Hematophagous animals including leeches have been known to possess biologically active compounds in their secretions, especially in their saliva. The blood-sucking annelids, leeches have been used for therapeutic purposes since the beginning of civilization. Ancient Egyptian, Indian, Greek and Arab physicians used leeches for a wide range of diseases starting from the conventional use for bleeding to systemic ailments, such as skin diseases, nervous system abnormalities, urinary and reproductive system problems, inflammation, and dental problems. Recently, extensive researches on leech saliva unveiled the presence of a variety of bioactive peptides and proteins involving antithrombin (hirudin, bufrudin), antiplatelet (calin, saratin), factor Xa inhibitors (lefaxin), antibacterial (theromacin, theromyzin) and others. Consequently, leech has made a comeback as a new remedy for many chronic and life-threatening abnormalities, such as cardiovascular problems, cancer, metastasis, and infectious diseases. In the 20 century, leech therapy has established itself in plastic and microsurgery as a protective tool against venous congestion and served to salvage the replanted digits and flaps. Many clinics for plastic surgery all over the world started to use leeches for cosmetic purposes. Despite the efficacious properties of leech therapy, the safety, and complications of leeching are still controversial

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Is hirudin a potential therapeutic agent for arthritis?

Author: K Scott,    School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand,  k.scott@auckland.ac.nz

A recent pilot study by Michalsen et al showed that a single brief treatment with medicinal leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) can give relatively long term relief from pain in osteoarthritic joints. A number of leech salivary components are known,  which may contribute to this effect.¹ Although there was no evidence for any therapeutic outcomes, other than pain relief, the extended timescale suggests that   one or more leech components may exert more than an anaesthetic or analgesic effect. Independent evidence indicates that the  leech anticoagulant protein, hirudin, may make a significant contribution to this phenomenon.

A synovial stimulatory protein (SSP), acting as an autoantigen to which T lymphocytes from patients with rheumatoid arthritis  respond, has been identified in synovial fluid.² A smaller protein, derived from human fibroblasts, and identifiable from its amino acid sequence as a fragment of the SSP, has been found to bind to a hirudin-agarose affinity chromatography matrix.³ More recently, we have shown that both the SSP and its smaller derivative, now known as the DING protein, are found in synovial fluid samples and synovial fibroblasts from normal subjects, and from patients with a range of arthritic conditions, includin  rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. The proteins act as autocrine growth stimulators for normal and arthritic synovial fibroblasts.⁴ The presence of hirudin can inhibit this stimulation.³ Given that hyperproliferation of synovial fibroblasts is believed to contribute to the formation of the destructive pannus   that is characteristic of some arthritic joints,⁵ the SSP and DING protein may act to promote this process, and hirudin may have the potential to retard it. Hirudin might   thus have value in treating arthritis. Recombinant hirudin has already been used in a range of therapeutic anticoagulant applications,^6–8 so patient safety and other clinical data have been collected and evaluated. A trial of hirudin in an antiarthritis role  may now be appropriate.

The first DING protein isolates displayed proteolytic activity, and its inhibition was believed to be the basis of the action  of hirudin, but subsequent DING preparations have had little or no proteolytic activity.^3,4 The basis of the inhibitory action of hirudin is thus not known. Peptides derived from hirudin such as hirulog (bivalirudin),   which are effective anticoagulants by virtue of thrombin inhibition,^9,10 may not possess the ability to bind and inhibit the SSP or DING proteins.

When we have a healthy blood system, our vital organs perform their functions well, our circulatory system remains healthy and delivers vital oxygen and nutrients to the rest of our body, and we feel well. Blood is a wonderful substance, both delivering nutrients and transporting toxins away to the organs that take care of disposing of them. When our blood system is not operating at optimal efficiency, toxins build up, we don’t get the nutrients we need and our organs can be damaged – sometimes permanently.

Babies today have an increased risk of being born with autism. Studies have shown an increase in toxins in newborns, delivered to them through the mother’s placenta and possibly from the moment of conception from both parents. This toxicity is possibly being passed down from generation to generation. Taking steps to clean your blood system isn’t just important for your own immediate health, but also for the health of your children.

A scientific study in July 2005 by the Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/part8.php) found an alarming amount of toxins in the umbilical cord blood of newborns. It was previously thought fetuses were protected from dangerous toxins and chemicals that the mother was exposed to. This study shattered that myth. The toxins were identified as those responsible for a number of ailments from cancer, brain and nervous system problems to birth defects.

Our bodies receive an alarming amount of toxins daily. Detoxifying the blood is the only way to keep up with this onslaught against our vital organs. The toxins can affect not only the health of our circulatory systems, but can disrupt the normal function of some of the bodies cleansing organs like the kidneys and liver. When our organs aren’t performing well, we can develop symptoms of allergies, headaches, fatigue and other heath related problems.

