1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you should know from house stuff Works 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: There's Charles w Chuck Bryant, and uh no one, no 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,080 Speaker 1: one else is in here with us yet again, because 5 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: we've graduated to the point where we don't even need 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: a producer. We need somebody who presses record and leaves. 7 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: That's it. Because we're pros. Yep, not p R O 8 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: s E. P r O S that's right, we're not. 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: But we are prosaic, yes, but definitely not p r 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: O apostrophe es. Very few things drive me crazier than that, 11 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: And I know it's stupid and pedantic, but to see, 12 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: like somebody take out a huge billboard or something and 13 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: so a word has an apostrophe. That shouldn't pros. People say, like, 14 00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,800 Speaker 1: leave it to the pros and they'll put an apostrophe. Yes, 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: and it's it's that graphic designer should be, you know, 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: doctor half a day's paying maybe bucks. Something we want 17 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: to issue and you probably would get this from the 18 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: title of the episode, but we want to issue a 19 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: meal warning. Oh good thinking, because we've gotten complaints in 20 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 1: the past when people are eating and get sick listening 21 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: to some of these. Yeah, this would do it possibly 22 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:23,119 Speaker 1: for some people. I was fine. I ate a running 23 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: yolk egg sandwich while I was right. It didn't bother me, 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: but I could totally see how it could be any people. 25 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:33,600 Speaker 1: I also want to say, um, if it comes up, 26 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: do not go Google image search wound sloth. Well, I 27 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: just put do not Google image search maggot therapy at all. Okay, sure, 28 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: but definitely stay away from wound sloth s l o 29 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: U g h. Yeah wow, and definitely don't look at 30 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:56,840 Speaker 1: wound slough while you're eating. Yeah. Okay, so that's all 31 00:01:56,880 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: out of the way. Yes, I predict we're going to 32 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: be kind of excited about this one. I'm feeling a 33 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: little pumped about it. Well, we did cover in uh 34 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:08,000 Speaker 1: tin Bizarre medical Treatments uh leech therapy, which is still 35 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: being used, and I'm surprised this wasn't in that article. 36 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,280 Speaker 1: To be honest, I am as well. But this gets 37 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: its own special deal, and well it should actually because 38 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:22,520 Speaker 1: it's a pretty amazing thing. Um, we're talking about maggot therapy. 39 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,359 Speaker 1: Yes it is so, or they really or is that 40 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: a name? Well, it's a band name. To end all 41 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,080 Speaker 1: band names. There probably wasn a band name that. So 42 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,919 Speaker 1: there's it's called maggot therapy, maggot dibridement therapy, larval therapy, 43 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,800 Speaker 1: or bio. There's another one called I think like bio 44 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: biodebridements or therapeutic wound miasses. Yeah, and that's basically all 45 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: the all of them, no matter what you call it, 46 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: no matter how you church it up. It is the 47 00:02:55,320 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: application of live maggots fly larva to purposefully to an 48 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: open wound in order to help that wound heal faster. Yeah, 49 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: and better and cleaner and all that good stuff everything. 50 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: Daft Punk said, Oh yeah, you know, should we talk 51 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: about some of the history of this stuff. Let's just 52 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:22,280 Speaker 1: say that one more time. Okay. Maggot de bridemant therapy 53 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: is taking live maggots and putting them in an open 54 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: wound on a human being or an animal. It's used 55 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,519 Speaker 1: in veterinary medicine as well, wrapping it up tight and 56 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:34,880 Speaker 1: letting them just eat the dead and dying flesh of 57 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:39,120 Speaker 1: that wound while you get your foot tickled. Okay, I 58 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: would be so skiped out by this. I just wanted 59 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: to make sure that everybody knows exactly what we're talking about, right, 60 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: and goodbye to everyone everyone who fainted. Okay, yeah, let's 61 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: talk about the history, chuck, because this is um, this 62 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: is in use today, but it's actually pretty old. Yeah, 63 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's some say it's an even an 64 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: ancient tradition like in place is like Burma in Central 65 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: America with the Mayans. Um, they were smart enough to 66 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: know that maggots do a pretty good job of consuming 67 00:04:08,720 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: human flesh. Uh, And it can be used for good 68 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: in that regard. Yeah, at some point, I guess healer's noticed, 69 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: like y, people who had maggots in their wounds tended 70 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: to have wounds heal Uh. And actually, as far as 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,679 Speaker 1: the Western literature goes, that's exactly how UM maggot therapy 72 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: first finds its way, first crawls into the medical literature 73 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:38,239 Speaker 1: is from a French surgeon named Ambro Ambras Pore. Yeah, 74 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 1: but how would you say, I don't know, I don't 75 00:04:40,480 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 1: speak French Ambras even though it doesn't have the little 76 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: what is that an accent? Yeah, it's just the e. 77 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: But he was a sixteenth century surgeon and he noticed that, um, 78 00:04:54,440 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: that people didn't necessarily fall over dead if there was 79 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:00,280 Speaker 1: a maggot in the wound. Yeah. He was a first 80 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: doctor to actually come out and say, you know, I 81 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:07,279 Speaker 1: had this patient got a big skull wound, and unbeknownst 82 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 1: to