Thursday, August 15, 2013

Medicinal Leeching- Making a Comeback

Source: BBC News
This week has been a grind on the infectious diseases consult service and it is just Thursday! Nevertheless, there is always time for a perusal of the headlines.

Who would have thought that medicinal leeching was making a comeback? Here is a report from the BBC on medicinal leeching.

The article is interesting as it frames the concept of bloodletting and leeching in historical perspectives. Simple bloodletting was considered more mundane while medicinal leeching was historically more elitist. 

In modern medicine, leeching does have a limited application, as summarized in this review.

Now back to the daily grind.