LEECH HUNT! The best way to find leeches is to go on a pond-dipping session with your local Wildlife Trust. They know the best and safest ways to find them. Ponds can be dangerous, so never enter any body of water without a trusted adult to supervise. www. bbowt. org. uk / blog / jenny-mccallum / family-activity-how-go-winter-pond-dipping
RouNd oF apPlauSe
Leeches became less popular in medicine as science started to play a greater role. However, you might be surprised to hear that leeches reappeared in the National Health Service( NHS) in the 1970s. This time backed with science and was known as hirudotherapy.
UNBE-LEECH-ABLE FACT
Leeches can swim but they also use suckers on each end of their body to loop along.
MediCal Info warNing
The reason for the resurgence is due to advances in microsurgery. This is where surgeons must reconnect teeny tiny blood vessels that have been damaged by burns or where they are reattaching limbs or the tips of fingers and toes. Some of the blood vessels are simply too small to repair, so they leak, causing swelling, and a poor blood supply means the wound takes longer to heal. BUT if you attach a leech to the outside of the wound, it will painlessly suck blood through the damaged area, keeping it supplied with the nutrients it needs for repair while also reducing swelling. The leech’ s anticoagulant will also keep the wound clot-free. As a result of hirudotherapy, a wound heals faster and better. It’ s no wonder the NHS uses thousands of leeches a year! Of course, the NHS don’ t get their leeches from the local pond or a barber. They go to Biopharm in Hendy, near Swansea, where leeches are grown in clean, controlled conditions to get them ready for use in medicine. These suckers are saving lives!
Sorry, I got carried away there.
The FouR huMourS
Early Tudor medicine was based on ideas from from the Greek physician Galen, who lived about 2,000 years before. It was believed that the body contained four humours: blood, yellow bile, black bile and phlegm. The balance of the humours was responsible for both your personality and health.
UNBE-LEECH-ABLE FACT Leeches leave a Y-shaped bite mark because they have three jaws with around 100 micro teeth in each.
People believed that the humours were carried through the body in urine and that you could diagnose illness by looking at a urine sample for colour, clarity( cloudiness) and sediment( visible pieces). They also checked for consistency( thick or runny) and might even have tasted it( that is enough now), because sweet urine might suggest diabetes. As Tudor times rolled on and science became more important, some physicians started to have a conversation with the patient, rather than just look at their urine!
Words: Dr Sarah Bearchell. Illustration: Ellie Fryer
LEECH HUNT! The best way to find leeches is to go on a pond-dipping session with your local Wildlife Trust. They know the best and safest ways to find them. Ponds can be dangerous, so never enter any body of water without a trusted adult to supervise. www. bbowt. org. uk / blog / jenny-mccallum / family-activity-how-go-winter-pond-dipping
A urine wheel from the early 16th century describes the colour, smell and taste of urine, and then links them to diseases!
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