me, there were maggots in there. I saw them 83 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: crawling out one day and even though they had a 84 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: lot of bone. Um, the guy was great. He healed 85 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: like he lost a hand sized slab of skull and 86 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: he lived. And I think it might have something to 87 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: do with the maggots. Yeah, and he presumably wore a 88 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: helmet for the rest of his life. Probably he had 89 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: a probably big soft skull there. Uh. That was followed 90 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:37,720 Speaker 1: in uh with the mid seventeen hundreds by another Frenchy baron, 91 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:42,600 Speaker 1: Dominique Jean Laoie Uh, and he said, you know what, 92 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,159 Speaker 1: on this Egyptian expedition, Uh, these blue fly maggots are 93 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: actually doing the right thing and helping us out. So 94 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: it's almost like these doctors just noticed this exactly and 95 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: it meant enough to him that they were like, I 96 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: should probably write this down. This is gonna be my 97 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: contribution to medical history of the history of science right there. Um. 98 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: So it wasn't until the uh, I guess the Civil 99 00:06:09,160 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: War that a doctor actually said I'm going to purposefully 100 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: put maggots in a wound and see what happens. And 101 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,280 Speaker 1: that doctor was John Forney Zacharias. He probably didn't tell 102 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: his patient that. I think probably that he was just like, 103 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: just bite down on this brooms and look the other way. 104 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: Do you want to lose your foot or do you 105 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: want to try something really weird? Well, supposedly in studies 106 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,760 Speaker 1: of people, modern patients who are offered this therapy say 107 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: yes to it. Well, yeah, because I think that's what 108 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: it comes down to you. It's a last resort. Basically, 109 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: it's not the first thing they offer, not necessarily. Um So, anyway, 110 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: doctor Zacharias um Hey had a great quote. He said, 111 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: during my service in the hospital at Danville, Virginia, I 112 00:06:50,360 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: first used maggots to remove the decayed tissue in Hospital 113 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: Gang Green, and with my eminent satisfaction, in a single day, 114 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: they would clean a wound much better than any agents 115 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: we had at our command. I used them afterwards at 116 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:05,840 Speaker 1: various places. I am sure I saved many lives by 117 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:11,200 Speaker 1: their use escape septicemia and had rapid recoveries period. End quote. 118 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: Pretty great. Yeah, So he was a huge believer and 119 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 1: not just a passive observer like people who came before him. 120 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: He said, yeah, I put maggots on wounds and it helps, 121 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: that's right. And uh, people experimented with it for a 122 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 1: little while until um, a guy named Louis Pasteur and 123 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: Robert Coke came along, Uh, microbiologists and germ theorists that 124 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 1: basically said, you know this, this is disgusting. We might 125 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: want to not do this. Yeah, because they're dirty. Yeah, yeah, 126 00:07:40,600 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: And it's true maggots naturally in the wild carry lots 127 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: of pathogens with them that um can infect us in 128 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: other ways, can make a wound worse, can actually kill you. 129 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 1: So this the idea behind germ theory as far as 130 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:57,920 Speaker 1: maggots goes right. But um, it seems like there's this 131 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: long history of necessity and discussed with maggot therapy that 132 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: kind of wayne ebbs and flows right, and necessity rears 133 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: its head on the battlefield. It did in the Civil War, 134 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: and it also did in World War One. There was 135 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: a surgeon um named William S. Baer, and he was 136 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: working on the front lines in France, and he used 137 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 1: maggots on stomach wounds and open fractures and he found, 138 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: to his great satisfaction, just like Dr Zacharias and the 139 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: other before him, that this stuff actually worked. Yeah, and 140 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: he actually said, you know what, I have some further advancements. UM, 141 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: maybe we should put a bandage over this thing so 142 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 1: it doesn't completely discussed the patient. Uh, and let me 143 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: UM put bandages around the wound so they don't start 144 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: creeping onto the healthy flesh and doing damage or just 145 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: itching you or creeping you out further right exactly, UM, 146 00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: which are still in use today. These techniques. He also 147 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,240 Speaker 1: pioneered another huge technique, and this is after the war 148 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: was over. Ten years later, when he was back at 149 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: Johns Hopkins UM. He he pioneered another really important technique, 150 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 1: and that was using sterilized UM maggots. Like germ free maggots, 151 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: they were raised as eggs in a sterile environment, and 152 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,559 Speaker 1: so when they were introduced to the wounds, they weren't 153 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: carrying these pathogens anymore. And he found this is the jackpot. 154 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: Now you can use maggots from now on. That's right. 155 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: And there was a big boom uh in the thirties 156 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: up until the mid nineteen forties. Uh, three hundred more 157 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: than three hundred American hospitals. Uh, we're using maggot treatment, 158 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: maggot therapy. And then in uh, antiseptics came along, or 159 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: you know, new antiseptics, and they said, you know what, 160 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: maybe there was another lull in the use of maggot. 