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Live parasitic worms may help reduce inflammatory disease and increase lifespan

March 29, 2021

Recent research has found a link between parasitic worm infections and improved health outcomes.
The paper’s authors explained that parasitic worms manipulate the host immunity in a healthy way, and lack thereof can lead to health-related declines.
Referencing multiple studies, the researchers recommended parasitic worm therapy as a possibly viable fix to improve both health and lifespan.

A new paper published in February 2021 has demonstrated how parasitic worms could be used as an anti-inflammaging therapy. In the US alone, 62% of people over 65 have more than one chronic condition. The prevalence of multi-morbidity is increasing as the rate of aging increases. One key factor that is responsible for age-related health decline is inflammaging. This refers to systematic, low-grade inflammation that escalates with age. Scientists have linked inflammaging to severe health outcomes such as heart disease, cancer, dementia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and muscular degeneration. Inflammaging may be caused by a variety of factors, including gut dysbiosis. This is an imbalance of gut microbiomes that is escalated by antibiotic usage and other aspects of the modern lifestyle. Parasitic worms have infected humans since the beginning of time. Experts argue that our immune systems developed optimal function in a dirtier world. In today’s ultra-clean society, reduced infection with these worms has been linked to increased risk of allergic and autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as asthma, multiple sclerosis (MS), atopic eczema, inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis. Restoration of these species – which have been fondly referred to as ‘old friends’ – can help protect against numerous conditions. A study conducted in Argentina showed that accidental infection with parasitic worms reduced inflammation and disease symptoms in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Clearing these parasites from the patient’s body reversed the beneficial effects. Similar studies conducted in Uganda showed that pregnant women with hookworm infections were protected from atopic eczema. This protection disappeared when they took medication to treat the hookworms during pregnancy. There appears to be massive research proving the beneficial effects of deliberate infection with parasitic worms. Despite this compelling evidence, the idea of using live parasitic worms to alleviate diseases is controversial in the scientific community. There are concerns over safety, possible side effects, and reversed gains in de-wormed countries. The paper’s authors argue that these concerns may be addressed by controlling dose size and using ‘old friends’ from different hosts. An alternative – and possibly better method – might entail identifying mechanisms via which the parasitic worms manipulate the host immunity and then applying these therapeutically. For example, administering a specific glycoprotein (known as ES-62) secreted by nematode worms can result in the same benefits as would an actual infection with the parasite. A 2020 study administered ES-62 in mice through weekly doses. Researchers established that it helped improve late-life health and increase lifespan by 12%. This shows that the anti-inflammatory capabilities of parasitic worm therapy can induce protective effects even in later life. Numerous studies conducted around the world have shown that parasitic worm infections can alleviate the systematic inflammation that is inflammaging and result in improved health outcomes and increased lifespan. Conversely, there is clear evidence that the absence of parasitic worm infection leads to increased rates of inflammatory disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis. If existing evidence is successfully applied in human trials, parasitic worm therapy could be used in clinical practice to protect against a wide spectrum of age-related diseases that are promoted by inflammaging.

References: https://elifesciences.org/articles/65180

Live parasitic worms may help reduce inflammatory disease and increase lifespan

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