Helminthic Therapy: Could This Be The Secret Treatment For Autoimmunity?

by Dr. Will Cole

As a functional medicine practitioner, I frequently see patients who suffer from autoimmune disorders — a group of illnesses characterized by an inflammatory response that has gone haywire. Autoimmunity occurs, just as the name suggests, when the immune system starts attacking itself, causing damage to the body’s own tissues instead of focusing on actual threats, like pathogenic microbes and physical injuries. 

I do comprehensive lab work on my patients with autoimmune problems and recommend lifestyle and diet changes. But my patients also rely on me to think outside the box. And one of the atypical treatment options that could be of value to autoimmune diseases is called helminthic therapy.

What is helminthic therapy?

Helminthic therapy involves swallowing a saline solution infused with mutualistic parasites, called helminths. At first, this might seem crazy. I mean, aren’t parasites bad? 

Actually, not all parasites are bad! The helminths used in these treatments are called “mutualists,” which means they cooperate with their human host (that’s you!) and are not typically problematic health-wise. So, while this is not an FDA-approved treatment, it is being studied as a potential treatment for a range of autoimmune disorders, such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. The results of these preliminary studies are extremely promising, but we are still waiting for data on long-term patient outcomes.

Read more here