Biotherapy
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Biotherapy is the use of living animals for medical treatment or as an adjunct to medical diagnosis.
[edit] Overview
Biotherapy encompasses ,among other things, maggot therapy (maggot debridement therapy [MDT], larva therapy), leech therapy (hirudotherapy), honey bee therapy (apitherapy), fish therapy (ichthiotherapy), pet therapy, detection dogs, medical response dogs, phage therapy, and helminthic therapy (worm therapy)
Maggots, leeches & fish have been used to save limbs & lives. Dogs can detect cancer[1], alert to medical problems, and raise the spirits. Bee venom has been reported to help in neurological and musculoskeletal diseases.
[edit] References
- ^ Michael McCulloch, Tadeusz Jezierski, Michael Broffman, Alan Hubbard, Kirk Turner, and Teresa Janecki. Diagnostic Accuracy of Canine Scent Detection in Early- and Late-Stage Lung and Breast Cancers. Integrative Cancer Therapies 2006; 5(1), 30-9.
[edit] External links
- Maggot Therapy Project web site at the University of California, Irvine, list of maggot therapy practitioners
- http://www.bterfoundation.org/ BioTherapeutics Education and Research Foundation
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1024_031024_maggotmedicine.html