Policy and regulations in light of the human body as a ‘superorganism’ containing multiple, intertwined symbiotic relationships

Bono-Lunn, Dillan; Villeneuve, Chantal; Abdulhay, Nour J.; Harker, Matthew; Parker, William

doi:10.1080/10601333.2016.1210159

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Systematic data gathering from people "self-treating" with helminths was first suggested by Flowers and Hopkins in 2013 (11) as an effective method for obtaining information regarding the effects of therapeutic helminths on patients with chronic immune related disease. Unfortunately, clinical trials approved by regulatory agencies probing the effectiveness of helminth therapy have been limited, in part by intellectual property rights (12) and regulatory issues (13). Thus, at the present time, systematic data gathering from individuals self-treating may be the most practical and effective means of evaluating the effects of helminth therapy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Medical Studies of Individuals Self-Treating with Helminths Suggest That Most Clinical Trials Assessing Helminth Therapy May Be Designed to Fail

Venkatakrishnan¹,

Hames²,

Jirků-Pomajbíková³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The virtually complete loss of intestinal worms, known as helminths, from Western society has resulted in elimination of a range of helminth-induced morbidities. Unfortunately, that loss has also led to inflammation-associated deficiencies in immune function, ultimately contributing to widespread pandemics of allergies, autoimmunity, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Several socio-medical studies have examined the effects of intentional reworming, or self-treatment with helminths, on a variety of inflammation-related disorders. In this study, the latest results from ongoing socio-medical studies are described. The results point toward two important factors that appear to be overlooked in some if not most clinical trials. Specifically, (a) the method of preparation of the helminth can have a profound effect on its therapeutic efficacy, and (b) variation between individuals in the effective therapeutic dosage apparently covers a 10-fold range, regardless of the helminth used. These results highlight current limits in our understanding of the biology of both hosts and helminths, and suggest that information from self-treatment may be critical in moving the field forward into mainstream medicine.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-Medical Studies of Individuals Self-Treating with Helminths Suggest That Most Clinical Trials Assessing Helminth Therapy May Be Designed to Fail

Venkatakrishnan¹,

Hames²,

Jirků-Pomajbíková³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Countries other than the US have thus far elected to regulate helminths as non-drug entities, and therefore major concerns regarding the impact of regulations on helminthic therapy as a drug may apply only to the US. We have argued [ 2 ] that the regulation of helminths as supplements or as other non-drug entities is potentially a major step forward in restoring the biota of humans living in Western cultures, a necessary step toward improved public health for people living in those cultures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this view, exposure to helminths is a necessary component of our biology, and the essentially complete absence of those organisms is an underlying cause of inflammatory disease. Based on this view, we have argued that access to helminths is a basic human need and should be viewed as a basic human right, and that regulations involving use of helminthic therapy should take this into account [ 2 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Helminthic therapy, the use of helminths to treat disease, offers the best hope of decreasing inflammation via immunomodulation rather than immunosuppression [ 1 , 2 , 3 ], and probably also improves mucosal barrier function [ 4 ]. The scientific foundation behind this hope is based on the long co-evolutionary history of helminths with their vertebrate hosts [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Production and Use of Hymenolepis diminuta Cysticercoids as Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics

Smyth

Morton

Mathew

et al. 2017

JCM

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Helminthic therapy has shown considerable promise as a means of alleviating some inflammatory diseases that have proven resistant to pharmaceutical intervention. However, research in the field has been limited by a lack of availability to clinician scientists of a helminth that is relatively benign, non-communicable, affordable, and effectively treats disease. Previous socio-medical studies have found that some individuals self-treating with helminths to alleviate various diseases are using the rat tapeworm (cysticercoid developmental stage of Hymenolepis diminuta; HDC). In this study, we describe the production and use of HDCs in a manner that is based on reports from individuals self-treating with helminths, individuals producing helminths for self-treatment, and physicians monitoring patients that are self-treating. The helminth may fit the criteria needed by clinical scientists for clinical trials, and the methodology is apparently feasible for any medical center to reproduce. It is hoped that future clinical trials using this organism may shed light on the potential for helminthic therapy to alleviate inflammatory diseases. Further, it is hoped that studies with HDCs may provide a stepping stone toward population-wide restoration of the biota of the human body, potentially reversing the inflammatory consequences of biota depletion that currently affect Western society.

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“…More broadly, critics note the differences between a drug that is designed to treat a specific illness and a live organism that acts preventatively on a bodily ecology to confer health (Bono‐Lunn et al . ). They suggest that a focus on drugs from bugs ignores the systemic drivers of dysbiosis (Logan et al .…”

Section: Human–hookworm Relationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Parasites, ghosts and mutualists: a relational geography of microbes for global health

Lorimer

2017

Trans Inst British Geog

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Scientific research on the microbiome offers an ecological model of the human, comprised of myriad forms of microbial life. The composition and dynamics of this human microbiome are increasingly implicated in discussions of health. Attention has focused on missing microbes and their links to a range of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Pathological dysbiosis is understood to result from both the excessive presence and the absence of microbes. Microbial declines have been indexed to modern hygiene and healthcare practices and there is a growing interest in the therapeutic use of beneficial microbes. This reappraisal of the salutary potential of microbes challenges the negative associations prevalent in health geography and the field of global health. This paper develops relational and multispecies approaches to health geography to examine situations of microbial excess, absence and controlled reintroduction. The analysis focuses on human relations with hookworms. Hookworms are animal members of the microbiome. They co-evolved with humans, live in us and are understood to manage the human microbiome to enable immunological tolerance. Both the excessive presence and the absence of hookworms can be pathological. They are currently the subjects of concurrent, but spatially discrete, programmes to deworm and reworm a variegated world. Focusing on this seeming spatial paradox, the analysis examines three types of human-hookworm relation: the parasite, the ghost and the mutualist. The conclusion reflects on the implications of this analysis for the human and nonhuman subjects of global health and the microbiopolitics of prevalent forms of antibiotic and probiotic healthcare.

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Policy and regulations in light of the human body as a ‘superorganism’ containing multiple, intertwined symbiotic relationships

Cited by 12 publications

References 66 publications

Socio-Medical Studies of Individuals Self-Treating with Helminths Suggest That Most Clinical Trials Assessing Helminth Therapy May Be Designed to Fail

Socio-Medical Studies of Individuals Self-Treating with Helminths Suggest That Most Clinical Trials Assessing Helminth Therapy May Be Designed to Fail

Production and Use of Hymenolepis diminuta Cysticercoids as Anti-Inflammatory Therapeutics

Parasites, ghosts and mutualists: a relational geography of microbes for global health

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