Parasitic worms 'could offer solution' for modern illnesses

New research from the University of Edinburgh, UK, has found that parasites could be used as a cure for modern illnesses.

Countries that have largely eliminated parasites are seeing a rise in health conditions such as allergies, multiple sclerosis and asthma. Researchers are attempting to isolate the component within these parasitic worms that would be the most effective on reducing allergies and turn it into a drug using genetic engineering.

The scientists have found that a large proportion of people who were tolerant to parasites actually had lower levels of allergy. Professor Rick Maizels said: "The helminth was instructing the immune system to be less reactive, that makes some sense because the immune system doesn’t get rid of the parasites. That’s not a good thing for humans but what does seem to be good is that the helminths have the effect of dampening allergy."

If the researchers can identify the mechanism within the helminth parasite which dampens allergy, it could use it for medication in the future.

Posted by Ben Evans