that was a strange article to say the least. I am not sure if I would go to the lengths this guy did to cure something that is easily treatable with medication, but whatever works for him I guess. This entire approach is rather strange, aside from the readily apparent strangeness of it, as why would someone infect themselves with another [potentially] harmful thing to treat something that is annoying but not usually fatal? People do indeed die from asthma attacks on very rare occasions, but I have never heard of anyone dying from hayfever.
Well, if you're miserable enough, you'll try just about anything.
When you get to the point where you're not living anymore, just surviving, things that once seemed totally ridiculous & insane suddenly seem like viable options.
I personally think that desperation to relieve suffering is the main cause of most prescribed/OTC drug overdoses, rather than addiction or accident.
I think, this is revolutionary! You just have to google about it,
and you will find out:
There has been considerable debate over the last 30 years about the interaction between asthma and parasitic infection. It has been suggested that at least part of the reason for the increasing prevalence of asthma in the developed world is a decrease in parasite infections resulting from improved living conditions with economic development. Our previous studies in Ethiopia suggest that hookworm infection may be particularly important in this process.
To establish definitively whether parasites can protect against allergic disease, and specifically asthma, ultimately requires a randomised clinical trial of parasite infection in patients with asthma. We have completed a study in normal volunteers to establish the dose of hookworms necessary to generate infection at the level shown to be protective in population surveys, and shown that infection is well tolerated. We now propose two randomised placebo-controlled double blind clinical trials. The first will test the effectiveness of hookworm infection in reducing symptoms in allergic patients with rhinitis, and will also serve to allow us to check the likely safety of hookworm infection in asthma. Assuming that the results of this study are favourable, we will then carry out a trial of hookworm infection in asthma. We will also take the opportunity during both of these studies to investigate the cellular mechanisms of the effect of hookworm infection on the immune system.
Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Treatment, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Control, Parallel Assignment, Safety/Efficacy Study
Official Title: Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial of the Effect of Therapeutic Hookworm Infection in Allergic Rhinoconjunctivitis
Further study details as provided by University of Nottingham:
Primary Outcomes: Maximum change from baseline in airway responsiveness to adenosine 5’-monophosphate during the lung migration phase of hookworm infection.
Secondary Outcomes: Change from baseline in rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire score; allergen skin wheal response; mean daily peak flow; total- and specific serum IgE titres; acidic mammalian chitinase, cytokine profiles, other inflammatory markers; occurrence of adverse effects
Expected Total Enrollment: 30
Study start: September 2005; Expected completion: July 2007
Last follow-up: October 2006; Data entry closure: January 2007
Epidemiological evidence suggests that human hookworm infection is associated with a reduced risk of asthma and allergic disease. This association is potentially important not only to understanding the aetiology of asthma and allergic disease, but also because it suggests that hookworms or their products might be therapeutically effective in these conditions. To test the hypothesis that hookworms protect against asthma ultimately requires a clinical trial.
We have carried out a dose-ranging study to establish the dose of hookworm larvae necessary to generate infection at the intensity shown to be protective in epidemiological studies, with acceptable side effects, and now propose to test the effect of 12 weeks of hookworm infection at this level of intensity in two randomised placebo controlled clinical trials. The first will be in patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, to determine whether hookworm infection improves rhinitis symptoms and also, because these patients will have measurable airway responsiveness, to determine whether airway responsiveness changes during the lung migration phase of the hookworm lifecycle. If this study confirms that hookworm infection does not increase airway responsiveness, we will proceed to a similar trial in patients with asthma.
In both studies we will also measure a range of relevant immunological parameters to explore the relation between these parameters and expression of the allergic and asthmatic phenotypes.
I hope the doctors will use it on a large scale for the sake of the
suffering.....
Fribee
