Imagine using small worms to fight diseases. Sounds a bit odd, right? But a group of scientists in Australia thought differently.
They believed these tiny creatures, called hookworms, could help. So, they decided to try it out in a unique experiment.
The scientists worked at a place called James Cook University. It’s a big school known for its research. One of those researchers is Dr. Doris Pierce.
She became interested in hookworms and how they might help people with diseases like type 2 diabetes.
Now, you might ask, what is type 2 diabetes? It’s a disease that affects how your body uses sugar. People with type 2 diabetes have trouble using a hormone called insulin.
Insulin helps your body’s cells use sugar for energy. When this doesn’t work right, you can have too much sugar in your blood. This can cause many health problems.
The Unexpected Test: People and Hookworms
Dr. Pierce and her team had a bold idea. They wondered if hookworms could help improve how the body uses insulin. To find out, they set up a special test.
They asked 40 people to volunteer. All these volunteers were adults showing early signs of possible health issues, including type 2 diabetes.
The volunteers agreed to be part of a study that would last two years.
During this time, they received either 20 or 40 tiny hookworms or a pretend treatment (what scientists call a placebo). The hookworms were so small they could only be seen under a microscope.
The Unseen Helpers: What the Hookworms Do
You’re probably thinking, why on earth would anyone want to have worms inside them? Well, here’s the thing. Hookworms have a special trick.
They release tiny bits of protein into the person they’re living in. These proteins can affect our immune system, which is the part of our body that fights off illnesses and diseases.
The proteins from the hookworms can help calm down inflammation. Inflammation is when parts of your body become red, swollen, and sometimes painful.
It’s a way your body tries to protect itself. But too much inflammation can cause problems, and it’s a big part of diseases like type 2 diabetes.
By releasing these proteins, the hookworms can reduce inflammation and improve how the body handles sugar. This can make a big difference for people with type 2 diabetes.
The Results: Little Worms, Big Change
The surprising part of all this? The experiment seemed to work! The volunteers who received the hookworms showed an improvement in how their bodies handled sugar.
The level of insulin resistance, which is when your body doesn’t respond well to insulin, went down quite a bit.
The volunteers who got 20 hookworms saw the most change. Their level of insulin resistance even returned to a normal range after a year.
This is a big deal because it means their bodies were responding to insulin like they should.
Not Just Body: The Mind Also Benefits
There was something else interesting that happened during the study. The people who had the hookworms said they felt better emotionally. They felt happier compared to the people who had the pretend treatment.
This was a surprise, especially because the study happened during a stressful time. It was during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s Next: More Tests and More Answers
After the two-year study, the volunteers had a choice. They could get rid of their hookworms, or they could keep them. Nearly all the people who had hookworms decided to keep them.
Now, Dr. Pierce and her team are excited about doing more studies. They want to find out more about these tiny proteins that the hookworms release.
They believe that understanding these proteins better could lead to new treatments for diseases like diabetes.
This unique study shows how sometimes the best answers to problems can come from unexpected places. Even from tiny worms!
While there’s still a lot to learn, the idea of using hookworms to fight diseases like diabetes is an exciting one. Who knows what other surprises these little creatures might have in store for us in the future?
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about a cure for type 2 diabetes, and why insulin is more expensive for people with diabetes.
For more information about health, please see recent studies that blueberries strongly benefit people with metabolic syndrome, and results showing eggs in a plant-based diet may benefit people with type 2 diabetes.
The study was published in Nature Communications.
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