Worms & Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease is a painful disease of the intestines in which it is believed that a person's immune system is responding more than usual to normal bacteria in the intestines, causing painful inflammation and diarrhea. In a University of Iowa study, people with Crohn's disease swallowed the eggs of parasitic worms in an attempt to reduce their symptoms.

Helminths

• Helminths are parasitic worms, such as roundworms or threadworms, that are common in undeveloped countries, do not cause disease and remain in the bowels. Pig whipworms, a type of helminth, was used in the study.

Theory

• Because Crohn's disease is far less common in undeveloped countries where helminths are very common, the theory is that the parasites help to suppress the immune response in Crohn's disease.

Results

• Of the original 29 patients in the study, 23 experienced an improvement in their systems and 21 had no symptoms at the end of the study. Four patients dropped out because their symptoms didn't improve, and another dropped out because she had become pregnant.

Side Effects

• No one in the study complained of any side effects or that their symptoms had worsened.

Caution

• Because there has been only one study done involving just 29 people, this is promising, but further study needs to be done.

Health Risk

• There is little health risk to the general population even though people infected with the worms shed eggs in their feces. This is because the eggs have to fertilize in the soil for several weeks before they can infect a new host.