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MyHealthNewsDaily
The idea of putting maggots into open flesh may sound repulsive, but such a therapy might be a quick way to clean wounds, a new study from France suggests.
Men in the study, all of whom had wounds that wouldn't heal, were randomly assigned to have dead and unhealthy tissue removed from their lacerations by either standard surgical therapy or maggots (that eat dead tissue).
After about a week, men who received the maggot therapy had less dead tissue in their wounds than men who underwent surgery, the researchers said.
However, after two weeks, the immature insects had lost their advantage: Both groups had about an equal amount of dead tissue in their wounds. And in the end, the maggots did not help the wounds heal faster.
Although the effects of maggot therapy were not dramatic, it may be useful in certain cases, such as in patients with diabetes, whose wounds need rapid control, the researchers said. But continuing the maggot therapy beyond one week is not of benefit, they said.
Medical use of maggots was approved in 2004 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, only a small minority of patients with unhealing wounds receive the treatment, said Dr. Robert Kirsner, a dermatologist at the University of Miami School of Medicine, who was not involved in the new study.
The study included about 100 men with wounds on their lower limbs. About half received maggot therapy and half received surgical treatment. For the maggot therapy, sterile maggots were placed in a small pouch that was placed on top of the wound. The therapy was applied twice a week for two weeks.
Neither the patients nor the doctor evaluating the wounds knew which therapy a patient received (patients wore a blindfold when their bandages were changed.)
After eight days, the percentage of dead tissue in the wounds of patients who received the maggot therapy was 54.5 percent, compared with 66.5 percent in patients who received surgery. But after 15 days and 30 days, the amount of dead tissue in the wounds was about the same for both groups.
The number of patients who reported feeling a crawling sensation in their wound, and the number reporting pain, was also about the same in both groups, according to the study, which was conducted by researchers at the University Hospital Center of Caen , in France.
Maggots secrete an enzyme that dissolves dead tissue but leaves healthy tissue alone, Kirsner said.
Although there are few risks to the treatment, "there is a gross factor to it," Kirsner said. "Patients have to be very psychologically strong," he said.
Another group of patients that may benefit from the therapy are those who cannot undergo surgery, for instance, if they cannot receive anesthesia, Kirsner said.
Future research should determine whether the effects of maggot therapy can be improved using more maggots, and whether an increase in the number of critters would be painful, the researchers said.
The study is published online in the journal Archives of Dermatology.
Leave a Comment:
How about that? -- Union Maggots
Methinks the reich wingers have been using this for brain infections for quite some time now. Ever notice those worms falling out their ears?
Sorry guys, just couldn't help politicizing such a handy topic.
"How about that? -- Union Maggots"
Wow, political B.S. right out of the gate. Grow up.
Wherever there's union maggots there will be scabs.
You're eating maggots Michael...
@alsophia
Famous quote: "If you're not a liberal when you're young, you have no heart...if you're not a conservative when you're old, you have no brain".
Apparently it's your head the maggots are falling out of.
.
As a nurse in Germany during the early sevendies we use this form of treatment on patients that had some type of procedure were tissue could die off. They are sterile and seem to work quit well.
Airdog,
I don't suffer the brain infection of "reichwingitis" and have no need for the maggots. And being not liberal but rather quite radical I would credit for my being so young at heart. I'm 67.
Airdog, famous quote by a conservative. So what's your point??
Maybe if they weren't sterile they would reproduce and then wouldn't have to be changed as often. Cost savings in the already expensive medical world.
Haha. Nice random Lost Boys quote.
. . . the blind?
@the thinker: They don't mean "sterile" as in unable to reproduce, but "sterile" as in clean. Most maggots from fly eggs are usually contaminated with some amount of feces, among other bacterial sources. These are "lab grown" under controlled conditions.
In a capitalist utopia what's wrong with people getting together to protect their income? Hmmm????
Cool! And they don't charge as much as overpaid docs.
This is really old news.... The FDA approved it in 2004? I saw a TV show about it several years ago.... There are labs that sell sterile maggots specifically for use in treating wounds. They eat the dead flesh but not living flesh...
According to the documentary I watched, it goes back to the civil war when doctors and nurses discovered that when they cleaned the maggots out of open wounds, many of the patients died, but those who did not get the maggots cleaned out fared much better. They began to realize that the maggots were doing something positive, even though at the time they weren't quite sure what. Fascinating (but not new at all).