Our blood is a vital part of our body’s health and immune system. The different proteins in our blood help seal off wounds, fight off viruses and bacteria, and transfer nutrients throughout our bodies. Ensuring the proper function of our blood improves the overall functioning of our bodies.

Our bodies do have natural ways of detoxifying the blood. However, sometimes the amount of toxins is so overwhelming that our body needs a helping hand. This is where blood cleansing comes in. When the blood is cleansed it can then do a better job of helping the organs in our bodies remove harmful impurities and toxins.

Without this natural detoxification process, these toxic elements in our blood can clog blood vessels, leading to increased fragility and inelasticity. With problems like this in the circulatory system, plaque buildup can lead to loss of blood viscosity and blockages – the medical result is strokes, myocardial infarctions, infarctions of the brain and other cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.

Doctors have typically found high levels of blood toxins in patients suffering from hypertension, high blood viscosity, hyperglycemia (abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood), and hyperlipidemia (excessive amounts of fat and fatty substances in the blood).

The overwhelming evidence is that we need to improve the health of our blood system, returning it to the vibrancy and optimal efficiency it had in our youth. When we were younger, our bodies flowed with blood of optimal color, viscosity and cleanliness. As time passes, the foods we eat, water and other things we drink, and the very air we breathe increases the buildup of toxins on our blood beyond the body’s natural ability to remove it. A regular blood cleansing regimen is the only way to reduce the disease risk posed by these toxins in our blood.

The human body is a wondrous collection of interconnected systems that allow us to convert energy, perform tasks, and even heal. But how can the body heal? The body has a complex system of automatic systems that heal and repair damage unbidden by our conscious thought. This autonomous ability to heal is something referred to as innate intelligence. Our bodies are literally programmed to heal with no active participation on our part. It is only what we do to our bodies that enhances or harms this process.

A cut or tear in a blood vessel will start a series of events in action. Vasoconstriction is the result of the blood vessels leading to the wound tightening to reduce the flow of blood. Platelets react to enzymes coming from the torn blood vessel and quickly amass at the sight of the injury. The platelets stick and clump to each other and cling to the sides of the tear, creating a plug. The clotting proteins (fibrin) form a net that holds the platelets in place, forming a more permanent seal. Depending on the severity of the injury, coagulation of the blood will make the bleeding stop after a few seconds or minutes. Traumatic injuries often can’t stop the wound from bleeding since the wound is simply too big.

Fighting infection is the next step, as the constricted blood vessels now relax to allow white blood cells to arrive on scene, engulfing and destroying and germs that may have come in through the injury.

Finally, the body heals and rebuilds. Fibroblast cells gather at the injury and form collagen, eventually filling in the wound under the scab with new skin cells and creating capillaries to bring oxygen-rich blood to the injury site. Over the next couple of weeks, the skin along the edges of the wound thickens and stretches to the center of the injury, meeting up with the skin from the other side to form a scar. This scar will eventually fade over several years as more collagen is added; it is about 80 percent as strong as the original skin.

But healing wounds isn’t all the blood does; it also acts as the primary internal transportation system for the body, delivering nutrients, proteins, hormones, medications and other substances throughout the body. It also ferries waste products like carbon dioxide and toxins from the body. It is also an incredibly important part of the immune system for fighting off disease.

The blood carries antibodies, the body’s system for fighting off foreign bodies, infections parasites, bacteria, microbes, and toxins. Antibodies are specialized proteins that seek out and mark for destruction anything they don’t think should be in the body. This is how the body fights off diseases and infections, with antibodies travelling to throughout the body carried by the blood stream on a constant search and destroy mission.

Some bacteria and viruses are eliminated by other components of the immune system. A bacterium that enters through food is often destroyed by stomach acid. Things that try to enter our bodies through the air we breathe have to make it past an array of defenses before making it to our bloodstream, including the hair in our nose, mucus and other biological defenses.

Blood doesn’t do the job alone – it has a host of organs helping it along including the thymus (where T-Cells are generated and go to die when they’re faulty), the spleen (filters the blood looking for foreign cells and replaces old red blood cells), the lymphatic system (which filters fluid to and from cells, delivering nutrients from the blood, and filtering out waste products including bacteria when the body has an infection), bone marrow (produces red and white blood cells), white blood cells (a collection of different cells that work together to destroy bacteria and viruses), antibodies (bind themselves to viruses, bacteria, venom and toxins to stop their absorption through cell walls and signal to the complement system that the bad cells must be removed), and the complement system (a series of free floating proteins in the blood stream manufactured by the liver that cause lysing or bursting of cells and signal to the phagocytes when cells need to be removed). Additional pieces to the immune system puzzle include hormones, Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF), and interferon.

