Allergies News and Treatment
Parasitic Worms: A Retro Cure for Autoimmune Diseases?
By Jessica Ryen Doyle Published October 06, 2010 | FoxNews.com
Tired of suffering from Crohn’s disease, Michael, a 31-year-old financial planner from New York City, turned to a last resort – an underground network of “worm pushers” in cyberspace.
Michael, who asked that his last name not be revealed, chose to undergo helminthic therapy – infecting himself with Necator Americanus, or microscopic hookworm larvae, in order to put his autoimmune disease into remission. Helminthic therapy, also called worm therapy, is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but it has seen significant success around the world.
Worms as medicine? Sounds crazy, but it’s consistent with the hygiene hypothesis — the theory that the organisms we consider harmful today were protecting our immune systems before modern medicine.
Prior to the 20th century, autoimmune diseases like Crohn’s, multiple sclerosis and lupus, as well as asthma and allergies, were virtually nonexistent. People didn’t bathe frequently, and they were exposed more often and for longer periods to animal dander and animal feces. Advocates of helminthic therapy suggest that exposure to those organisms immunized people to their bad effects.
Seeking a “cure” for his “incurable” disease, Michael contacted Jasper Lawrence, owner of Autoimmune Therapies and moderator of a Yahoo group of helminthic therapy, to arrange a meeting outside of the U.S.
Lawrence, who used to suffer from severe allergies and asthma – and was dependent on the anti-inflammatory drug prednisone to survive – self-infected himself with hookworms after traveling to Cameroon in 2006.
“At the time, I didn’t know whether I’d been successful or not,” Lawrence, an American citizen, who runs his business out of Central America to avoid interference with the FDA, told FoxNews.com. “But after an examination, I was in fact infected, and after 16 weeks, I no longer had allergies or asthma.”
Michael, who spent most of his 20s in and out of the hospital, undergoing several surgeries and taking a host of different medications, had followed Lawrence’s Yahoo group for three years and spoken to many of its followers. Symptoms of Crohn’s, an inflammatory bowel disease, include, but are not limited to, abdominal pain, diarrhea, weight loss, arthritis and fatigue. When he simply couldn’t take it any longer, Michael decided to take the plunge.
After purchasing the worms from Lawrence for $3,000, Michael infected himself by applying a bandage packed with worms to his arm. The worms seeped into his skin within several hours; the only side effect he felt was some minor itching, which was relieved by using Benadryl.
“I started feeling better after three months,” Michael said. “I stopped taking my medicine, and I usually get sick two weeks after a skipped dose. I also didn’t have food allergies anymore.”
Scientific Evidence
Miracle? Coincidence? Luck? Maybe, but a group of doctors, including Dr. Joel Weinstock, professor and director of gastroenterology at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, lend credence to the hygiene hypothesis.
Weinstock, who has been studying this concept since the early 1990s, has found that parasitic worms have a calming effect on their hosts’ immune systems. He took what he had learned and applied it to the hygiene hypothesis and, several years later, he and his colleagues started testing helminthes in mice with asthma, Type 1 diabetes, MS and inflammatory bowel disease. Sure enough, the diseased mice got better.
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Weinstock started a round of human trials, which Michael was a part of, but this was a different kind of worm – Trichuris suis, or pig parasite, which can stay alive in a human’s body for only two weeks. This time, in order to consume the worm, Michael drank a glass of water teeming with the invisible, tasteless creatures.
But here’s the catch: Because these worms stay alive for a few weeks – Michael felt better only for a short time, which ultimately led him to contact Lawrence for help.
Weinstock published results from the helminth study in 2005, which said that 23 out of 29 Crohn’s patients went into remission.
Similar studies like Weinstock’s are popping up around the globe, and he suspects a “worm-based” pill may one day — and not too far off — help patients like Michael.
Environment vs. Genetics
If infected with too many hookworms, you can become anemic, or worse – die, which is why Weinstock does not want patients with autoimmune disease running off to Central America to get worms.
“Most people who go for helminthic therapy do it as a last resort, as all conventional treatment failed them,” Michael said. “They usually have an autoimmune illness for many years, did a lot of research in their field, and are experts in their disease and its treatment.”
But Weinstock thinks there are greater lessons to be learned from all of this: One, the environment plays a greater role in autoimmune disease than genetics, and two, Americans may be going overboard when it comes to hygiene.
“I think we need to re-examine the elements of healthy hygiene and whether it improves life and what aspects are necessary,” Weinstock said. “Is it harmful for kids to get soil in their mouth? Maybe not. Are we using too much hand sanitizer? Perhaps we are going against evolution.”
Adding celebrity to the theory is actress Kellie Martin — famous for her roles as Becca Thatcher on “Life Goes On,” and Lucy Knight on “ER” — who is starting to speak up about the hygiene hypothesis as well.
Martin, who lost her sister, Heather, at the age of 19 to lupus, is the spokeswoman for the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association. She recently heard Weinstock speak at a conference titled “The Global State of Autoimmunity Today” at the United Nations.