161 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 1: They right, necessity didn't didn't spur this stuff, and it 162 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: was they went back to just being gross again. There 163 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,720 Speaker 1: was a guy UM who by the eighties wrote what 164 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: what this one article calls the majority opinion. Fortunately, maggot 165 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: therapy is now relegated to a historical backwater of interest, 166 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: more for its bizarre nature than its effect on the 167 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: course of medical science. A therapy the demise of which 168 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: no one is likely to mourn. That's just that kind 169 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: of Western medicine hubris, where like we can do anything 170 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: except everything, you know, that's right. And in the nineteen nineties, 171 00:10:21,240 --> 00:10:26,479 Speaker 1: UM a dude named Ronald Sherman and Edward Pector basically 172 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: champion the technique again and kind of brought it into 173 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,439 Speaker 1: the modern age. Yeah, and still very much is UM. 174 00:10:34,559 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: Ronald Sherman is one of the first, i think, to 175 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:43,560 Speaker 1: receive a license to produce sterile maggots for use as 176 00:10:43,640 --> 00:10:47,679 Speaker 1: medical devices. Um. And there's another guy over in uh 177 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: the UK named John Church um who uh who brought 178 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: the maggot their maggot therapy into the four So it 179 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,959 Speaker 1: was an ancient thing, it was. It's found to be disgusting, 180 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:04,520 Speaker 1: it's found to be useful, it's found to be disgusting. 181 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: It's it's found ways you can make it better. It's 182 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: found to be disgusting. And then now that this idea 183 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: of complimentary medicine is is kind of regaining some traction again. Um, 184 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:18,839 Speaker 1: I think it's here to stay, though I think so too, 185 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 1: unless someone comes along in ten years is you know 186 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 1: what it's disgusting, well, you know the chuck. I mean 187 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: probably what we're seeing is the next thing that will 188 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,839 Speaker 1: happen is there will be some huge leap, some huge 189 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: development in science, and science will get its tackles up 190 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 1: again and great about itself and we don't need any 191 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: of that stupid nastiness. And then we'll find that Nope, 192 00:11:38,320 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: you still can't beat good old fashioned maggots. And that's 193 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 1: that should be the title of this thing. You can't 194 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: beat good old fashioned maggots for healing a wound that 195 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: won't heal otherwise it's a great title. So you want 196 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,840 Speaker 1: to take a break. Uh, yeah, let's do it, and 197 00:11:51,880 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 1: we'll go um treat our own wounds and we'll be 198 00:11:54,840 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: back shortly. All right, Let's talk about diabetes for a second. Yeah, 199 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: more than twenty three million Americans are affected with diabetes. 200 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,880 Speaker 1: And one thing that can happen, uh is nerve damage, 201 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: especially in the extremities the hands and feet and the 202 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: toes and the and the fingers. Your blood vessels become 203 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,079 Speaker 1: hard and they don't circulate the blood like you need. 204 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: That can lead to open sores called ulcers, which can 205 00:12:52,040 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: become infections, which can spread to nearby bone, which can 206 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: lead to amputation. Yeah. It all this is just from 207 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,440 Speaker 1: a long exposure to high levels of blood sugar and 208 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: they're not sure how it can do it. But yeah, 209 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: the blood, the blood vessels not helping pump blood very well, 210 00:13:08,160 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: get nutrients, or your tissue can die. But also that neuropathy, 211 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:15,800 Speaker 1: that dead and nerve cell um that actually makes it 212 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,760 Speaker 1: hard for you to notice. If you have like a 213 00:13:18,840 --> 00:13:20,959 Speaker 1: really bad ulcer on the bottom of your foot, you 214 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: can't feel it and so you don't get treatment early enough, 215 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: so it can get an infection can get out of 216 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: hand and when it spreads to bone that's called osteomyelitis. 217 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: That's problematic because that very quickly will lead to an amputation. 218 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:38,120 Speaker 1: And there's some pretty shocking stats here from this article 219 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: that Tom wrote. Um about this sheave jam Yeah nice, 220 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: it's yeah for sure, Um. But about amputations from diabetes. Yes, 221 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 1: seventy thousand to foot and leg amputations each year in 222 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:54,960 Speaker 1: the United States alone, and uh they say around the world, 223 00:13:55,200 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: they estimate every thirty seconds someone gets a limb cut 224 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: off because of diabetes. Yeah, that's sad, Yeah, it really is, 225 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:04,880 Speaker 1: and we should We will do one on diabetes for sure. 226 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:09,360 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm surprised we haven't already. Um. But the 227 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:16,360 Speaker 1: so amputation is used to halt the progress of an infection, 228 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: and that's usually the last resort. But what's what Tom 229 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,560 Speaker 1: points out is that there are plenty of doctors around 230 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,960 Speaker 1: the world I imagine that aren't aware that you can 231 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,680 Speaker 1: use maggots or have never done it before. And if 232 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: you are facing an amputation from say like a wound, 233 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,600 Speaker 1: a persistent wound, a chronic wound that won't heal, um, 234 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: you may want to suggest maggots to your doctor. You 235 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: may have to actually take this the the initiative on 236 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: this one, and say, let's make sure the amputation is 237 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 1: the absolute last resort. Let's see if we can put 238 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: one more resort in there before then. I'm willing to 239 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: let maggots crawl inside my body in this wound is 240 