WEBVTT - What Would Happen If You Swallowed a Leech?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff, Lauren Vogelbaum.

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<v Speaker 1>Here just a heads up, this episode gets a little gross.

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<v Speaker 1>In case you didn't see the title or description before

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<v Speaker 1>it started, It's about leeches and what would happen if

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<v Speaker 1>you swallowed one. If that's not what you're into hearing

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<v Speaker 1>about today, go on and skip it. Okay, okay. So.

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<v Speaker 1>In eighteen ninety five, one surgeon, Lieutenant Ta Granger of

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<v Speaker 1>the British Indian Army wrote a letter to the British

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<v Speaker 1>Medical Journal to report a stomach turning case of parasitic

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<v Speaker 1>infestation that he encountered at his colonial outpost. While working

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<v Speaker 1>at a fort in the Northwest Provinces of India, Granger

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<v Speaker 1>received a letter from an officer asking for his help

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<v Speaker 1>with an unusual medical complaint. According to the note, a

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<v Speaker 1>local man had a leech attached to the inside of

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<v Speaker 1>his throat. At first, Granger assumed it couldn't be true,

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<v Speaker 1>but he agreed to see the patient. By Granger's account,

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<v Speaker 1>the patient was an elderly man with a gray beard, who,

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<v Speaker 1>when Granger came within sight, immediately spat out a heavy

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<v Speaker 1>mouthful of thick, blackened blood. As though to demonstrate that

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<v Speaker 1>his complaint was real. With the help of interpreters, Granger

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<v Speaker 1>asked the man about his condition. He revealed that eleven

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<v Speaker 1>days previous, he had been drinking out of a rainwater

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<v Speaker 1>tank when he suddenly felt something catch in his throat.

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<v Speaker 1>When he tried to cough it up, he couldn't. Then

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<v Speaker 1>the thing caught in his throat began to move. He

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<v Speaker 1>had difficulties swallowing and felt like he was going to

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<v Speaker 1>choke on the writhing obstruction, and it caused him to

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<v Speaker 1>vomit and spit up blood repeatedly. When Granger first looked

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<v Speaker 1>inside the old man's throat, he was able to remove

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<v Speaker 1>a clot of blood, but couldn't see any parasites. If

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<v Speaker 1>it was there, it had to be deeper, so the

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<v Speaker 1>surgeon lieutenant produced a pair of polypus forceps, essentially very

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<v Speaker 1>long tweezers with scissor handles, and reached into the hidden

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<v Speaker 1>depths of the man's lower pharynx near the esophagus. There,

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<v Speaker 1>through the instrument, Grainger detected the presence of an object

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<v Speaker 1>and could feel it moving. With the tips of the forceps,

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<v Speaker 1>he grasped the squirming obstruction and with considerable force pulled

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<v Speaker 1>it out. Indeed, it was a leech some two and

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<v Speaker 1>a half inches long that's around six and a half centimeters,

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<v Speaker 1>with a body shaped like the bullets of the British

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<v Speaker 1>infantry used in their lee Metford rifles. This slimy, writhing

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<v Speaker 1>rifle cartridge, engorged with human blood, had been living in

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<v Speaker 1>the man's pharynx for eleven days. Granger's letter to the

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<v Speaker 1>British Medical Journal does not go on to report what

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<v Speaker 1>happened to the old man, but after an experience like this,

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<v Speaker 1>one would hope that the worst was already behind him.

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<v Speaker 1>When it comes to leeches in the throat, Grainger's report

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<v Speaker 1>is not an isolated incident. Granger himself reported hearing stories

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<v Speaker 1>of other cases like this in neighboring towns, and the

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<v Speaker 1>phenomenon is by no means limited to nineteenth century India.

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<v Speaker 1>Getting a leech attached to the inside of a body

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<v Speaker 1>cavity is common enough that there are special medicalized terminologies

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<v Speaker 1>for it, such as leech and no parasitism or internal

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<v Speaker 1>here udoniasis. These are phrases that most of us would

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<v Speaker 1>probably rather not have in our vocabulary, but even today,

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<v Speaker 1>in the twenty first century, people still show up at

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<v Speaker 1>hospitals around the world with leeches stuck inside their throats.

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<v Speaker 1>Strictly speaking, the leech is a type of worm phylum

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<v Speaker 1>Anellida subclass here Udinia, from which we get the aforementioned

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<v Speaker 1>word here youdeniasis, which is the condition of being parasitized

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<v Speaker 1>by a leech. The leeches have squishy, segmented bodies imagine

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<v Speaker 1>rings like on an earthworm, and they have suckers at

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<v Speaker 1>both ends, one large sucker at the rear of the

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<v Speaker 1>body used for crawling and leverage, and a smaller sucker

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<v Speaker 1>at the front containing the jaws and mouth. Not all

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<v Speaker 1>leeches drink blood, Some scavenge for detritis, and some are

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<v Speaker 1>predatory hunters. But the leech we know best is the

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<v Speaker 1>type of parasite that clamps onto a larger host and

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<v Speaker 1>steadily drains all the blood it can, often until the

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<v Speaker 1>leech's body has swollen to around ten times its original size.

