An update on the use of helminths to treat Crohn’s and other autoimmunune diseases

Reddy, Aditya; Fried, Bernard

doi:10.1007/s00436-008-1297-5

Cited by 52 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In this context, there are also the observations made in Argentina on multiple sclerosis patients that spontaneous infection by parasites slows the progression of the disease (Correale and Farez 2011). These results encouraged some investigators to deliberately infect some of their patients with a non-pathogenic parasite (Summers et al 2005;Reddy and Fried 2009).…”

Section: Preliminary Evidence From Human Therapeutic Trialsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Hygiene Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Increased Frequency of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

Bach¹,

Chatenoud²

2012

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine

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The steadily increasing frequency of insulin-dependent diabetes in several countries is best explained today by the decline of infections. Epidemiologic and animal data support this conclusion, which, however, requires confirmation by intervention trials in man. The mechanisms of the protective effect of infections on diabetes onset are diverse including competition for homeostatic factors and stimulation of regulatory T cells and of Toll-like receptors. These considerations might have interesting therapeutic applications for the prevention of the disease.

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Section: Preliminary Evidence From Human Therapeutic Trialsmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Hygiene Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Increased Frequency of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

Bach¹,

Chatenoud²

2012

Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine

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“…14,15 Currently, trials are under way using Trichuris suum and Necator americanus infection for the treatment of T1DM, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, asthma, and food allergies. 16 However, large-scale epidemiologic studies examining the association of helminth infections and the prevalence of autoimmunity are lacking. Thus, there is a need to conduct such studies, mainly in developing countries that are at a transition state with increasing incidence of noncommunicable diseases and decreasing incidence of infectious diseases largely caused by globalization/urbanization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decreased Prevalence of Lymphatic Filariasis Among Subjects with Type-1 Diabetes

Aravindhan¹,

Mohan²,

Surendar³

et al. 2010

The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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“…For instance, the presence of intestinal helminths is associated with decreased disease severity in multiple sclerosis (Correale and Farez 2011). Based on findings like these, prospective trials of helminthic therapy (ingestion of nematodes) are underway to treat multiple sclerosis (Benzel et al 2011) and Crohn disease (Reddy and Fried 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Clinical Perspective in Evolutionary Medicine: What We Wish We Had Learned in Medical School

Alcock

Schwartz

2011

Evo Edu Outreach

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Medical students have much to gain by understanding how evolutionary principles affect human health and disease. Many theoretical and experimental studies have applied lessons from evolutionary biology to issues of critical importance to medical science. A firm grasp of evolution and natural selection is required to understand why the human body remains vulnerable to many diseases. Although we often integrate evolutionary concepts when we teach medical students and residents, the vast majority of medical students never receive any instruction on evolution. As a result, many trainees lack the tools to understand key advances and miss valuable opportunities for education and research. Here, we outline some of the evolutionary principles that we wished we had learned during our medical training.Keywords Medical education . Evolution . Natural selection . Phylogeny . Virulence . Host defenses . Tradeoffs . Ultimate causation Evolution and Medical EducationMedical students must learn an ever-increasing volume of information in medical school. Many worthy topics, including prevention, public health, clinical reasoning, ethics, health policy, communication skills, and professionalism, now compete with the traditional core biomedical sciences, such as biochemistry, genetics, and pathophysiology. It is no wonder then that any effort to introduce another science-evolutionary biology-into the medical curriculum is a difficult endeavor.In a 2003 survey of North American medical school deans, 48% said understanding the concepts of evolution is important for physicians. However, not a single medical school taught evolutionary biology as a basic science, no medical school required evolution as a prerequisite for admission, only 16% had Ph.D. faculty in evolutionary biology, and schools devoted a median of only four hours of curricular time on core topics in evolution (Nesse and Schiffman 2003). Complicating matters further, one of ten medical students in Glasgow rejected the notion of long-term evolution on religious grounds (Downie 2004). Thus, more than 15 years after the publication of the seminal text, Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (Nesse and Williams 1994), many physicians remain unaware of evolution's most relevant principles.Evolutionary (Darwinian) medicine is the application of evolutionary principles, including natural selection, adaptation, phylogenetics, and evolutionary constraints, to understanding health and disease. In this paper, we argue that a working knowledge of evolution is well worth the time and effort by students of medicine. We review selected concepts in evolutionary medicine that we wish we had learned when we were in medical school. This missed educational opportunity would teach students to ask evolutionary "why" questions of diseases and develop skills to recognize evolutionary paradoxes and patterns in medicine. As we describe, evolutionary biology is an integrative science whose concepts can help students and professionals improve learning, teaching, practice, ...

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An update on the use of helminths to treat Crohn’s and other autoimmunune diseases

Cited by 52 publications

References 33 publications

The Hygiene Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Increased Frequency of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

The Hygiene Hypothesis: An Explanation for the Increased Frequency of Insulin-Dependent Diabetes

Decreased Prevalence of Lymphatic Filariasis Among Subjects with Type-1 Diabetes

A Clinical Perspective in Evolutionary Medicine: What We Wish We Had Learned in Medical School

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