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: open wound if you're willing to apply them. And they like. 241 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: Doctors love hearing when patients suggest treatments. Oh, they do. 242 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,320 Speaker 1: They love feedback. They love to be guided in their 243 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 1: diagnoses and prognoses. Yeah, I love it. That's a tough jam. 244 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: I get it. Doctors are frustrated a lot of these 245 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: days with self diagnosis and online doctoring. Sure, but you 246 00:15:17,600 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: should also be your own advocate. We can't be in 247 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: that before. Yeah, it's your leg. Yeah, if you want 248 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 1: to keep your leg, you tell that doctor to go 249 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: get some maggots. You're going to replace them with the 250 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:28,880 Speaker 1: doctor who will. How can I can find a guy? Yeah, 251 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: I can get a guy by noon that'll put maggots 252 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: on that wound. And actually there's a there's a group. 253 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 1: I think Ronald Sherman, the guy we mentioned earlier, who's 254 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:41,440 Speaker 1: like the the US champion of maggot therapy. Um, it's 255 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:44,280 Speaker 1: there's this group called the b Turf Foundation b t 256 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 1: e Er Foundation, UM, and they have all sorts of 257 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 1: resources for people in that very situation, like how to 258 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: talk to your doctor, UM that if your insurance won't 259 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: cover it, let them know, because they say insurance actually 260 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: most insurance covers maggot therapy, but most insurance claims people 261 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: are not aware of that, so you may get denied 262 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: at first. And here's how to talk to your insurance 263 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:12,120 Speaker 1: company that it really is. That beats going to your 264 00:16:12,160 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: doctor and saying, well, you know what Josh and Chuck said. 265 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,520 Speaker 1: He you're not gonna like hearing this, right because you think, doctor, 266 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: please take a sleep and be put maggots on my feet, right. 267 00:16:23,080 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 1: And and that's the other thing too. I mean, like 268 00:16:25,760 --> 00:16:29,120 Speaker 1: we wouldn't be suggesting this and the betur Foundation probably 269 00:16:29,120 --> 00:16:32,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't be such advocates for it if it didn't work 270 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:38,080 Speaker 1: so amazingly well. It study after study, and we'll talk 271 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: about the details of it, but there's so many studies 272 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: out there. UM. Again. Sherman, who agreed, is an advocate, 273 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 1: but in a pure reviewed journal published a survey of 274 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:51,000 Speaker 1: studies that he could find on maggot therapy and it's 275 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: very clear that it works really, really well, and not 276 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: only necessarily um as a means of last resort, but 277 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: even just compare to the standard of care using like 278 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,280 Speaker 1: hydrogell or other things that you might use to treat 279 00:17:05,320 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 1: a chronic wound. Maggots destroy it. They leave it in 280 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: the dust. Yeah. And if it doesn't work, it's not 281 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: gonna hurt anything, I can tell. Yeah, it just puts 282 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: off how much longer before they amputate your foot? Pretty much? 283 00:17:18,840 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: Uh So what will happen is they will Well, let's 284 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:24,480 Speaker 1: get into this a little bit. Um. There are four 285 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: different and you where did you find this? Was this 286 00:17:26,440 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: a a research paper? Yeah? This is by Ronald Sherman 287 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: Mechanisms of Maggot Induced Wound Healing colin What do we 288 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: know and where do we go from here? It was 289 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: in the journal Evidence Based, Complimentary and Alternative Medicine in 290 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:44,160 Speaker 1: two thousand fourteen, that's right. And he describes for different 291 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: phases of basically healing a wound um homeostasis, inflammation, ploriferate. Man, 292 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: I'm so bad at that one. Oh yeah, keep it coming, 293 00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: proliferation and uh, remodeling and maturing, and what happens is 294 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: the cells get to work, they recruit other cells, they 295 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:07,880 Speaker 1: alter their activities and basically say, let's get to work 296 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: cleaning and uh, well on all four of these stages 297 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: to help heal the wound. Yeah, and at any any 298 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,720 Speaker 1: one of those stages, um, the the next process can 299 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,479 Speaker 1: stall out. Um. Normally it stalls out at inflammation because 300 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: the infection gets out of hand in the body can't 301 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:32,719 Speaker 1: fight off the infection faster than it's laying the extra 302 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: cellular matrix for the new cells to be rebuilt, the 303 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,639 Speaker 1: new tissue to recro um. And that's that's it's a 304 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:43,440 Speaker 1: common thing that leads to chronic wounds that just won't heal. 305 00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: And that's where maggots are really really useful to basically 306 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: interrupt that stall and get the car moving again in 307 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,200 Speaker 1: the right direction. It's exactly right, they kick started. Uh 308 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,600 Speaker 1: So de Bradmant is removing dead tissue. And that is 309 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: really where maggots excel um. They said, Uh, in here, 310 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: each maggot can chew, well, they don't exactly chew, which 311 00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: we'll get to. Uh. They remove twenty five milligrams of 312 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: necrotic material dead flesh, uh in just twenty four hours. 