Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular disease has long been a main indication for leech therapy. The prominent doctor Nickolay I. Pirogov of Russia was among the first in modern history to treat heart disease with leeches in the 1800s. Good results have been seen even in cases of sclerotic changes in blood vessel walls.
High Cholesterol
Blood actually thickens as it slows down – think of a blood clot as an extreme case. When the heart fills with blood after contraction, slower-moving red blood cells cling together more easily. This makes the blood more viscous – more thick and sticky.
Atherosclerosis is when the blood vessel walls become thicker and harder due to “thick” and sticky blood. The artery walls are scarred as a result of the turbulent process of thick and sticky blood moving through them. Then Nature lays down cholesterol as a repair mechanism and the arteries narrow. This is a chronic vascular disease.
Cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease; it is a symptom. If the artery walls were not “nicked” by thick and sticky blood moving through them, cholesterol would not be called upon.
The hirudin in the leech saliva opposes the process of blood clotting. The enzymes leeches deposit with their saliva prevent blood from becoming thick, thereby promoting better blood circulation not only in the heart but to other parts of the body.
In addition, leeches prompt some blood loss and thus prompt the body to make new blood cells which are more flexible than older blood cells. There are about 90 miles of veins in the body, and hirudotherapy can clean them and make them stronger and more flexible.
Hypertension
Hypertension – high blood pressure – is a measurement of the force against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood through your body. You are more likely to be told your blood pressure is too high as you get older. This is because your blood vessels become stiffer as you age. When that happens, your blood pressure goes up. High blood pressure increases your chance of having a stroke, heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, and early death.
In the treatment of hypertension with leeches, the effect is twofold. First, there is a decrease in the volume of blood circulating in the bloodstream and that directly lessens the pressure along blood vessel walls. Second, the bio-active agents in the saliva exert significant hypotensive (pressure reducing) effects.
With hirudotherapy, it is often possible to reduce the dose of prescription drugs, and sometimes end their use.
For treating hypertension, the leeches are generally placed on body parts like upper back, neck, and chest.
Thrombophlebitis
Varicose veins are unattractive, but the disease can give rise to the dangerously threatening complication of thrombophlebitis. Surgery is a common treatment, but often the varicose veins return. People have become to understand the value of hirudotherapy as a very effective treatment.
Hirudotherapy does not preclude other treatments, but the use of leeches for varicose veins dramatically reduces the need for surgery, post surgical complications, and the downtime of recovery.