This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Previously, we demonstrated that helminth-infected MS patients showed significantly lower number of relapses, reduced disability scores, and lower MRI activity compared to uninfected MS subjects. In the current study, 12 patients with diagnosis of relapsing remitting MS presenting parasite infections were prospectively followed during 90 months; due to exacerbation of helminth-infection symptoms after 63 months of follow-up, 4 patients received anti-parasite treatment. Helminth-infection control was associated with significant increase in clinical and radiological MS activities. Moreover, these patients showed significant increase in the number of IFN-γ and IL-12 producing cells, and a fall in the number of TGF-β and IL-10 secreting cells, as well as CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Treg cells evident 3 months after anti-helminth treatment began. These new observations on parasite infections associated to MS indicate that parasite regulation of host immunity can alter the course of MS.

12 people is still a very small study. Hopefully, they will be able to isolate the beneficial chemical cocktail that the worms are secreting that modulates the human immune system. That way, MS patients could potentially have the benefits without the risks associated with having independent minded worms crawling through us.


NHE

Yes it is a small study and if I'm not mistaken only four of the entrants had problems requiring them to take anti-helminthics, which this second study/observation is based on taking the numbers even lower.

I've had a couple of computers die in the time since and long ago lost the record of our correspondances but a few years ago I had the pleasure of corresponding with William Harnett of the University of Strathclyde, who along with his wife Margaret at the University of Glasgow who by far were the earliest and by far have done the most work in isolating the chemicals and proteins that helminths utilize to control animal/human immune systems. They long ago isolated ES62 (excrete/secrete) from the filarial nemotodes, which happen to be particularly obnoxious helminths. At the time of our correspondance Dr Harnett didn't know of reasons to consider that the excretions/secretions of other helminths would be drastically different than any other helminth that has evolved to survive in humans.

The Harnett's work is a work in progress admittedly. No one claims that ES62 constitutes the entirety of the impact on the human immune system or that it is the complete chemical/protein package of what fllarial nemotodes secrete/excrete nor that it's exactly the same as the multitude of other helminths excrete/secrete.

This is only the first thing that came up, they've done a ton of work on this since.....going from memory I think he said 1965 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 400.x/full


http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 400.x/full

Even less if one isn't squeamish and does as the originator did and raise your own http://www.asthmahookworm.com/jt_archiv ... infest.php

I can't say that it "works" but I think the evidence is strongly pointing that way but everything I've seen strongly points to the times and places that humanity loses those helminths which evolved as "part" of our immune system as the same times, places and populations which experience(d) alarming increases of immune/inflammatory disorders.

Sure, association doesn't denote causation but when it's now shown in studies that these parasites have an obvious effect on disease that becomes WAY more than simple association.

It's also always important to keep in mind that the evidence shows the "formative years" for the immune system are before the age of puberty, up to 14 or 15 and after that "IF" benefits are noticed from adding helminths to the system of adults after disease processes have started, that's just icing on the cake and shouldn't logically be expected.

I think everyone interested in the possible relationship between the loss of our "evolutionary normal" helminths and the subsequent rise of autoimmmunity must be familiar with the study article by Coreale and Farez in the Annals of Neurology Volume 61, Issue 2, pages 97–108, February 2007 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17230481

Now in the April issue of Neuroimmunology http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21277637 they provide evidence of the opposite, that eliminating those helminths from people with MS seems to allow MS to again progress.

I hadn't realized that the study had followed the patients nearly so long as the 90 months they quote but in the world of MS studies 7.5 years is a long time.