Why Do People Subject Themselves to ‘Worm Therapy’ Treatments?

Some clinical trials have had disappointing results, but some people with diseases are willing to try to parasitic worms as an alternative treatment.

Thousands of people are intentionally exposing themselves to parasitic worms to treat inflammatory bowel disease, hay fever, and other ailments.

And some of them report that it’s working.
A growing body of research suggests that parasitic worms, also known as helminths, may be useful for treating a variety of autoimmune and allergic conditions.

But to date, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved no helminths for use in humans in the United States.

Without FDA approval, doctors are unable to provide helminths to patients here.

So, some people are resorting to self-treatment instead, obtaining the worms from places in other countries.

A worldwide phenomenon
In a study published in 2015, investigators estimated that 6,000 to 7,000 people around the world were self-treating with helminths.
“The modern history of self-treatment goes back to about 2005, when a guy named Joel Weinstock determined that a particular helminth would resolve inflammatory bowel disease for many patients who were not responding to medication,” William Parker, PhD, co-author of the study and director of the Immune Dysfunction and Evolutionary Mismatch Laboratory at Duke University, told Healthline.