In a classic case of the cure is worse than the problem, it seems that voluntary hookworm infestation is a possible cure for Asthma, Crohn’s Disease, Irritable Bowel syndrome, and even colitis. Seems alot of groups are trying to research this and gather funding to do so. Now, I’ve had asthma all my life but never so bad that I was willing to endure something like this.

Unfortunately, or thankfully depending on your viewpoint, hookworms are eradicated in most parts of the world. The only known region left seems to be the small nation of Cameroon. On Kuro5hin there’s an article of an asthma sufferer who voluntarily ventured to Africa to infest himself with hookworm, and now manages the infestation himself to control his severe asthma symptoms.

So wow does it work? Evidently, diseases like asthma are essentially an overactive immune system attacking things that are harmless within the body. Almost the same thing as Poison ivy, where the irritant isn’t the problem, it’s the body’s response to it. So hookworms weaken your immune system to a point where the symptoms go away. Of course, you have to be careful to keep your immune system strong enough to fight off real illnesses, so there’s a careful balancing act there.

All in all, I think I’ll just stick with Claritin and Benadryl.[tag:strange][tag:asthma][tag:hookworm]

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