Annikki
Senior Member
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This is not a joke. Science Daily reports that hookworms are beneficial for multiple sclerosis patients. The good news is that hookworms seem to stop the autoimmune response in MS. Naturally, I am thinking maybe this therapy may be beneficial to CFS patients. Honestly, I would be willing to sign up for any trial testing this therapy on CFS patients. I'm optimistic this would be beneficial in ME/CFS, since the disease shares similarities to MS.
Hookworm trial offers new hope to MS patients
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200618150223.htm
"Parasitic worms could offer a new treatment hope for patients suffering from the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis, according to experts from the University of Nottingham.
"The findings of the research, published in the journal JAMA Neurology, show that infecting MS patients with a safe dose of the hookworm parasite Necator americanus induces immunoregulatory responses and boosts the number of cells which help keep the immune system under control.
"The research was led by Cris Constantinescu, Professor of Neurology in the University's School of Clinical Sciences and a leading MS expert, and David Idris Pritchard, Professor of Parasite Immunology in the University's School of Pharmacy, who has spent decades studying the biology of the hookworm. The study was funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society...
"The study aimed to show that the presence of hookworms in the body switches off the mechanism by which the body's immune system becomes overactive -- the main cause of MS -- reducing both the severity of symptoms and the number of relapses experienced by the patients.
"71 patients were recruited for a controlled clinical trial who suffer from the most common type of the disease, relapsing remitting MS (RRMS).
"Symptoms in patients such as vision problems, dizziness and fatigue, appear and then fade away either partially or completely, and secondary progressive MS with superimposed relapses.
"Half of the patients on the trial, received a low dose of the hookworms -- 25 of the microscopic larvae -- on a plaster applied to the arm, while the other half received a placebo plaster.
Read more at: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200618150223.htm