Simply preparing food can introduce toxins into your food – non-stick cookware is lined with a non-stick chemical that leaches a small amount into your food with each prepared meal. Plastics leach chemicals into our water and food from water bottles, containers and baggies. But even if we take precautions in how we prepare the food, there are still toxins in the food itself that can make us sick.

Milk is chock full of hormones and antibiotics injected into the cow to increase production. Fruits and vegetables can be coated with chemical pesticides, some of which can actually get into the fruit itself depending on how porous the skin of the food is. Processed foods contain many chemicals and additives, some of which do not occur naturally in nature. Some naturally occurring substances like gluten and soy have unhealthy side effects. Refined oils used in the cooking of foods are missing most of the beneficial fatty acids necessary to our bodies that our bodies can’t produce.

Milk – Dairy is supposed to supply calcium to our bodies to balance the acid in our blood. But, pasteurization cuts the amount of calcium in milk in half, destroys the enzymes in the milk that aid in calcium absorption, making our bodies more acidic than the amount of calcium we get through milk would neutralize. Most dairy-rich nations in the world are seeing an increase in osteoporosis.

Pesticides – Fruit and vegetables are coated with what is considered “safe” amounts of insecticide residue. Different countries have different levels they consider safe, but the only safely consumed pesticide is “no” pesticide. Pesticides have been known to cause symptoms like muscle cramps, heart rate changes, irritability and emotional instability Washing fruits and vegetables when you get home is the only way to reduce the pesticides on the outside of the food. A properly equipped and healthy body can handle the remaining toxins.

Processed foods – Among the many additives and preservatives added to food for packaging, transportation and preservation is MSG, monosodium glutamate. MSG is considered an excitotoxin. Excitotoxins like glutamate are neurotransmitters that damage or kill nerve cells in the central nervous system by excessive stimulation. Excitotoxins are the culprits in many other neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system like ALS, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease. Scientists use large doses of MSG to create lesions on the hypothalamus of lab rats and mice to induce them to become obese.

Gluten – This protein found in most grains (including wheat, barley, rye, and oats) was first introduced to the human diet in Europe in the Middle Ages, causing 30% of European descendents to carry the genes for celiac disease, a hyper-sensitivity to gluten. Selective breeding has transformed American wheat to become a super-gluten producer.

Soy – Soy is associated with affecting the normal function of the thyroid and hormones. The main problem is overconsumption of soy. Less than 30mg of naturally occurring soy per day is considered safe. Soy supplements and the isoflavones being added to some food products are a danger to the thyroid.

Refined oils – Omega-6 and Omega-3 fatty acids provide energy and satiety, regulate cholesterol, improve dry skin and eyes, boost the immune system, carry important fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) and relieve pain and arthritis. They are essential for healthy hormone balance and are a must for nourishing the brain. Refined oils have none of these fatty acids.

Best ways to reduce toxins in your food:

• Choose whole foods instead of processed foods.
• Choose organic fruits and vegetables (grown without harmful pesticides and the soil is more mineral rich.)
• Always clean your fruit and produce before cooking or consuming it.

Avoid dairy products, gluten and soy whenever possible.

There are conflicting theories out there about MSG and MSG-related food ingredients. The side of the companies producing MSG and the government claim that MSG is harmless in humans, especially in the low doses that an average person would consume in a single day. The companies point to multiple studies that seem to agree with their claims, studies showing no harmful effects on humans.

The opponents of MSG cite multiple studies that show harmful effects on animals and, given the tendency for human bodies to emulate these animal results, the finding is that the MSG is also harmful to humans. Almost all of the studies directly involving humans have been inconclusive at best.

So what’s the true issue with MSG? Probably the most disturbing thing about MSG is that most of it is manufactured and doesn’t occur in nature. It’s a manufactured product that humans are ingesting on a regular basis. Why use it at all? It adds flavor, but surely there are other ways to add flavor by natural means. Somewhere in the details of the MSG additive story, there have been claims and confessions that MSG has addictive properties; companies add it to food so humans will be inclined to eat more of it because they’re addicted to it. Given the history of corporate America (especially the tobacco industry), these accusations aren’t too far-fetched.

Natural sources of MSG are available, but they’re definitely more expensive to use and process, and the whole point of using manufactured MSG is to keep cheap food from tasting, well, cheap.

If there wasn’t something sinister about MSG, why hide it behind different names on the food labels – calling it monopotassium glutamate, gelatin, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, textured protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, autolyzed plant protein, yeast extract, yeast food or nutrient, autolyzed yeast, glutamate, and glutamic acid. Is this so people aren’t alarmed to see how many foods they are consuming that contain MSG?