As a career nurse, we have used maggots in debriding necrotic tissue for years, even before 2007.
The "new" study must be another re-release of old information that happens routinely to the media.
bruce-if we wait say another hundred years or so we may see a news report claiming cannabis is indeed an effective medicine. ask any glaucoma patient and see what they say works best---but then what do they know.
Bruce - You needn't go back as far as the American Civil War. In the trenches in the First World War, the use of maggots became commonplace as the stalemate wore on. I know that from people I've known who lived it.
But the reason it was so often used was not because of any miracles it performed, it was because there was nothing else and it helped. Pretty much the same as with cannabis and glaucoma today except cannabis is not nearly so unpleasant.
They also sell medical leeches which are often used on patients who have had fingers/toes reattached. The leeches are put on the end of the finger and secrete a natural blood thinner as the suck/pull blood through the reattached limb. The action of the leech sucking the thinned blood through the appendage keeps the blood flowing through it and helps ensure that the re-attachment will "take".
It's pretty cool how nature provides some of the best medicines/treatments.
Maggots clean wounds, what did all the politicians volunteer for the Red Cross.
That story could gag a maggot. I'll pass on the therapy and would ask that you pass the Bactine, please.
So long-term, the maggots and surgeons were equal. But the former charge less.
This isn't news. We did this in the mid 60's. If memory serves, we got them from Parke-Davis in gallon jars. We changed them every eight hours, though....and they work like charm, and painlesslly to boot,
Will it work on Herpes sores Hmmmmm
I don't know about herpes lesions...although I doubt it....but they are the cleanest, fastest, and least traumatic way to debride a deep decubitus ulcer. They also eliminate ONLY the dead tissue and leave the healthy tissue behind, which no surgeon can do nearly as precisely.
And then the rats eat the maggots.
I love the holiday season.
Maggot therapy has been known as ancient medicine to some cultures. If I had a wound that wouldn't heal, I'd try it.
interesting that scientists cannot replicate the enzyme yet. Get on it!
So somebody can make money off another drug? Doesn't our society push enough pills already?
Clearly "the thinker" is a paid representative of the maggot farmers.
They have already isolated and synthesized this chemical. It's called allantoin.
I am guessing the price that the hospitals pay and charge for the sterile maggots isn't cheap, either!
Yuck! Other than that, the Army and Marine Corps Drill Instructors have finally been given a use for New Recruits. "AT Ease Maggots I've got Clean-Up Duty For Y'All!"
While maggot therapy might be useful in some cases, it's hard to get past the creepy- crawly feeling I get just thinking about it!
LOL! The nurses who have to change them aren't thrilled, either, or at least I wasn't. We all did it, though, because we saw it working. Maggots, as creepy as they look, are actually nothing but fly larvae. I think the fact that they wriggle around with no eyes that one can see may well be part of the ick factor.
lol Retired or maybe preconceived Ideas, a Nurse i am sure will have to deal with a lot more distasteful things!!
I will take leeches, maggots and Bees any time over a Dr that is " The Day After " hangover :-))
I hope they did not waste any money on this research. Maggots have been used for centuries, long before modern medicine. It has always been a known fact that maggots are the best quick fix for a wound. They are not, and never have been, a long term treatment. Back as far as the B.C. era people have used maggots to clean dead skin and infections out of people on new or recent wounds followed by a packing solution to conceal and heal. This is ancient history.
I wonder how much hospitals charge per maggot?
You can bet yur neck that they charge a good healthy price for them. Look what the greedy bastards charge for an aspirin.
I guess I already knew the answer. : Every bit as much as my HMO will pay.
Sometimes, I wonder how stupid our press has become. First, this story is not news. We've known about maggots and their healing properties for thousands of years. Second, why is this story presented as one of the headlines of the day?
Who is in charge of content at MSNBC? The National Enquirer??
How about in-depth coverage of national and foreign affairs that informs voters in a Republic? I know, way too high-brow.
This is an archival post from the blog. It refers to an article from 2008 that itself talks about a study that was probably quite old by that time. I have no idea why it has suddenly shown back up as a link on the MSN page--slow news day, I guess.
The main problem here is the lack of date--I imagine that this is a very old article, given the date of the "new" study it refers to. If the MSN computer randomly links to articles in order to keep its main page fresh, one has to figure that it will occasionally pull up something really dated.
I wouldn't mind if there were a date associated with this blog entry--that's the main problem as I see it.
