Leech therapy is a natural treatment method using leeches, which has been known for centuries to alleviate various health ailments. The earliest mentions of the beneficial effects of leeches on human health date back to ancient Egypt, more than 3,000 years ago. Ancient Greeks and Romans also knew how to make use of them. Centuries ago, it was observed that medicinal leeches could help combat skin diseases, eliminate varicose veins, and support the fight against hypertension and atherosclerosis. Today, the relevance of using leech therapy in cosmetology and dermatology is confirmed. But have leeches always been used solely for medical purposes?
Leech therapy in ancient Egypt
The documented use of leeches for treating various diseases dates back to the dawn of civilization. Leech images can be found on frescoes in the Egyptian Pyramids. Centuries ago, society believed blood was the dwelling place of demons, evil spirits, and other undesirable creatures causing diseases and unpleasant ailments. It was thought that with bloodletting, all health problems would disappear as if by magic. Therefore, in ancient Egypt, people who often fell ill were recommended bloodletting to eliminate “corrupted blood”. The procedure involved cutting, puncturing the patient’s skin, and applying leeches to the site. One such treatment was immortalized in a wall painting found in the tomb of the scribe Userhat from the 18th dynasty. It depicts a person taking leeches out of a vessel and applying them to a patient.
Leech treatment in ancient Greece and Rome
In Greece, similar to Egypt, bloodletting was used to treat infectious diseases. Blood was often drawn from a vein in the elbow joint, but this was not the only site. Cuts were made, and leeches were applied to veins under the knee, on the foot, and even under the tongue.
Nicander of Colophon (Nikandros) – a physician, poet, and grammarian – is considered the precursor of the therapeutic method known today as leech therapy. In the 2nd Century BC, he published works describing the rationale for using snake and insect bites, including the favourable properties of leeches.
Hippocrates, considered the father of medicine, also wrote a work on leeches entitled: “Methods of Applying Medicinal Leeches”.
From Greece, leeches quickly spread to Rome. Romans were the first to use the modern name leech.
In Greece and Rome, leeches were used against fever to treat inflammations, malaria, and liver inflammation. Treatment methods involving them were also applied to hard-to-heal wounds.
Leeches in the Bible
Evidence of using leeches for medicinal purposes is also found in the Bible. Information about them can be read in chapter 30 of the Proverbs of Solomon, where a description of a leech, mysteriously called “aluka”, “haluka”, and “gnaluka”, appears. In the original language of the Bible, the name leech comes from the Hebrew word Alukah, meaning “to be bound”. It was believed that a leech is bound to human skin like a person is to their fate. At first glance, it is apparent that leeches in the Bible are perceived as creatures to be feared. It can be surmised that the behaviour of leeches inhabiting water bodies in Palestine was well-known centuries ago.
Unconventional leech treatment methods in the Middle Ages
In medieval Europe, leeches gained immense popularity, and their use for various ailments was a generally accepted medical method. Leeches were sold everywhere and could be bought by anyone. Physicians prescribed leeches for all diseases, especially for oedema, hard-to-heal wounds, varicose veins, inflammations, atherosclerosis, hypertension, haemorrhoids, and rheumatic pains.
Physicians believed that more leeches could only help, so they prescribed them in massive doses, e.g., several hundred leeches per session. They became so popular that they started to be used not only for therapeutic but also for preventive purposes. Both healthy and sick people, poor and rich, used this natural method. Quickly, leech treatment began to be overused, leading to scepticism about its effectiveness. Medicinal leeches became most widespread in the 19th Century in France and the British Isles, where the consumption of leeches reached about 80 million per year. Such high demand led to their extinction in natural habitats.
In Russia, the population learned about leech therapy, among others, from the distinguished physician – Zakharin. During his 45-year medical practice, Zakharin performed treatments involving leeches to treat various diseases, even using them to treat the royal family. In one of his lectures, he presented a case of a patient who bled for several days, and no means could stop the bleeding until leeches finally. It brought relief.
In the Middle Ages, leeches became almost fashionable. Their image began to appear on clothing, furniture, works of art, and even jewellery. They were used not only to improve health but also beauty. Women believed that regular application of leeches would naturally enhance their beauty.
Leech therapy history – Europe in the 18th and 19th Centuries
The annual consumption of tens of millions of leeches in France generated more revenue from their sales than from selling grains and agricultural products. Similar consumption was observed in Russia and England. Among French physicians, there was a belief that treating most diseases should involve anti-inflammatory action, in which leeches were to help. The demand for leeches continued to grow, and the number of these precious creatures in nature was dwindling. When the deficit became noticeable, European entrepreneurs began searching for new sources of leeches and found them in Russia. They came up with the idea of subleasing its territories, catching leeches, and sending them abroad. The annual export of leeches brought an income of 6 million rubles. The Russian authorities quickly ended this practice by issuing a ban on catching and exporting leeches and a decree on creating unique leech farms. The first leech farm was established in Moscow at the beginning of the 19th Century. It produced over half a million of these creatures, which allowed supplying all pharmacies and physicians. No medic did not have at least one medicinal leech; most physicians carried a whole set. Bloodletting became a cure-all, alleviating pain, neutralizing all ailments, improving health, and positively affecting appearance. This continued until science and industry developed, and antibiotics and drugs replaced leeches.
Leeches in the early 20th Century
At the beginning of the 20th Century, interest in leech therapy waned, and in European countries, bloodletting was no longer believed to make any sense. Great hopes were placed in modern medicine and innovative treatment methods. Although the use of medicinal leeches was questioned by many for a time, medicine gave them a second chance in the 1990s. Evidence emerged that leeches’ action was not limited to bloodletting alone. In 1884, British physiologist Professor John Haycraft discovered that blood sucked from a human body into a leech’s digestive tract does not clot or spoil and that the leech produces a powerful anticoagulant substance, which he named hirudin. Over time, more than a hundred other organic chemical compounds produced by medicinal leeches, showing desirable therapeutic properties, were isolated, ensuring the medicinal leech’s return to favour.
Leech therapy today
Physicians long resisted recognizing leeches as an effective method for numerous health ailments. Subsequent scientific studies confirming the rationale for using leeches in disease therapy have led to their effectiveness being unquestioned today. Nowadays, leech therapy offers many benefits. Currently, leeches are the most potent natural medicine supporting the circulatory system. Compounds that leeches inject into the blood with their saliva help with allergies, skin diseases, headaches, hard-to-heal wounds, hematomas, and clots. Evidence shows that leeches combat stomach and duodenal ulcers and treat varicose veins, venous thrombosis, pulmonary and bronchial diseases, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. Some proof leeches help in the fight against haemorrhoids, sciatica, spinal diseases, impotence, prostate issues, and some female diseases. Their effectiveness depends on individual conditions, including body weight, sex, and disease progression.