Гирудотерапия

Hirudotherapy for Specialists and Patients

Hirudotherapy is a treatment with using of medicinal leech.This kind of therapy is known from the time of extreme antiquity and is still alive nowadays.This fact testifies to its efficiency at the decision of various problems of health.The method of hirudotherapy is approved by the Ministry of Health Protection of Russian Federation.

Enormous experience of using of medicinal leeches in the medical purpouse is saved up during many centuries.With the development of science the mechanism of action of a secret of salivary glands of leeches was deciphered,biologically active substances which are included in it were opened,their influence on the certain structures of an alive organism is investigated.Some medical forms are created on a basis of biologically active substances of salivary glands of leeches and work on creation of new ones is conducting.Modern hirudotherapy differs from that of an ancient one because now we use not wild leeches but grown at a special biofactories where they are in severe quarantine.Besides,nowadays we use a leech only once.After using a leech it is killed.This fact completely excludes infection of a patient.

The obvious advantage and absolute safety of hirudotherapy is checked up by thousand years experience of mankind and doesn't cause any doubts.One of the first substances found in salivary glands of medicinal leech is hirudin-the substance oppressing the process of blood clotting.Then such anticoagulating substances as ferment destabilaza,ingibitors of plazmine,callecrein of plasmine and others were opened.Factors of diffusion-ferments of gialuronidaza,collagenaza,the factors appressing the mediators of pain-cininaza,antisclerous factors were investigated as well.Again opened substances are studied. Thus,a medicinal leech is a small “factory” on manufacture of biologically active substances.The result of action of biologically active substances on an alive organism are:
-normalization and improvement of capillary circulation;
-expressed antiinflammation effect;
-antistressful and adaptogene effects;
-immunostimulating and immunomodulating effects;
-anesthesia;
-anticoagulation;
-antibacterial effect;
-improvement of an endocellular exhange and the realization of these mechanisms has both local and general character.

The existence of skin-visceral connections with the definite organs is well known. Biologically active substances act to organs during the blood-sicking work of medicinal leeches through viens.It promotes the improvement of blood circulation in the concrete organ,renders trombolitic,antiinflammatory,immunostimulating action,raises nutrition of tissues, strengthens tissues immunity. It’s impossible to name all diseases which can be treated with using of hirudotherapy.It’s easier to name contra-indications here :
absolute-hemophilia,
relative-pregnancy,anemia,hypotonia.