Unfortunately, big business doesn’t have a real great track record of being truthful with the public. If it conducts scientific experiments that don’t agree with claims of safety about its products or can negatively affect the profit margin, the business minds tend to suppress that information. Yes, it’s illegal, but until they get caught, they reap in huge profits at the expense of their consumers.

So, what are these dangers the big businesses don’t acknowledge MSG can cause? Possible symptoms of MSG sensitivity or allergic reactions include headaches, flushing, sweating, sense of facial pressure or tightness, mouth numbness, tingling or burning, heart palpitations, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and weakness. These are all symptoms affecting the brain, heart and central nervous system – it’s a pretty serious set of symptoms.

MSG is also considered an “excitotoxin”, a substance which damages or kills nerve cells excessive stimulation by neurotransmitters. This is part of the basis of the accusations that MSG can cause developmental and neurological disorders like attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease, and alcoholism. Babies and children with autism are increasingly believed to have contracted this disorder to due exposure to a glutamate like MSG while in the womb or in early childhood.

As scary as all these symptoms and disorders are, there are people who show no signs of disease or disorder no matter how much MSG they’ve consumed. Two people sitting at the same table, eating the same meal can have vastly different reactions to the MSG they just consumed. This may be why it has been so hard to nail down what MSG does to the human body, because different bodies react in different ways.

Perhaps the safest alternative is to limit or halt your intake of MSG. There is no recommended minimum for MSG – eliminate it from your diet and you will not suffer any ill effects. It is a non-nutritive substance that your body will never miss.

The typical human body contains 50% to 70% water. It is contained in every cell in the human body. It is a critical component of your daily diet, with recommendations of 8 to 10 glasses of water consumed every day. It is critical to normal hydration at the cellular level. With all that water being consumed, do you know what else is coming into your body with that water?

Tap water is loaded with toxins. Some studies have found over 300 pollutants in tap water (http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/home). These contaminants include industrial chemicals and prescription and over the counter drugs.

Chemical pollutants come from a variety of sources:

• Farm waste – pesticides, fertilizer and sediment
• Urban development – sewage and urban runoff
• Industrial and manufacturing plants – industrial chemicals
• Water treatment – water treatment and distribution byproducts
• Development and deforestation – natural processes that produce more contamination

For a full list of the over 200 unregulated chemicals found in tap water, go here: http://www.ewg.org/tap-water/chemical-contaminants

Medications – Common drugs found in water include antibiotics, anti-depressants, birth control pills, seizure medication, cancer treatments, pain killers, tranquilizers and cholesterol-lowering medications.

Even though municipal water that comes out of the faucets has been treated, processed and disinfected, it is purified with chlorine – one of the byproducts from using chlorine in drinking water is linked to cancer.

Blood cleansing is an obvious way to remove these toxins from your bloodstream, but there are other ways to reduce your consumption of chemicals.

Natural mineral rich water

This water has essential minerals and nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and sodium. It should contain at least 250 parts per million (ppm) of dissolved solids, including minerals and trace elements.

• Well water is pumped from a hole drilled in the ground that taps into a water source.
• Natural spring water flows up from a natural spring – Bottled at the source.
• Artesian or spring waters come from a natural source – Typically purified and bottled offsite.

Mineral poor water

This water is clean, but lacks essential minerals which can lead to mineral deficiency complications like insulin resistance, migraines, high blood pressure, constipation and heart beat irregularities.

• Distilled water is vaporized and collected, leaving behind any solid residues, including minerals. Distilled water has no minerals in it at all.
• Reverse osmosis water is forced through membranes to remove larger particles, pollutants and minerals. It is usually acidic.
• Deionized water has had ionized impurities and minerals removed from it but not bacteria or pathogens.

Bottled water from any of the above sources adds a danger that you might not expect. Dangerous toxins from the plastic itself can leach into the water. National brands like Dasani and Aquafina are just cleaned-up city water that may still carry many of the dangerous chemicals you’re trying to avoid in the first place.

Filters

If mineral rich water is not available to you, your next best option is a home filter.

• Absolute 1 micron filtration – this system removes any particles that are larger than 1 micron in size, but leaves minerals in the water.
• Ozonation – used by bottled water companies instead of chlorine to eliminate bacteria and does not change the mineral content of the water.
• Pour through filter (like Brita) – cleans up the water, removes chlorine and improves the taste, but also remove minerals.
• Faucet attached filter (like Pur) – cleans up the water, removes chlorine and improves the taste, but also remove minerals.

When using a filtration system that removes minerals, you can add them back to your system by using a mineral supplement. A mineral deficiency is not only unpleasant to experience, but can also be life-threatening.