Could a pill made from worms treat auto immune diseases?

There is a new weapon in the fight against autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and lupus, the common trait of which is an immune system that attacks its own organs and tissues.

William Gause, an immunologist at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, is among those leading the charge against these diseases by studying how the human body reacts to parasites. The worms are small parasites that live in human intestines.

The immune reaction, the researchers say, appears to have developed as a way to rapidly repair wounds caused by these invaders as they move through the body.  Additionally, this response triggers regulatory networks that block harmful immune responses, or inflammation, that otherwise would exacerbate the tissue injury.

In the last three decades, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in autoimmune inflammatory diseases including type 1 diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Crohn's disease, to name but a few. Autoimmune disease is characterized by an immune-mediated attack on a target organ that it is no longer recognized by the immune system. Autoimmune pathology can be caused by both antibody and cell-mediated components. The very characteristics of the immune system that had previously been so advantageous for combating infections might now be the principal contributing factor for the increasing prevalence of autoimmune disease.

There are 80 such diseases, afflicting an estimated 20 percent of the population. Among these are the ones most people have heard of — rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease and lupus. All are characterized by an immune system gone amok.

“Instead of doing its work to prevent outside invaders, such as bacteria and viruses, from attacking our body, it turns inward and becomes the attacker,” says Shoenfeld, likening the process to “friendly fire” in the military.

“If it attacks the brain, for instance, the patient suffers from multiple sclerosis; if it attacks the intestine, it is Crohn’s disease. When it attacks many different organs and tissues, it is considered ‘systemic.’ Lupus is an example of a systemic autoimmune disease.”

Now with all that being said:  Could a pill made from WORMS treat arthritis and MS? Molecules in parasite could suppress autoimmune conditions!   

As in most Homeopathic Remedies out there – “Like treats Like”! 

A molecule in parasitic worms could fight autoimmune diseases.  Scientists have identified peptides from parasitic worms that suppress the body’s immune response.

Molecules could be used in a new drug to quash symptoms of autoimmune diseases, which affect hundreds of thousands of people.  The 'Worm pill' could one day be used an alternative to helminthic therapy, which involves people infect themselves with live parasitic worms!!!

Worms could be used to fight a range of debilitating autoimmune diseases, research has revealed.

A molecule in parasitic worms may be used to fight illnesses including multiple sclerosis (MS), psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Scientists identified peptides - naturally occurring biological molecules - from the creatures that suppress a body’s immune response, and they believe it could pave the way for a new drug to provide relief from the often painful symptoms of such diseases.