Not for the faint of heart: 10 creepy medical procedures that really help

Are you afraid to give injections? Don't like the taste of cough syrup? Does the thought of a painful massage cause you horror? And what if we say that there are much worse medical procedures in the world, and, nevertheless, they are actively used?

Treatment with the help of wasps, ants for wound healing, healing drinks from parasite worms — all this and much more you can find below.

Caterpillar flu vaccine

Doesn't that sound really disgusting? In fact, everything is not as scary as it seems. "Flublok Quadrivalent" is the only flu vaccine that does not use the virus itself. Instead, among its components there are cells of the caterpillar Spodoptera frugiperda.

The influenza virus is vaccinated to a virus obtained from an insect, after which it is injected into the cells of a worm. It grows and develops, eventually turning into a substance that is used to create a ready-made vaccine. For the process to be successful, it is necessary to use the ovarian cells of Spodoptera frugiperda. And it is necessary to take them only during the period when the caterpillar is at the pupal stage. It seems that this is a very long time, but in fact, this method allows you to make a vaccine many times faster than the traditional method.

Leeches

In the 19th century, a number of countries practiced treatment with leeches, because they thought that bloodletting could get rid of most diseases. Although this opinion eventually turned out to be false, leeches actually showed healing properties, thanks to which they are used even in modern medicine.

Firefly beetles for wart removal

Warts on prominent parts of the body are a rather unpleasant phenomenon, so most patients are ready to do anything to get rid of them as soon as possible. Even the ointment from the secretions of firefly beetles does not seem so terrible if beauty is at stake.

Some species of such beetles produce the substance cantharidin, which, coming into contact with the skin, causes the formation of blisters. The damaged area is treated with an ointment with its addition and a cloth bandage is applied on top. After 5-6 hours, the bandage is removed and the skin is washed with soap. As a result, blisters form on it, but the wart simply disappears. Over time, all the unpleasant consequences pass.

As a rule, in modern medicine, this method of treatment is resorted to only in cases when removal with the help of liquid nitrogen or salicylic acid does not work.

Silk heart patches

Many people underestimate the capabilities of silkworms, although their merits to humanity are undeniable. In particular, thanks to the silk produced by silkworms, which can be used to help people who have suffered a heart attack.

We all know that after an attack, damage remains on a person's heart, since the tissues of the heart muscle do not recover. For a long time, scientists have been looking for ways to create "patches" for these areas, but all their experiments ended in failure — either the immune system rejected the new material, or it turned out to be too fragile.

However, Indian scientists still managed to find the ideal "tissue" for the heart. It turned out to be silk produced by silkworms. Currently, a number of successful experiments have already been conducted on rats, but it is too early to talk about the practice of this technique on humans.

Ants for wound healing

When you are lying on the ground, bleeding, and the only chance to save yourself is to sew up the wound as soon as possible, you will absolutely not care what exactly to use for this. That is why people have found such a use for ants of the Dorylus species. They live mainly in African countries and are known for their large, sharp jaws. The bite of this ant is incredibly painful for a person, but in some situations it can save…

Fly larvae

We have already found out that it is possible to sew wounds with the help of ants. But before that, the damaged place needs to be treated, right? Fly larvae, which have long been considered a recognized form of treatment in the United States, will do for this.

The thing is that the fly larvae perform several functions at once. First, they eat all the infected and damaged tissue around the wound, leaving only healthy areas. Secondly, the secretions of these larvae help the immune system to fight harmful microorganisms.

At the same time, you can not be afraid that the larvae will get into the wound and get out of the nose from somewhere, as it is often shown in films. A" cage " made of nylon mesh and tape securely holds them inside the wound.

Millipede Powders

"Wu-gong" is a common dietary supplement in China, which is used to treat many diseases, including tetanus, convulsions and convulsions. The main component of "u-gong" is a powder from millipedes. Once upon a time, the Chinese used this remedy to treat cancer. Surprisingly, the healing properties of this substance were recognized not only by Asian, but also by Western oncologists.

Drinks made from parasitic worms

Joel Weinstock and his colleagues once conducted an experiment involving a patient with a chronic intestinal disease. The subject was asked to drink a drink with worm eggs, which, according to some scientists, should be present in the body of every person, but "disappeared" from there because of the achievements of modern hygiene. After taking the drug, the patient felt relieved, and later it was decided to repeat the experiment with a large number of participants.

As a result, Weinstock and his colleagues gave a drink with parasite eggs to 83 patients: 54 of them had ulcerative colitis, another 29 had Crohn's disease. After a few weeks of taking the drug, the condition of 47.8% of patients from the first group and 72.4% from the second significantly improved. It is quite possible that soon an effective medicine against these diseases will finally appear in the world.

Cancer treatment with OS

For many years, humanity has been unsuccessfully trying to find a cure for cancer. Therefore, any breakthrough in this area deserves attention, even if the treatment is somehow connected with the bites of poisonous wasps.

Scientists suggest that the Polybia-MP1 toxin, which was found in the venom of the wasp species Polybia paulista, has unique properties. Penetrating into cancer cells, it mixes with fats and affects those parts of them that are responsible for reproduction and spread.

At the moment, scientists are studying in detail the possibility of healing with the help of this toxin. There are already the first results of research, and they give great hopes for the appearance of an effective drug.

What do you think about these medical procedures? Would you dare to do this?