use of worms was certainly novel.

He said: "I'm always open-minded about any innovation, even though treatments
have become much better."

He said that he occasionally found harmless worms living in peace in his
patients when he examined them with a colonoscope.

He said: "You do see these white things which don't like the light and
wriggle away."

Other scientists, such as Dr Balfour Sartor, from the University of North
Carolina, are experimenting with the use of bacteria to damp down the immune
system in IBD patients.

He said of Dr Weinstock's work: "It's an appealing way of using something
that's of fairly low toxicity to treat a set of diseases that for now we
don't have a cure for."