Sept. 23, 2003 -- The thought of swallowing live worm eggs may
turn your stomach, but that's exactly what researchers say may safely relieve
the abdominal distress caused by inflammatory bowel disease.
Each year, about 600,000 Americans are diagnosed with IBD, a
condition that consists of a spectrum of disorders that vary with cause and
degree of intestinal inflammation. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are
the two major, chronic inflammatory diseases that cause inflammation and ulcers
in the lining of the digestive tract. This results in severe pain, diarrhea,
and gastrointestinal bleeding.
However, in about one-third of the world -- primarily
underdeveloped countries with poor sanitary conditions -- these diseases are
practically nonexistent. And some researchers speculate it's because those
residents may be protected against IBD by having an abundance of parasitic
"helminths," a scientific classification for various types of parasitic worms
that live in the intestines of humans and animals.
"It turns out that countries where IBD is common are those
industrialized, developed nations like the U.S., where there are no intestinal
helminths. Conversely, where helminths are prevalent, the incidence of IBD is
very low," says gastroenterologist Robert W. Summers, MD, of the University of
Iowa College of Medicine.
"In fact, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis really emerged in the
U.S. during the 1920s and 1930s, when we began to shift to improved plumbing
and sanitation and we no longer fertilized soil with both human and animal
waste," he tells WebMD. "Until then, these parasites were very common. And we
didn't have much IBD."
Besides protecting against IBD, Summers' research indicates
that parasitic worm eggs may also provide relief to those with Crohn's and
ulcerative colitis, which typically strikes during the teens or 20s and can
last a lifetime.
He and his colleagues administered to seven IBD patients a
solution containing thousands of eggs of Trichuris suis, the so-called
"whipworm" (named for its whipping tail) commonly found in the intestines of
During the initial treatment and observation period all the
patients showed evidence of improvement, defined as improved scores in a
quality-of-life questionnaire and as a drop in a symptoms score. "All had
active IBD when the study began and weren't doing well on medications," he says. "On the
initial dose, we noticed an improvement, but their symptoms recurred. So we
continued with additional doses every two weeks. Some patients have continued
getting the doses for years now and are doing well. And we have yet to detect
any side effects in any patient."
Each dose contained about 2,500 live whipworm eggs, harvested
at a USDA laboratory.
His findings, reported in the September issue of the
American Journal of Gastroenterology, were originally presented before
at an American Gastroenterological Association conference in 1999. The Iowa
team is currently conducting two other studies, involving about 100 patients,
in which half get the worm egg solution and the others get a placebo mixture.
The patients don't know which liquid they receive. Worms for Future