Humans and Parasites
Parasites and Humans: Why Can’t We All Just Get Along? Introduction The definition of a parasite is: “an organism that lives on or in an organism of another species, known as the host, from the body of which it obtains nutriment.” (Dictionary.com,2012) There are several kinds of parasitic relationships in the world. Mutualism is one of them. This occurs when each member of the association benefits the other. Can humans and parasites have a mutualistic relationship in medicine?
Dating back to the B.C. era it has been believed that parasites, most commonly leeches and maggots, were the cure for various maladies. Leeches at one time were thought to cure everything from obesity to mental illness. In the early 20th century there was no longer a need for parasites with the medical and technological advances we were making. Their popularity has begun to grow since the 1980s and is seen more often in medical practice.
Thesis Statement
Some parasites, over the course of history, have proven to hold a symbiotic relationship with the human body in medical applications.
Prior to the days that we think of as modern medicine, parasites were used for many things in medical practice. One example is leeches. The use of leeches in medicine started around 2,000 B.C. with the Greek and Roman physicians. During the medieval times they were very prevalent in the household medicine cabinets as they were used on a regular basis to treat many different ailments. (Jaffari, M. 2012)
As modern medicine emerged parasites were viewed as a bad thing. Things we did not want inside us or around us. We discovered many ways to eradicate them from our bodies, thus also eradicating them from medicinal use.
In more recent years testing is being done especially with the helminth (worm) species of parasites. These parasites are being used to treat medical conditions such as ulcerative colitis, vascular diseases and allergies, just to name a few, with very interesting
Dating back to the B.C. era it has been believed that parasites, most commonly leeches and maggots, were the cure for various maladies. Leeches at one time were thought to cure everything from obesity to mental illness. In the early 20th century there was no longer a need for parasites with the medical and technological advances we were making. Their popularity has begun to grow since the 1980s and is seen more often in medical practice.
Thesis Statement
Some parasites, over the course of history, have proven to hold a symbiotic relationship with the human body in medical applications.
Prior to the days that we think of as modern medicine, parasites were used for many things in medical practice. One example is leeches. The use of leeches in medicine started around 2,000 B.C. with the Greek and Roman physicians. During the medieval times they were very prevalent in the household medicine cabinets as they were used on a regular basis to treat many different ailments. (Jaffari, M. 2012)
As modern medicine emerged parasites were viewed as a bad thing. Things we did not want inside us or around us. We discovered many ways to eradicate them from our bodies, thus also eradicating them from medicinal use.
In more recent years testing is being done especially with the helminth (worm) species of parasites. These parasites are being used to treat medical conditions such as ulcerative colitis, vascular diseases and allergies, just to name a few, with very interesting