HIRUDOTHERAPY IN THE COMPLEX TREATMENT OF DIABETIC FOOT SYNDROME

Abstract

The most widespread use of medical leeches was in the XVII—XVIII centuries in Europe for bloodletting in connection with the concept of "bad blood", which then prevailed in medicine. In order to release bad blood, doctors sometimes put up to 40 leeches to one patient at a time. Preference over vein bloodletting was given to them in case of need for bloodletting from hard-to-reach or tender places (for example, gums). In the period from 1829 to 1836, 33 million leeches were used for treatment in France per year, in London — up to 7 million with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants. Russia supplied Europe with about 70 million leeches a year. In the middle of the XIX century, bloodletting was abandoned, and the use of leeches in Europe and America practically ceased. Scientific research on the mechanisms of action of leeches on humans began in the late XIX — early XX century with the work of John Haycraft, who discovered the anticoagulant effect of leech extract. In 1884, he discovered an enzyme from leech saliva — girudin, and in 1902 preparations from girudin were obtained. These studies marked the beginning of the scientific application of anticoagulants in medicine.