Hirudotherapy
Hirudotherapy, or treatment with leeches, has been known for over 2000 years. The first information on the use of these jaw worms as a medicine, which came down to us from written sources, dates back to the second century. BC.e. The term itself derives from the Latin word Hirudina - "leech".The positive impact of bites of leeches was noticed by people, probably by accident, engaged in fishing, gathering edible mollusks and amphibians, growing plants in an aquatic environment( for example, rice).The discovery of medicinal properties of leeches occurred almost simultaneously in many regions - in ancient India, Iran, the Middle East, etc.
For many centuries hirudotherapy was used mainly for bloodletting, which was one of the most popular treatments for a variety of diseases.
The first detailed description of blood-sucking leeches and their medicinal properties was made by the famous Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder( 1st century).He drew particular attention to the positive effect of leeches in feverish conditions.
The greatest Roman physician Claudius Galen( II century), the Arab scientist, physician and philosopher Ibn Sina( Avicenna) wrote about the benefits of using bloodsuckers. The latter belongs to one of the first deep scientific research in the field of the use of leeches for medical purposes.
Hirudotherapy during its existence has experienced many periods of ups and downs and almost complete oblivion. In the Middle Ages, the church banned the use of leeches for medicinal purposes. Therefore, at that time, dallatherapy was used mainly by rural healers and barbers.
It is known that in Russia during the XVIII-XIX centuries. Tens of millions of these medical worms were used annually.
The popularity of hirudotherapy is explained not only by its extraordinary efficiency and utility for the human body, but also by its accessibility. This tool could afford everything, from reigning individuals and ending with simple peasants. Absolute painlessness of the method made it possible to find it for use practically among all categories of the population.
Leeches have long been used as a cosmetic and tonic. Putting them behind their ears, they achieved the effect of a healthy blush and increased endurance.
By the middle of the XIX century.interest in hirudotherapy has significantly decreased, but scientific research of mandibular worms has become very popular.
Over time, treatment with medical leeches has been used not only as an independent therapy, but also in conjunction with other medicamental methods and methods.
In the late XIX - early XX centuries.almost complete oblivion of the ancient methods of bdellarapia is observed, and only in the 1920s-1930s.begins its next revival.
The extraordinary effectiveness of the methods of using medicinal leeches has been proved. Perhaps it is difficult to name the medical industry in which they would not be applied: cardiology, neuropathology, gynecology, urology, ophthalmology, dermatology, orthopedics, immunology, oncology, surgery, etc.
This is one of the most promising areas of medical science and practice XXIin., which is constantly and intensively developing.
Accessibility, efficacy, relative ease of use, almost complete absence of side effects, the possibility of applying regardless of sex and age make leeches treatment increasingly popular around the world.
In the XVIII - early XIX centuries.occupational therapy has experienced a real boom. The popularity of leech therapy was so high, and the extraction of worms took such a scale that medical leeches almost completely disappeared in the natural reservoirs.
In hirudotherapy the main principle is an individual approach to the patient. For each person, a scheme of treatment is developed, taking into account the main mechanisms of the development of the disease and the characteristics of the organism.