Fun Fact #643 What the Leech-Craft?

 Fun Fact #643

What the Lǣcecraft?!

When it comes to healing most people today look back on Leeching as an old, archaic and dangerous habit of “Witch Doctors”. Yet the concept of leeching dates back to the ancient Greeks who used it to treat ailments such as excessive blood pressure, and blood clots in the body. In fact it became so common that an entire profession was named after it “lǣcecraft”. However, it gained a bad reputation for good reason thanks to wild-caught leeches being able to transfer blood-borne infections for up to 4 months.

In the 1980s lǣcecraft (now called LeechCraft) came back into style as the protein “Hirudin” (A powerful yet difficult to manufacture anti-coagulent) was found to naturally occur in leech saliva and is used to treat blood disorders to this day. Better yet, their pulling of blood and replacement with Hirduin in the body is a cheap –yet ingenious deployment strategy to treat many other ailments. As a result, Leechcraft is used to treat various joint and vascular diseases today. 

A notable joint disease is Osteoarthritis which is the 4th largest cause of disability in the world affecting more than 240 Million people. Leeches are used to reduce the swelling, and can lead to long term rehabilitation. The most common use for leeches today though, belongs to reattaching body parts as post surgery therapy since the leeches can reduce clotting, remove pooled blood, and encourage vascular growth in the patient. All of which leads to a much higher success rate and severe reduction in the chance of contracting gangrene for the patient.

Image from Britannica.com