313 00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: That's pretty good. Yeah, and uh, there's there's actually three 314 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: ways that maggots clean a wound. But the bridemant, which 315 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: is getting in there and like just cleaning out, removing 316 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:27,120 Speaker 1: physically removing um that dead material. That's like the key 317 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: that seems to be the key. And then there's also 318 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 1: um anti microbial activity like actually killing the bacteria that's 319 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,840 Speaker 1: killing the flesh, leaving it cleaner than when they came in, yeah, 320 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:43,640 Speaker 1: which is amazing. And then even more astounding, stimulating new growth, 321 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: like the act the presence of maggots in your wound 322 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 1: stimulates new tissue growth around your skin. It's the most 323 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:57,800 Speaker 1: they're just like wonder creatures who knew. One of the 324 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 1: ways that they remove this dead tissue is just by 325 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,160 Speaker 1: the nature of what their body is like. And they 326 00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: have these little prickly spines all over their body that 327 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,119 Speaker 1: act as a surgeon's rasp rasper or file what It 328 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,879 Speaker 1: basically just the fact that they're moving around on the 329 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: wound is going to like file the stuff down and 330 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: scrape the wound, which helps loosens it up. It's like 331 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: a plow. It burrows through this dying and dead tissue 332 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,880 Speaker 1: and it just yeah, it loosens up. That's part one 333 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,000 Speaker 1: of deprived Part one. There's another part of it, which 334 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: is the digestive enzymes that they excrete and secrete. It's 335 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: called alimentary secretions and excretions a s. It's basically they're 336 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: digestive juices, right, and they puke these up as they're 337 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: moving around, and they just they just puke them everywhere 338 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: and it dissolves this flesh. Yeah, I remember in the 339 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,239 Speaker 1: Body Farms episode we we talked about this one one 340 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:57,479 Speaker 1: of the old classics. And that's why I said earlier. 341 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,439 Speaker 1: They don't bite or choose something, they just lickquify it. 342 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:03,800 Speaker 1: And then and this this A s. C. Stuff is 343 00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,600 Speaker 1: so greedy that it liquefies more dead flesh than the 344 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: maggots can even consume, and they consume quite a bit, 345 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,560 Speaker 1: like you said, twenty five milligrams. That's a lot for 346 00:21:14,600 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: a little tiny maggot in one day. But even more 347 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: than that, they're liquefying even more of this dead tissue. 348 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,440 Speaker 1: So that part of the process of maggot debridemant therapy 349 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:30,560 Speaker 1: is draining out this liquefied necrotic tissue that's become liquefied 350 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:34,399 Speaker 1: from the alimentary or the the A S C stuff, 351 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:37,919 Speaker 1: the digest events ons, right, So you've got them burrowing around, 352 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:43,040 Speaker 1: you've got them puking into your wound, liquefying the dead tissue, 353 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,560 Speaker 1: leaving pretty much entirely the living tissue alone, and then 354 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: you just kind of drain out the stuff that's that's 355 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: in there. And the reason um that maggots are considered 356 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: by the FDA a medical device rather than a drug 357 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: is because the whole process of debridement isn't just a 358 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: reaction to the chemicals. It is part of that mechanical 359 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: movement of the maggots through the wound. So it's a drug, 360 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: it's a device. I mean it's a device. Look at them, yea. 361 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: And those that the secretions are so potent. They have 362 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 1: basically DNA destroying qualities, Like they not only just break 363 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: down tissue, they destroy the DNA. It's pretty amazing stuff 364 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: it is. Should we take another break? Yeah, I'm a 365 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: little excited. We probably should. I'm gonna go to the vomitorium. 366 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 1: Are you grossed out slightly? I am not in the least. 367 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: What does that say about me? I don't know. You 368 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: have a stronger stomach, but I don't necessarily. I'm I'm 369 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,639 Speaker 1: just excited. All right, we'll go watch me vomited. At 370 00:22:50,720 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: least that will gross me out, all right, Well that 371 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: was disgusting, it was. It made me throw up in turn. Uh. 372 00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:23,160 Speaker 1: So here's a couple of questions. Um, does it hurt 373 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,800 Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit at first. Yeah, I don't get 374 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: the feeling that it's extremely painful. It probably depends on 375 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,200 Speaker 1: the wound. Um, But it can the first few treatments 376 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: can apparently be a little bit painful. Right, And there's 377 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 1: there's actually two mechanisms for the pain. One is that 378 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: of an open wound, right, and you have maggots crawling 379 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:44,920 Speaker 1: over the exposed nerves in your open wound. That's not 380 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: gonna feel good, No, it won't. Uh. And then number two, 381 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: pressure in the wound can increase as the maggots get 382 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: bigger from eating so much dead flesh. So, yes, the 383 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:58,080 Speaker 1: the the cura to that is pain killers, which, frankly, 384 00:23:58,119 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 1: if you have an open wound with exposed is nerves, 385 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,200 Speaker 1: you should probably be on those anyway. Sure you will be, 386 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: so it probably won't hurt because there'll be some sort 387 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: of pain management going on, but you will still feel 388 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: most likely unless the doctor completely numbs the area. Maggots 389 00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: crawling around inside you see, That's what That's the part 390 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: that gets me is actually thinking about undergoing this therapy 391 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: myself is what gets me, not like seeing it or 392 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: reading about it, but thinking about having an open wound 393 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: on the bottom of my foot and having maggots creeping 394 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 1: around in there. See. The thing is is I think 395 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,320 Speaker 1: anybody would feel that way. There's very few, included myself. 