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<v Speaker 1>In the wild, leeches drink from all manner of hosts,

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<v Speaker 1>such as mammals, fish, and amphibians. When the leech bites,

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<v Speaker 1>it makes a wide shaped incision in the skin with

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<v Speaker 1>three curved jaws covered in serrated teeth like tiny circular

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<v Speaker 1>saws and then extracts blood with a muscular sucking action.

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<v Speaker 1>The saliva of the leech is known to contain a

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<v Speaker 1>cocktail of drugs to ease the process, including her youdin,

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<v Speaker 1>a polypeptide that prevents blood from clotting. It was first

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<v Speaker 1>isolated in and thus named after leeches. Leeches are classically

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<v Speaker 1>known as external parasites, drawing their liquid diet through the

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<v Speaker 1>outer skin of the host, but given the opportunity, they'll

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<v Speaker 1>feed from internal surfaces too, basically any that they can reach.

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<v Speaker 1>Humans have an unusual relationship with leeches that's perhaps unique

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<v Speaker 1>among all the world's parasites. The use of leeches is

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<v Speaker 1>pervasive throughout the history of medicine. In some historical periods

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<v Speaker 1>they were so commonly used as instruments of bloodletting. The

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<v Speaker 1>collecting wild leeches was a solid money making operation, and

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<v Speaker 1>although it might eke us out today, the human taste

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<v Speaker 1>for therapeutic parasitism did not stop at the outer skin.

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<v Speaker 1>During the leech craze, leeching enthusiasts opened many of their

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<v Speaker 1>bodily orifices and internal cavities to these prized worms, and

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<v Speaker 1>with the help of varying medical technology. In an article

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<v Speaker 1>on the technological history of leeching published in twenty eleven

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<v Speaker 1>in the journal Medical History, the authors wrote the opening

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<v Speaker 1>of the interior of the body often required the physical

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<v Speaker 1>alteration of the leech, for example, the attachment of thread

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<v Speaker 1>to prevent the loss of the leech within, or the

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<v Speaker 1>supplementation of the leech with mechanical tools to enable the

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<v Speaker 1>passage of the creature into locations such as the anus,

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<v Speaker 1>where it was recommended as a means to treat problematic prostates.

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<v Speaker 1>There are even a few limited ways in which leeches

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<v Speaker 1>have proven useful, though perhaps still controversial, in the science

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<v Speaker 1>based medicine of recent decades, such as to ensure that

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<v Speaker 1>veins are working properly and aren't overfilling or distending after microsurgery.

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<v Speaker 1>Leech infestations of the throat are rare these days, especially

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<v Speaker 1>in developed countries with easy access to clean water, but

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<v Speaker 1>it can still happen. Possible symptoms of a leech in

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<v Speaker 1>the throat are difficulty swallowing, sore throat, coughing up or

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<v Speaker 1>vomiting blood, a sense of having a foreign body in

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<v Speaker 1>the throat, molina, which is the term for dark, sticky

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<v Speaker 1>feces indicating the swallowing of blood, a feeling of suffocation

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<v Speaker 1>or shortness of breath, and or harsh or raspy breathing.

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<v Speaker 1>If you think that you've got a leech in your

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<v Speaker 1>throat right now, don't panic. Just see a doctor as

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<v Speaker 1>soon as you can. With modern imaging and local anesthesia,

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<v Speaker 1>the ordeal will likely be more awkward and sort of

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<v Speaker 1>gnarally than anything else, though it can be dangerous if

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<v Speaker 1>the parasite obstructs any part of the airway. If the

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<v Speaker 1>doctor knows what to look for and has a pair

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<v Speaker 1>of blunt forceps on hand, chances are good that you'll

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<v Speaker 1>be just fine. But of course the best case scenario

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<v Speaker 1>is to avoid the problem entirely, which these cases seem

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<v Speaker 1>to indicate. You can do by drinking only from clean

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<v Speaker 1>water sources or filtering and purifying all the water you use,

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<v Speaker 1>and also by avoiding swimming in any water that might

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<v Speaker 1>be infested with leeches. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article Here's what Happens when you swallow a leech on

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<v Speaker 1>HowStuffWorks dot com, written by Joe McCormick. If after that

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<v Speaker 1>you want to hear more from Joe, you can find

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<v Speaker 1>him on the podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, and it is produced by Tyler klang A.

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<v Speaker 1>Four more podcasts from iHeartRadio. Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.