I did a story on this in 2005. This is not new and it's not news. Really. No wonder the naitonal media is in such trouble. Lord, quite rewriting press releases.
I had rat therapy once after a bag of Cheetos dipped in peanut butter accidentally got stuck to my scalp.
I wonder if doctors could infect cancer tumors and use maggots to clean up.......
Man You Suck: Bingo! Your idea strikes me as brilliant. As I see it, the only way it wouldn't work is if the maggots are SO selective that they can tell the difference between the infection and the cancer tissue. I hope somebody who can actually do it sees your post and actually tries it, instead of patronizingly dismissing it. AND if it doesn't work--so what! T'wouldn't be the first cancer "cure" that didn't work.
Maggots only "eat" dead tissue.
What chemical is released from necrotic tissue that attracts the maggots that is not found in living tissue?
You don't need the quotes, since they really do EAT dead tissue.
Quacksnacker lol Good one but " eat " is in quotes I Believe, because consumption on their part does NOT equate to what we would call " eat ";-) But all thigs being equal, I let Dr Larry and You , " Duke it out " .
Cool. So insect larvae don't eat, they consume.
Mealworms are beetle larvae. All this time I thought they were eating bran and carrots, but they were actually just "consuming" it.
It's fantastic the things you can learn here...
lol err,, let me put it this way,, a Friend rings up and says " how about eating out" to Me, that means a good time a meal a few drinks and a good time with a Friend, right? now if the same Friend rings and says " lets consume some dead fauna and flora " well that does not have the same ring to it, does it now?? ;-)
It's not the infection that attracts them, it's the dead tissue that results from the infection. Since cancer is essentially cells that for some reason have begun to grow more rapidly than they should, sadly, it won't work.
Retired RN-439841 Well Put, if you want to do some reading do so on Telomerase, i am sure as a ex nurse you will find it interesting especially the part where the " rase " gives out " free ticket to ride " shows you how well " we are made " and that indeed " eternal life " is well within possibilities, but after seeing what we do with t he " short life we have " one wonders why we would need a longer one ;-)
This article is not saying it is new. They are saying that maggots are quicker. Read the article and quit bitching. If you are not interested, quit reading. And this is not from msnbc it is from and Health magazine, re-posted here.
It's about time someone mentioned this. People who aren't smart enough to interpret what they read should definitely not be posting comments about the content!
The last sentence in the 1st paragraph says this is a new study !
Sheesh , read the dam ned article !
But it is reposted here.
Well, I would assume that it WAS "new" when it was first published. Geez, folks, relax. If this is the biggest irritant you must face today, you're way ahead of the crowd.
Ahh some " family bickering " " the good old days " LOL Ha ha ha
I love it. The medical world has "discovered" a technique for cleaning wounds that has been used for centuries...
When they say "discovered" they mean they've discovered a way to CHARGE people for maggots.
Not new but certainly interesting to a medical geek.
In advanced US military survival training, the use of maggots to cleanse wounds has been within the curriculum since the sixties, if not earlier. Once the maggots have cleansed the wound they are then used as a source of protein.
They also work for a lot less and don't have a God complex. Also they don't commit malpractice.
Note to self: "New idea for Healthcare reform: Replace doctors with less greedy, less egotistical maggots."
When the drunk crashes into a telephone pole on the weekend at 2 am, feel free to get the maggots to see him, and tell the ER to leave me alone. Remember, however, they will need residency training first and will need to pass their boards, so they don't make errors or commit malpractice.
For the people grumbling about an expensive study: people used lead for makeup. And played with mercury. There's a reason we don't reflexively trust the way things used to be done.
For obvious reasons, a tiny maggot has an easier time targeting necrotized flesh than a surgeon using a much larger scalpel. These maggots are probably given sterile flesh to consume and are bred/raised in a closed cycle environment to keep them clean. More likely than not, when a maggot is used on a patient it is disposed of to reduce the possibility of disease.
Please don't try random maggots you find at home...
The therapy is not new and the article doesn't claim that it is. The STUDY is new, and describes how maggot therapy differs from surgical therapy in a controlled experimental setting and the implications for future treatmeant approaches. Several of you on here are too smart for your own good.
You want to pick your own news? Don't click on the story, and please don't waste two minutes commenting on how the story is irrelevant. If the story's so useless, exactly what does that say about the fact that you're commenting on it?
That is all.