“We are teeming with life, and we really are part of the environment. When we try to separate ourselves from the environment and exposures to these organisms, we leave ourselves predisposed to disease,” he said.
Dr. Weinstock is not advocating a return to 19th-century hygiene. Rather, he and other researchers are working to characterize more fully the interaction of helminths with the immune system and to identify factors responsible for the beneficial exposures so they can be reintroduced at an appropriate time early in life, when the immune system is developing. Clinical studies in IBD, asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis, and multiple sclerosis are underway and more are planned, and one helminth-derived medication, ASP1002, is under review by the Food and Drug Administration.
“There has been a revolution in our thinking,” Dr. Weinstock said. “We have learned that we are not insulated from the world around us.”
Helminth colonization appeared beneficial in Crohn's disease and other disorders. Courtesy Dr. Joel V. Weinstock