Hirudotherapy may be applied at any diseases known nowadays.It can be used as an independent method of treating and in complex with the others.Doctors know perfectly well how it is difficult to struggle with chronic inflammatory diseases.The matter is that at all varieties of clinical displays of illnesses mechanisms of protection of an organism are universal-emission mediators of inflammation,vazoconstrictors,apireties and some other biologically active substances into blood.Everything comes to aspiration of alive organism to delimit the nidus of inflammation by deterioration of blood circulation and capillary-tissue permeability,creation of an inflammatory shaft by cellular and conjunctive tissue structure and a temperature mode in the given area.As a result of it the concentration of drugs for example an antibiotic in the nidus of inflammation is much lower than in blood.The increase of a dose of a chemical drug doesn’t solve a problem because leads to excessive allergy and strikes a blow on other organs-(on liver,on kidneys,on spinal cord,endocrin glands.)As a result we have a lot of complications:disbacteriosis,hepatitis,nephropathy,immune deficiency conditions,but the problem of chronic inflammation for a given patient is not solved. Here it’s a time to recollect about hirudotherapy.Biologically active substances containing in saliva glands of medicinal leeches can restore blood circulation in the nidus of inflammation, remove an ischemia of organs, provide capillary tissue exchange and due to it can carry out the transport of chemical drugs into the nidus of inflammation, improve immune protection and regeneration of tissues.In such conditions the using of the same chemical drugs is possible in smaller doses.These factors do not limit the abilities of hirudotherapy to influence the nidus of inflammation.The matter is that in salivary glands of medicinal leeches there are some substances capable to detain the growth of bacterias.One of the most investigated substances is hirudin.In experiments at animals a bacteriastatic and bactericidal action of hirudin has been proved.The main reason of medicinal action of hirudin for example at thrombophlebitis is in its bactericidal property.That’s why it becomes clear the successful using of leeches both at aseptic inflammation and at inflammation caused by the bacterial agent.The property of a secret of salivary glands of a medicinal leech to penetrate through”demarcacional shaft” of inflammation is deternimed by the action of the factor of penetration-the enzime gialuronidaza.This enzime is capable to unactivate the action of gialuron acid which is the cementing substance for conjunctive tissues.
Such feature of hirudotherapy essentially distinquishes it from the other methods of treatment.
Besides the above mentioned effects of hirudotherapy it’s necessary to remember about such one as the irritation of biologically active points influence on reflex zones.It was noticed long ago that leeches prefer to sit on the cirtain areas of skin which correspond to points of ancient Chinese methods of treatment-needleacupuncture.In result of hirudotherapy we receive the effect in treatment not only due to action of biologically active substances of leeches’secret,but also by means of influence on reflex zones.
For example at the treatment of hypertonic disease biologically active points of occipital and cervical area are used and the influence of these points gives anaesthetic,vasodilating and hipotenzive effects.The other action of leeches is blood taking.One leech exhausts from 5 to 10 ml of blood..Bleeding lasts for some hours(about 12-24 hours) and patient lost about 20-30 ml of blood.Thus due to influence of 5 leeches simulteneously the patient losts 100-250 ml of blood and this way of blood taking has unquestionable advantages before taking blood from viens.Taking blood from viens we receive that what is received-blood taking.Taking blood from the area connecting with the ill organ lasts for about an hour.Thus, it is created conditions of a stable lasting many hours drainage and venous unloading of the given area.In a concrete region there is an improvement of microcirculation;venous stagnation is liquidated,the ischemia of organ is eliminated.,the nutrition of tissues and cellular exchange are improved.After a course of treatment consisting of 5-10 procedures with using from 4 to 10 leeches a good clinical effect is marked.At the cardiovascular pathology leading to decompensation of blood circulation(ishemic heart disease, intimate defect) the leeches appointing to the area of a liver authentically reduce increased arterial pressure, leads to reducing the of stagnation in a liver,to improvement of lung ventilation and unloading of heart.The effect comes in a result of a direct hipotenzive and anticoagulating action of hirudin and in not a smaller degree due to reducing of peripheral resistance .At diseases of cardiovascular system hirudotherapy plays a special role.It is easy to find an explanation for this taking into account its above mentioned properties.Besides it is necessary to note the ability of hirudin to influence on blood clotting.The liquid condition of blood and its clotting is provioded by functional interation of two systems of organism:clotting and anticlotting ones.Anticlotting system supports blood in liquid condition,protecting it from clotting,the second one provides protection from bleeding at infringement of integrity of blood vessels.For the patients with ischemic heart disease, hypertension,for old people,for patients with diabetes the main problem is atherosclerosis of vessels and as a result-angiopathy;atherosclerosis is nothing that infringement of integrety of blood vessels.which provide and activate the system of clotting.In a result one of the most terrible displays of diseases of heart and vessels is the thrombosis of arteries in the vital important organs.The output of thrombosis are the infarction of heart,brain,lungs brinding sometimes to lethal outcomes.Stimulation of fibrinolitic activity and anticlotting system of blood at such diseases,oppression of formation of trombs,and reducing of viscosity of blood are necessary both with medical purpose and for preventive maintanance of ischemic conditions.The mechanism of oppressing activity of hirudin on thrombin is investigated.Hirudin blocks the action of thrombin and the last one losing its properties,doesn’t promote the transition of fibrinogen into fibrin.Besides the secret of salivary of a medicinal leech blocks an anitial attachement of thrombocytes and completely supresses their aggregetion on a surface of collagenus.Thus,the secret of salivary of a medicinal leech influences on cellular and plasma factors of blood clotting.In researches of many authors it is marked that after the assignment of leeches there is a normalization of separate parameters of coagulogramme-at anitial combination of hyper coagulations the anticoagulating system is activing and on the contrary becomes more active.Similar effect was not received even when we use such widely known anticoagulants as heparin and aspirin.To this we should add the lipotropal effect of enzymes of salivary glands of medicinal leeches which consists in the ability to influence on blood lipids.At the beginning of the century some scientists expressed the assumption that the development of atherosclerosis can be prevented by applying of medicinal leeches.In 1984-1989 it was experimentally proved that at long introvenous introduction of a secret of salivary glands of medicinal leeches to the rats which were in the condition of a strongly expressed atherosclerosis the last ones had reduction of lipids in abdominal and lung arteries.

It’s well known that the lipoproteids of low density and lipoproteids of very low density promote the development of atherosclerosis,but the lipoproteids of high density play the role of the protective antisclerous factor.At ishemic heard disease there is a redistribution of cholesterol in different classes of lipoproteids.The quantity of it raises in lipoproteids of low density and in lipoproteids of very low density being reduced thus in lipoproteids of high density.The patients of this group have authentic increase of the level of common lipids,triglicerids,cholesterol in arterial walls.A number of authors engaged in this problem mark the authentic reduction of triglicerids and cholesterol in blood after several session of hirudotherapy.It allows to draw a conclusion that lipotropic ensymes secret of salivary of medicinal leeches may be used at atherosclerotic defect of vessels irrespective of primary localization of atherosclerosis. Probably the effect of “rejuvenation” which may be noticed after hirudotherapy-the appearance of shine in eyes, the improvement of skin elasticity,the appearance of flush,the disappearance of the mask of tiredness on patients faces,a vigorous kind of patients.is possible because in this case works the mechanism of increasing of vascularization of skin and internal organs.Probably,due to the action of girudin and gialuronidaze(the factor of penetration)it is improving not only blood circulation is organs-targets,but in other organs and tissues due to the best capacity of cappilary-tissues exchanging and so on.It promotes the reduction of swelling,the dissolution of the organized blood-clots,cosmetic effect.The using of leeches promotes the increasing of local immunity as well.

Diseases of vessels,heart,chronic nonspecific diseases of lungs leading to heart and liver incompetence may be treated with hirudotherapy.At heart incompetence and chronic lung’s heart the stagnation in a big circle of blood circulation takes place and this fact leads to functional liver incompetence.The unloading of a big circle of blood circulation at hirudotherapy(the improvement of blood circulation in region),the action of lipotropic enzymes,the reduction of a hypostasis of liver-all these factors promote the improvement of patients health due to the complex influence of leeches secrets on organism.

Hirudotherapy as we see should be regarded not only as a preventive maintenance,but also as a method of treatment at ishemic heart disease,insult and other vascular pathologies,at diseases of exchange,at endocrine diseases,nervous diseases, at all inflammatory diseases and so on.As a result it’s necessary to note that the succers of hirudotherapy depends not only on biological properties of leeches secret but also from the experience of a doctor and joint actions of a patient and a doctor.

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