396 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:37,360 Speaker 1: I'm not grossed up by this, but I wouldn't want 397 00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: maggots talking wound. But I think if your backs against 398 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,680 Speaker 1: the wall, uh that, or you lose your foot, I try. 399 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 1: I would definitely try. I think people would apparently man 400 00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:52,239 Speaker 1: and I would demand some high quality drugs. And they 401 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: also have um, what is it called amnesiotics to make 402 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: you forget about it so you can't form memor while 403 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,320 Speaker 1: it's happening. So maybe that would be a nice thing 404 00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,919 Speaker 1: to do too. So the other question is can you 405 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: just use any kind of maggot And the answer is no. 406 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,879 Speaker 1: What they found is the most useful is the larva 407 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: of the green blowfly. And like we said earlier, these 408 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: things are now grown just sort of like the medical 409 00:25:17,400 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: leeches there shipped and sterile containers. Uh, as if it 410 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: were medicine, even though it's a device and the B 411 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: T E R. Foundation. They go into a lot about this, 412 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,199 Speaker 1: like could anybody do this? And they say, well, no, 413 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: because you need a prescription. It's an FDA control yourself. 414 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:40,399 Speaker 1: But they say, anybody who can read can basically follow 415 00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: the instructions on the package. Yeah, I wouldn't. I mean, 416 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: I wouldn't advise that as your nondoctor. Sure, I'm not 417 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:49,440 Speaker 1: saying that either, but I mean this may be your 418 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: doctor's first time too. There. Their point was, it's not 419 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: it's not difficult, just follow the instructions on the packet. 420 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,800 Speaker 1: What if you went into your doctor though he got 421 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: the maggots out and he put on his bifocals, was like, 422 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:03,199 Speaker 1: all right, let's see how to do this right, or 423 00:26:03,280 --> 00:26:06,399 Speaker 1: like he tears the package open. They go everywhere you 424 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: have like Jerry Lewis as a doctor. Uh oh. But 425 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,159 Speaker 1: although they do say, um, you can't just load it 426 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 1: up with maggots. There should be no more than eight 427 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:18,280 Speaker 1: maggots per square centimeter. Yeah, I saw five to eight. 428 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,760 Speaker 1: And so when you have the maggots applied to your 429 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 1: UM wound. They're going to make sure that the healthy 430 00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 1: area around the wound is covered up so the maggots 431 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: can't get to it, which goes back to World War Two. 432 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:34,840 Speaker 1: They're going to cover it, cover up the wound after 433 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,560 Speaker 1: they apply the maggots five to eight per square centimeter, 434 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:39,879 Speaker 1: like you say, they're gonna cover it up so they 435 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: can't wander off because maggots like to leave before their 436 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,200 Speaker 1: work is done. Um TV. They're full pretty much, UM, 437 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: but they can still eat more if you'll keep them 438 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:53,160 Speaker 1: in there, so they will cover up. They will put 439 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: the maggots in five to eight, cover it up with 440 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,280 Speaker 1: this bandage and basically they will just sit there and 441 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: eat for between forty eight and seventy two hours, and 442 00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: then the bandage will be removed. The maggots will then 443 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:12,160 Speaker 1: sadly be incinerated or put into an autoclave or put 444 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:16,120 Speaker 1: into a plasma gas of fire, or bronzed and hung 445 00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: on your wall for real, like an ant farm. Yeah, 446 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,040 Speaker 1: because it's like, thank you for this great contribution to 447 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,680 Speaker 1: saving my foot, Now go be autoclave today. I would 448 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:31,080 Speaker 1: name them and save them and preserve them. Um, you'd 449 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,919 Speaker 1: be violating, I'm sure all sorts of medical waste laws, 450 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,400 Speaker 1: but who cares and so and then that's that's what's 451 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,080 Speaker 1: called the treatment cycle, and most patients UH supposedly go 452 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,959 Speaker 1: between two and four treatment cycles. And again, while this 453 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: is happening, what's going on is the maggots are debriding 454 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:52,920 Speaker 1: the dead flesh, they're liquefying it, they're eating it, and 455 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:57,439 Speaker 1: they're also disinfecting it and stimulating growth. Right, pretty amazing. 456 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:00,920 Speaker 1: So with the with this, with the disinfecting, figured that 457 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: there was some sort of gut flora that the maggots 458 00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:09,520 Speaker 1: have that prevents them from being infected by microbial That 459 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 1: would make sense because they're in that rotting flesh as well, 460 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:15,200 Speaker 1: and they're right, So what gives Well, it turns out 461 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:19,360 Speaker 1: that there are a couple of um types of I'm 462 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:23,159 Speaker 1: not quite sure what what kind of um bacteria they are, 463 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: but they are. That's not true. The proteus mirabilious is 464 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,399 Speaker 1: a type of symbiotic microbe that you find in the 465 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,400 Speaker 1: gut of a maggot, right, And this thing just destroys 466 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:39,520 Speaker 1: microbial life. So it's killing the bacteria that's causing this 467 00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: infection in your wound. But there's something that that maggots. 