- NEW YORK (Reuters
Health) -- Treatment with leeches may reduce pain and stiffness in patients
with arthritis of the knee, German scientists report.
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- Modern-day medicinal use of leeches is limited to the
treatment of blood clotting problems after surgery. Dr. Gustav J. Dobos,
from Kliniken Essen-Mitte, and colleagues maintain that leech saliva contains
anti-inflammatory substances and other chemicals, which could relieve symptoms
of arthritis.
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- In a study of patients with knee arthritis, Dobos' team
compared a single treatment with 4 to 6 leeches with that of a 28-day regimen
of topical diclofenac-a common treatment for arthritis. Leeches were applied
to painful points of the affected knees of 24 patients and left in place
for about 70 minutes, until they detached by themselves.
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- The new findings are reported in the Annals of Internal
Medicine.
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- After 7 days, pain scores had improved to a much greater
extent in the leeches group than in the diclofenac group. Moreover, benefits
in function, stiffness and total arthritis symptoms were maintained through
91 days of follow-up, the report indicates.
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- The treatment was safe and well tolerated, the authors
report, although they note that leech therapy does carry certain infectious
risks.
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- In a related editorial, Dr. Marc C. Hochberg notes that
a search of the Cochrane Collaboration database revealed no systematic
reviews of trials of leeches in patients with osteoarthritis.
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- Furthermore, writes the physician from the University
of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, he doubts that the effect
was probably anything more than would be seen with a skin irritant.
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- "The more exciting aspect of this work is the potential
for the discovery of a novel analgesic agent that could be safely administered
without the need for a leech bite," he concludes.
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- SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, November 4, 2003.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=healthNews&storyID=3751996
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