“For me, it confirmed my suspicion that I need to give my family, especially my daughter, organic foods, free of toxins, and keep our lives as stress-free as possible,” Martin said.
Martin said she was excited to hear about the research on worms. Though no one advocates living in “filth,” she said allowing one’s body to react to healthy “flora” in and out of the body makes sense to her.
“When we are too clean, we can strip away beneficial bacteria that is essential to the normal functioning of our bodies,” said Martin, who wants to do what she can to protect her 4-year-old daughter Maggie from developing an autoimmune disease – even though she may be genetically predisposed.
“I guess we can chalk it up to: moderation is key. Let your kid get dirty and be a kid, and don’t douse them with hand sanitizers every five minutes.”
ISTA Pharmaceuticals reports preliminary positive results for seasonal allergy nasal spray
ISTA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ISTA) announced Wednesday its positive preliminary results from a Canadian phase 1/2 clinical study of bepotastine besilate nasal spray, a treatment for symptoms associated with seasonal allergies.
The findings, based on a placebo-controlled study of 82 patients, demonstrated two of the three bepotastine besilate concentrations tested were effective in relieving patients’ nasal symptoms after exposure to seasonal allergens, the company said. The most rapid improvement was seen in sneezing and nasal itching, according to ISTA.
The data also showed the drug to be well-tolerated, with mild adverse events consistent with those observed in other antihistamine nasal sprays.
Based on the positive results, ISTA plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to the U.S. FDA and to initiate phase 2 clinical studies of the nasal spray before the end of the year, using one of the most potent allergens, Mountain Cedar pollen.
The company expects to report preliminary phase 2 data during the first half of 2011.
According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, approximately 60 million Americans are affected by allergic rhinitis, an inflammation of the nasal passages caused by exposure to certain allergens, such as pollen from trees, grass and plants, animal dander, feathers, dust mites and molds.
It is characterized by a number of symptoms, including sneezing, nasal congestion, nasal itching and runny nose. Based on data from IMS Health in the U.S., approximately 43.3 million prescriptions were filled for nasal allergy treatments in 2009, resulting in sales of approximately $2.2 billion.
Bepotastine besilate has been approved in Japan for systemic use in the treatment of allergic rhinitis since 2000 under the brand name TALION. In 2006, ISTA licensed the exclusive North American ophthalmic rights to bepotastine besilate and in 2007, ISTA licensed exclusive North American rights to nasal dosage forms.
ISTA’s eye drop formulation of bepotastine besilate, BEPREVE 1.5%, was approved by the U.S. FDA in September 2009 for the treatment of ocular itching associated with allergies.
Based in Irvine, California, ISTA is the fourth largest branded prescription eye care business in the United States, with an expanding focus on allergy therapeutics. The company currently markets four products, including treatments for ocular inflammation and pain post-cataract surgery, glaucoma and ocular itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis.
Rich have more allergies
Affluence and city life have been added to the growing array of factors thought to be driving Australia’s rapidly rising rate of food allergy.
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An assessment of sales of allergen-free infant formula as well as EpiPen injectors has shown how demand from parents is concentrated in the nation’s cities, and richest postcodes.
“In city versus country, formula rates were five times higher in city and EpiPens were double the rate,” said Canberra-based allergy specialist Dr Ray Mullins.
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“… Formula rates were over double comparing the highest socio-economic areas versus lowest socio-economic, while (sales of) EpiPens were three times higher.
“It was certainly dramatic.”
The analysis found, for example, sales of allergen-free infant formula in the nation’s richest suburbs approached 48,000 tins per 100,000 in the population during 2008-09.
This was compared to just over 21,300 tins in the poorest suburbs.
Dr Mullins also assessed hospital admissions, and found children who required treatment for anaphylaxis were also more likely to come from affluent areas.
While the data suggests higher rates of allergic kids in cities and affluent areas, with unknown “lifestyle” factors behind this, Dr Mullins also cautioned the research could be skewed by a lack of access to specialist health care in the bush.
“Allergic disease seems to be a disease of the rich and affluent,” Dr Mullins said.
“My concern about the data is that it may also be explained, in part, by barriers to accessing appropriate medical care … almost all allergy and immunology services are in major cities.”
Earlier research by Dr Mullins shows how infant formula and EpiPens were also in more demand in Australia’s southern states, indicating a lack of vitamin D from insufficient sun exposure could also play a role in promoting food allergy.
There were other theories, he said: from rising rates of Caesarean birth to children growing up in increasingly disinfected homes which promoted overly-sensitive immune systems.
While a clear picture of the cause of food allergy was yet to emerge, Australia’s incidence of childhood bad reactions to peanut has roughly doubled over the past decade.
“What it suggests is that there are a number of potential factors influencing the development of allergic disease,” Dr Mullins said.
“There won’t be one factor. It is a whole range of them.”
Dr Mullins’ research is published in the October edition of the journal Clinical & Experimental Allergy.
A University of Melbourne study, also released this week, found children exposed to cooked eggs – scrambled for example – at four to six months of age were up to five times less likely to develop an egg allergy.
This was compared to children who were introduced to cooked eggs after they turned one year old, according to the study of 2,500 children.