468 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: This is yet another thing. So think about it, Chuck, 469 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: Like you said, maggots, the very structure of a maggot 470 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 1: body dibrides the wound. That's pretty amazing. This maggot anti 471 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,480 Speaker 1: microbial stuff not only does it kill microbes, it destroys 472 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:01,200 Speaker 1: the thing that naturally protects microbes, which called biofilm. Yeah, 473 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: we've talked about biofilm a lot on this show, and um, 474 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:08,960 Speaker 1: it's basically it's basically a film, like a literal film, 475 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:12,480 Speaker 1: like a They call it a polymeric matrix. But the 476 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 1: easiest way to say in Leyman's Terman is it's a film, right, 477 00:29:15,040 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: It's like a protective coding. Yeah, and the little spiny bodies, 478 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:19,920 Speaker 1: like one way they get rid of the thing is 479 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,360 Speaker 1: by roughing it up, And that's exactly what the little 480 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:25,120 Speaker 1: bodies do, right, And that's part of surgical derived mint 481 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 1: with like um, like going in there and scrubbing a wound, 482 00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: um with I don't know, steel wool or something like 483 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: that that will break up the biofilm. It's also must 484 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: be awfully painful, right. Maggots naturally can destroy not just 485 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: the bacteria, but also the biofilm that protects it too. 486 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: Which makes them extremely handy with things like MERSA and 487 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:53,600 Speaker 1: other antibiotic resistant um bacteria and all kinds of ulcers, right, 488 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,760 Speaker 1: not like internal ulcers, but the open wound kind right 489 00:29:56,840 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: exactly from diabetes, from bed sore um. And there's been 490 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 1: a lot of studies of people with bedstors that have 491 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:07,480 Speaker 1: found that maggots helped those kind of ulcers tremendously. So, uh, 492 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 1: let's talk about this one study or a couple of studies. Actually, UM, 493 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: there was one study of spinal cord injury patients that 494 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: had non healing ulcers, which is the problem. They monitored 495 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,200 Speaker 1: them over three to four weeks UM, and they were 496 00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: getting regular wound care at the same time, like sometimes 497 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: it's used in conjunction, I think usually is used in 498 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:33,280 Speaker 1: conjunction with like standard care. Uh. And they found that, uh, 499 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,920 Speaker 1: after three or four weeks of maggot therapy, tissue quality 500 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: and wound size were ressessed weekly, and they found that 501 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: debridement was achieved in less than fourteen days an average 502 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,480 Speaker 1: of ten days, and none of the control group wounds 503 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,920 Speaker 1: were more than fifty dibrided after a month. A month 504 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: not even half dibrided. None of the wounds not half 505 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,240 Speaker 1: the wounds were divided. None of the wounds were even 506 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:58,440 Speaker 1: half dibrided after a month, chuck of the control group, Yes, 507 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: amazing where they didn't use the mag gets that. Yes, 508 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,880 Speaker 1: that's that's objectively amazing it is. And then they did 509 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:09,000 Speaker 1: a larger clinical trial and found UH. This time they 510 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,480 Speaker 1: got two hundred and sixty three subjects, which is pretty 511 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: good for this kind of rare treatment for UH. And 512 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,360 Speaker 1: they found that um using the hydrogel which you mentioned earlier, 513 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: compression dressings, just the standard care. That was the control. Yeah, 514 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: that's obviously the control they um. It differed significantly between 515 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:30,480 Speaker 1: the three groups. Um, what was the third group? The 516 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: third group used bio bags, which are like it's like 517 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:34,960 Speaker 1: a little pouch. You said, it was like a rav 518 00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:38,240 Speaker 1: healthy Yeah, and it's filled with live maggots, but it 519 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: prevents them from burrowing. All it is is using their 520 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: chemical secretions. Yeah, I don't That to me is just 521 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:48,280 Speaker 1: like why go halfway? Right? Exactly? Well, people, I don't 522 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: want a maggot crawling in my wound, but a bag 523 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 1: of them is fine doing the shake shake near my wound. Right. So, um, 524 00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: it actually has been shown to be not nearly as 525 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:02,080 Speaker 1: effective as just letting what's called free range maggots burrow 526 00:32:02,160 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: through the wound. So they found the media time for 527 00:32:04,840 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: debryment was fourteen days with free range, twenty eight days 528 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: with the bag ravioli, and seventy two days for the control. Yeah, 529 00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:16,840 Speaker 1: that's pretty amazing. Yeah, Like I I don't know, I 530 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,680 Speaker 1: don't think it should be a last resort. You know, 531 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:22,960 Speaker 1: I agree, and I think that increasingly it's becoming less 532 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 1: and less of the last resort, because I mean, you 533 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,240 Speaker 1: can compare it to the control, Like the standard of 534 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: care took seventy two days for the wound to be divided, 535 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:35,479 Speaker 1: free range maggots fourteen days. That to me says that 536 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,360 Speaker 1: free range maggots top the standard of care as it 537 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:41,560 Speaker 1: stands right now. But like you say, there's a lot 538 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: of people who are saying, this is just a last resort. 539 00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: The next thing we're gonna do is amputate your foot. 540 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: But let's try this one last time. Or in the 541 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: case of persistent infections from like MERSA, where just antibiotics 542 00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:57,239 Speaker 1: just don't work, let's let's try maggots and see if 543 00:32:57,280 --> 00:32:59,400 Speaker 1: we can fix it. And maggots do work. There was 544 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:03,040 Speaker 1: a study that found that of thirteen people treated who 545 00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: had Merca treated with maggots alone. Twelve of the thirteen 546 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: had complete recovery and wound healing um from a mercer infection. 