Abstract

MANRIQUE SAEZ, María Pilar; ORTEGA LARREA, Susana  and  YANGUAS JIMENEZ, Purificación. The leeches, a worm in the history of health. Index Enferm [online]. 2008, vol.17, n.4, pp.290-294. ISSN 1699-5988.

The use of leeches is a medical therapy which has been used since ancient civilizations until the first decades of the XXth century. It is an irreplaceable remedy to treat many types of illness, however, it fell into disuse due to the increasing confidence in scientific development and because it became considered old-fashioned, obsolete and valueless. The present paper tries to release the therapy with leeches, its peak in the ancient times, its later disuse and the recent reappearance in the post-operative of plastic microsurgical reconstruction in order to prevent the poisoning ecstasy and also in the degenerative osteoarthritis treatment. This therapy is being applied to numerous countries, Spain included, where it is being used at hospitals in particular medical services.

Keywords : Leech; Annelid; Hirudo medicinalis; Hirudin; Parasites; Bloodletting; Ecstasy; Arthrosis; Nursing.