Practice Dr. Katmer
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leech
THE LEECH
When you talk about leeches, you usually hear the same thing: slimy, black, bloodthirsty, simply disgusting. That's the common reaction when confronted with leeches. But, as is so often the case with stereotypes: they're not true! Leeches are colorful, elegant swimmers, harmless, and not at all disgusting.
And they help – so well that humans and animals have been using their healing powers for thousands of years!
Animals instinctively know about the healing power of leeches. For example, cattle, water buffalo, sheep, and horses with joint problems deliberately go to bodies of water where leeches live and wait patiently until the little helpers take their tiny meal and, in gratitude, leave helpful secretions in the patient's body.
In recent years, there has been a renewed awareness among humans that leeches can be very effective and virtually free of side effects for certain ailments. In humans, we are familiar with mild itching and reddening of the skin at the bite site. In animals, however, leech bites don't even seem to itch – literally. Overall, leeches provide us with an extremely well-tolerated treatment with proven, long-lasting effects.
The word "leech," by the way, comes from the Greek word echis, meaning small snake. Some even suspect that the snake on Aesculapius's caduceus represents a leech, but this is certainly incorrect. In any case, it has long been famous for its healing powers. Among the Germanic peoples, for example, the word "leech" was used almost synonymously with the word "healer." Dhanvantari, the Indian god of Ayurveda, carries a leech in one of his four hands, and in English, healers of the Middle Ages were called "leechers."
Leech therapy has now become the subject of modern research, which has long since proven that the healing effects of this therapy are not based on medieval superstition.
Reconstructive surgery rediscovered these sensitive bloodsuckers in the 1980s, when a small boy's severed ear was saved only with their help. The leeches' secretions ensured that blood flow was maintained, allowing the ear to regrow. Since then, leeches have experienced a renaissance in the healing arts. Modern biochemistry has elucidated a number of active substances and their mechanisms of action in leech saliva.
One of these leech active ingredients, hirudin, is a globally recognized medicine that is used to treat various blood clotting disorders, including heart attacks.
Horses, as well as other animals like dogs, cats, etc., aren't bothered by leeches, nor do they resist the bite or try to get rid of the little worm. They simply instinctively know about their healing power. And even if they don't help, they certainly don't do any harm.
Our farm is located on the outskirts of Biebertal, near Giessen, Hesse. Here, we keep and breed medicinal leeches in approximately 40 natural ponds. If you're interested in how the animals live with us, please contact us by email or call us and schedule an appointment. We'd be happy to show you how fascinating and elegant these creatures are.
On the following pages you will surely find interesting information about this unique animal and medicinal product, which has been classified by the legislature as a finished medicinal product for several years now, a clear indication of its effectiveness.
First, a few facts in bullet points:
In the salivary glands of the leeches there are highly effective substances, but
no pathogens found
Their bite is often compared to the touch of a nettle
Wherever leeches occur, they are used by humans and animals for healing or
Relief used
Leeches can live up to two years on one meal
INDICATIONS AND MODE OF ACTION
The initially surprising healing effect is a "smart" move by the leeches, as it promotes their valuable resource, mammals – which is, of course, better than harming them. To put it bluntly, from an ecological perspective: a fine example of successful "sustainable use," of a balanced give and take. Science and the pharmaceutical industry have long recognized the complex and wonderful cocktail of active ingredients that evolution has produced with leech saliva, which intervenes in the blood's complicated coagulation cascade in an almost "ingenious" way, dissolving blood clots, promoting blood circulation and lymph flow, and exhibiting anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing effects. This results in a broad range of indications:
Indications
Leeches are used, among other things, for:
rheumatism
Herpes zoster (shingles)
Varicose veins
Tinnitus
Thrombosis
Boils and carbuncles
Sinusitis
tonsil abscess
Adnexitis, parametritis
Mastitis
gallbladder inflammation
Orchitis
phlebitis
hypertension
Osteoarthritis (e.g. knee or thumb)
arthritis
leg ulcer
Tendon/tendon sheath
inflammations
(tennis, golf arm)
apoplexy
Angina pectoris
Thrombophlebitisas well as in cases of circulatory disorders after tissue transplantation (plastic and reconstructive surgery).
What do leeches do to us?
First of all: a leech bite is not painful. This is understandable, as leeches in the wild have no interest in being unpleasantly noticed. Whether an anesthetic is contained in the saliva to relieve pain is controversial. The bites are described as "nettle stings," "mosquito bites," "a slight pulling sensation," or "the puncture of hypodermic needles," or even as completely painless. A possible slight itching that follows—similar to a mosquito bite—is due to histamine-like substances. The bite is also relatively painless due to the bite "technique": three star-shaped saw teeth, each with approximately 80 calcareous teeth, carefully cut through the skin to reach their desired target—the blood. Between the calcareous teeth are openings through which the saliva, the leech's saliva, is released.
Active ingredients
The saliva contains the following substances identified so far:
Hirudin (the name is derived from Hirudo medicinalis = medicinal leech) is one of the active ingredients of the leech that is used as a standalone drug in medicine.
Hirudin inhibits blood clotting and is used, among other things, to treat heart attacks.
Calin also inhibits blood clotting and, following the "fast" action of hirudin, causes the wound to clear through bleeding, which lasts approximately 12 hours. This results in the well-known, gentle bloodletting.
During the 60-minute suction process, it is of course necessary to keep the wound open and the blood flowing.
During the suction process, the "spreading factor," hyaluronidase, also comes into action: by loosening the tissue, the path is paved for the healing substances. This active ingredient is used in medicine as an absorption-promoting additive to infusion and injection preparations (e.g., "turbo anesthesia").
Egline and Bdelline have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects.
The unique natural active ingredient composition of the saliva is rounded off by other substances (e.g. Factor X a inhibitors, LDTI)
