Abstract

APPLICATION OF LEECH THERAPY: AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Syed Abdul Wahid* and Arvind Gajbhiye

Abstract

Leeches may also be used in plastic surgery and in some blood circulatory problems. During feeding, leeches secrete a complex mixture of different biologically and pharmacologically active substances into the wound. Hirudin is the prominent constituent of leech saliva. Modern hirudotherapy differs from that of ancient one because now we do not use wild leeches but grown in a special bio factories where they are in severe quarantine. Except, now a days the leeches used only once. After using a leech it is destroyed this fact excludes infection of the patients. The absolute safety and obvious advantage of hirudotherapy and checked up by thousands of years of experience of mankind and does not cause any doubt in the secretion of medicinal leeches salivary gland, except hirudin inhibitor of ferment thrombin, there is a whole range of biological active combinations.

Keywords: Leech, Raktamokshana, Safety, Hirudin, Salt, Turmeric, Natural Habitat.