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Earthworms: Sources of Antimicrobial and Anticancer Molecules

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Book cover Complementary and Alternative Approaches to Biomedicine

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 546))

Abstract

According to Reynolds and Reynolds, (1972) few people know of the earthworm’s long association with medicine, yet documents recording its use in various remedies date back to 1340 A.D.1, 2 For instance, doctors practicing folk medicine in Burma and India use earthworms in treatment of various diseases. In Burma, the primary use for earthworms is in the treatment of a disease called ye se kun byo, which display the symptoms of pyorrhea. The worms are heated in a closed pot until reduced to ashes and these ashes are used either alone as a tooth powder, or for greater palatability, are combined with roasted tamarind seeds and betel nuts.3 With another disease meephwanoyeekhun thwaykhan, women generally feel postpartal weakness and are unable to nurse their infant. Worms are boiled in water with salt and onions and the clear fluid is decanted and mixed with the patient’s food.3 It is interesting to note that the patient is kept ignorant of the nature of the medicine!

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Comparative Immunology, Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

    Edwin L. Cooper

  2. National Laboratory of Protein Engineering, College of Life Science, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Binggen Ru

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Science, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Ning Weng

Authors
  1. Edwin L. Cooper
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  2. Binggen Ru
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  3. Ning Weng
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA

    Edwin L. Cooper

  2. Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada, Ishikawa, Japan

    Nobuo Yamaguchi

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© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Cooper, E.L., Ru, B., Weng, N. (2004). Earthworms: Sources of Antimicrobial and Anticancer Molecules. In: Cooper, E.L., Yamaguchi, N. (eds) Complementary and Alternative Approaches to Biomedicine. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 546. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4820-8_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4820-8_25

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3441-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4820-8

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