For RESEARCH REPORTS click here.

For ARTICLES please click on the links below.

Helminthic therapy is an experimental approach to the treatment of asthma, allergies and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, which involves the administration of controlled quantities of selected, benign intestinal parasites such as hookworm and whipworm.

The treatment developed out of understanding gained from scientific studies which showed that, while these illnesses have escalated in developed countries during the past 50-100 years, they remain much less common in parts of the world where intestinal parasites are still prevalent.

The aim of the treatment is to rebalance the host's immune system by replacing one or more of the harmless organisms which have been lost in recent decades due to improved hygiene, sanitation and lifestyle changes.

The organisms used have become masters of the human immune system during millions of years of coexistence with man and are adept at regulating their host's immune response. In fact, the codependent relationship between worm and man is so close that the human genome is now arguably incomplete without the genes contributed by these organisms.

Helminthic therapy has already been, or is currently being studied as a treatment for a number of diseases including allergies, asthma, type 1 diabetes, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and multiple sclerosis. Results from the completed studies are impressive, and there are anecdotal reports and/or theoretical reasons to suggest that a number of other conditions may also respond well to helminthic therapy.
                                                                  (John Scott 06/09)

Helminthic forums and information sites

Main online discussion group for helminthic therapy: www.health.groups.yahoo.com

John Scott's own blog - Gut Buddies

www.autoimmunetherapies.com – Jasper Lawrence's (see below) own site. 'This is still one of the best sites for research into the main diseases that helminths treat, and for personal success stories.'

For a useful list of helminthic news/research links and sites Parasites: a user's guide.

Another mammoth collection of articles on helminthic therapy on GoogleDocs.

Articles

John Scott has compiled a file of over 100 personal accounts of those using helminthic therapy, an amazing 80% of whom have derived significant benefit from the therapy, having already tried every other treatment available for their condition. 01/12

Parasites or Cohabitants: Cruel Omnipresent Usurpers or Creative "Éminences Grises"?The history of parasites and the impact of parasitic diseases on the course of human evolution, proposing that the term "cohabitant" is more accurate, because every living being is a consortium of living beings and parasite and host together compose a new adaptive system: the parasitized-host or the cohabitant-cohabited being. The paper suggests switching the old paradigm based on attrition and destruction, to a new one founded on adaptation and living together. 04/11

Deworming mothers in East Africa fails to deliver the expected benefits, but results in double the rate of eczema in their children. Interesting article from the Wellcome Trust. 11/11 

Helminths reduce Multiple Chemical Sensitivity– John Scott reports 08/11

Parasites: A user's guide – the DVD. In a 27-minute documentary about ecology, healing, and worms, filmmaker Sharon Shattuck questions the nature of our relationship with parasites, and suggests a new paradigm for the future. More at www.parasites-film.com or buy here.

A good overview of helminthic therapy thinking and research over the last 10 years from Science News. 06/11

Helminths give chronic headaches the old heave-ho
07/11

Frequently asked questions about helminthic therapies – a detailed explanation of helminthic therapy and the benefits that can result by Autoimmune Therapies, one of the leading providers of helminths. 04/11

Take Two Hookworms and call me in the Morning - Useful general article by Jennifer Fisher Wilson 05/11

For the Good of the Gut: Can Parasitic Worms Treat Autoimmune Diseases? Good report in the Scientific American of a 35-year-old man who had cured his ulcerative colitis withte help of whipworms.12/10.

Interesting blog from a wormophile - just six months into her treatment and going well. 10/11

Reconstituting the depleted biome to prevent immune disorders – William Parker PhD of the Duke University Medical Center. 'A  brilliant new article on the need for helminthic therapy. Puts the whole thing into a nutshell, in non-technical language.' – John Scott

Worms could be big business. Another article in Bloomberg Businessweek estimating annual sales of of $2 billion for parisitic treatment of Crohn's disease alone. 05/10

Gut instinct: the miracle of the parasitic hookworm. A lengthy and excellent article in the Guardian about Jasper Lawrence, founder of Autimmune Therapies, and his experiences with hookworms which he believes cured his asthma and which he now provides for other sufferers of autoimmune conditions from MS to total food allergy. 05/10

Dirt, Disease, and Depression: the hygiene hypothesis clears up a diametric difficulty. An interesting blog article suggesting major depressive disorder (MDD) is not a mental illness at all—that is, one resulting from an unbalanced brain—but is in fact a mental symptom of a dysregulated immune system and might therefore be successfully treatedby helminthic or worm therapy. For further comment.

Hookworm Honeymoon. John Scott discovers that a new relationship was all that was required to relieve his longstanding total food intolerance and reduce his chronic fatigue, but this was no ordinary relationship. 11/09

The genetic evolution of immune system may have been heavily influenced by parasites. 07/09

Two blogs from Crohn's patients who have had successful helminth infections and feel they have 'got their lives back'. Check Crohn's person and Brittany

John Scott brings us up to date on his romance with his worms
- August 2009

Autism and allergies dramatically improved by pig whip worm
(05/09)

Helminthic therapy: Replacing lost worms to regain health – John Scott 2009.

Horizon allergy report: For those who did not see it, a report on the recent Horizon programme on allergies – Micki Rose 2009

An Appetite for Worms - 2008
John Scott investigates worms and parasites and their possible therapeutic uses in respiratory and gastrointestinal disease, and in allergy.

How I maintain a vibrant hookworm colony.

NB Information on this site is not a substitute for medical advice and no liability can be assumed for its use.

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