547 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,480 Speaker 1: Mercy's nasty stuff too. Yeah, I think did we do 548 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,320 Speaker 1: what I'm merca? I feel like we did. I know 549 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:21,880 Speaker 1: we've talked about it. I don't know if it got 550 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:23,800 Speaker 1: its own show, though it may have been in the 551 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: should we outlaw anti bacterial Soap episode? Well there's been 552 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,760 Speaker 1: a lot of them, almost eight hundred. Uh you got 553 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:42,320 Speaker 1: anything else? Surely I do, but I guess not. Um. 554 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Well, there's one other thing we kept kind 555 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: of teasing it. It actually stimulates growth. A couple of 556 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: studies have found that the presence of maggots um produce 557 00:33:54,760 --> 00:34:00,479 Speaker 1: more blood vessel redevelopment and tissue redevelopment than it's not 558 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: being present. So something about them actually stimulates tissue growth 559 00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:08,839 Speaker 1: and blood vessel growth, which promotes wound healing even more. 560 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,600 Speaker 1: Up with maggots. Up with maggots indeed, Man, I love them. 561 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:15,320 Speaker 1: I'm so psyched about maggots right now. Well, it definitely 562 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:17,160 Speaker 1: changes the way you think about them, Like next time 563 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: you see a the dead squirrel that you've killed. They're 564 00:34:22,080 --> 00:34:24,080 Speaker 1: clearly trying to bring it back to life. Yeah, and 565 00:34:24,120 --> 00:34:26,319 Speaker 1: you see the maggots you can. You don't think that's disgusting. 566 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,839 Speaker 1: You just think those are little things doing their thing, 567 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:32,440 Speaker 1: doing their thing. Little things doing their thing. Now I'm 568 00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,480 Speaker 1: going to auto clay them. That's right. If you want 569 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:38,279 Speaker 1: to know more about maggot therapy, you can type those 570 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,040 Speaker 1: words in the search bar at how stuff forks dot com. 571 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:47,879 Speaker 1: And since i said search parts, time forward listener, I'm 572 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:52,480 Speaker 1: gonna call this taking the task somewhat over a term. Guys, 573 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: I want to say you are my favorite podcast by far. 574 00:34:55,440 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: I've been listening since you were just a little five 575 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,440 Speaker 1: minute blurbs. Oh man, you sure have grown up. I've 576 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,240 Speaker 1: never written in before, but felt I had to comment 577 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,400 Speaker 1: on Josh's statement that climate change was for global warming 578 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:10,360 Speaker 1: was settled science. No, I'm not disputing the data that 579 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: shows an increase in global temperatures. While you can certainly 580 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,799 Speaker 1: argue it's accuracy, especially for older data, it's still just data. 581 00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,600 Speaker 1: It's not science. The part that gets me upset about 582 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: the term settled science that by definition, science is never settled, 583 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,040 Speaker 1: and that's in all caps. I think we talked a 584 00:35:27,040 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 1: lot about this as a scientific method up this stuff. 585 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,080 Speaker 1: You guys actually did a podcast on the scientific method, 586 00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: So you should know that at best you can show 587 00:35:35,080 --> 00:35:37,879 Speaker 1: a particular theory is supported by existing data and not 588 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,960 Speaker 1: contradicted by anything we know of at the time. But 589 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,600 Speaker 1: there's a reason that ultra successful theories like Muton's theory 590 00:35:43,600 --> 00:35:47,680 Speaker 1: of gravity hind science theory of relativity are still theories. 591 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,520 Speaker 1: They could be completely discredited by a single piece of 592 00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:53,080 Speaker 1: data contradicting them. So the whole idea of taking a 593 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:55,720 Speaker 1: body of fact saying it's settled is far more political 594 00:35:55,719 --> 00:35:58,960 Speaker 1: concept than scientific. When while people with various viewpoints in 595 00:35:59,000 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: the subject would like to have uh someplace to plant 596 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:06,880 Speaker 1: their ideological flag, saying something is indisputedly true as opposed 597 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:09,759 Speaker 1: to probably false is simply not something science and the 598 00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:13,160 Speaker 1: scientific method is equipped to do. In short, science is 599 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:16,160 Speaker 1: never settled. You cannot simply say this is true. Move on, 600 00:36:16,480 --> 00:36:19,280 Speaker 1: it's not how it works. And that is from Spencer 601 00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:22,960 Speaker 1: Carpenter right here in our own Smyrna, Georgia. We're not 602 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: in well, I mean it's it's nearby. What I just 603 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,880 Speaker 1: did is what Spencer just did. Spencer, I was using 604 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,320 Speaker 1: a literary device. I was actually using the same type 605 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:39,799 Speaker 1: of argument that science that non science climate deniers use 606 00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:44,560 Speaker 1: against scientists. I was basically saying, like, it's done, drop it. 607 00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:49,320 Speaker 1: There's enough science there to say you're you're you're wrong. 608 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,560 Speaker 1: Let's move on and just all except that climate science 609 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:55,720 Speaker 1: is going. It's a layoff. So that was a clever ruse. 610 00:36:56,320 --> 00:36:58,680 Speaker 1: It wasn't a ruse at all. It was it was 611 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:02,279 Speaker 1: just I was not be literal like apparently, which is 612 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,919 Speaker 1: what Spencer deals in literal terms. Uh, if you want 613 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 1: to take us to test because you are overly literal, 614 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:12,440 Speaker 1: we want to hear from you. You can tweet to 615 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,279 Speaker 1: us at s y s K podcast. You can join 616 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:17,960 Speaker 1: us on Facebook, dot com, slash stuff you Should Know. 617 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:20,759 Speaker 1: You can send us an email to Stuff Podcast at 618 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,319 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com and has always joined us 619 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 1: at our home on the web, Stuff you Should Know 620 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:33,240 Speaker 1: dot com For more on this and thousands of other topics, 621 00:37:33,480 --> 00:37:43,600 Speaker 1: is it how Stuff Works dot com