- Image via Wikipedia
Diabetic ulcer has become a very severe problem for people who have diabetes. In America, almost 24 million people suffer from this deadly disease. This affected group comprise of more than 7% of the whole population of the country. Of the number of people who suffer from diabetes, at least one in every five will suffer from ulcers because of the complications of diabetes.
Diabetic wounds will not heal like other wounds. That’s because of a decreased blood supply that prevents the supply of nutrients to the wounded area. As the healing is delayed, the risk of infection increases. Infection in and around the wounded area will cause the tissues, including muscle, tendon and skin, to become dead and necrotic. This dead skin has to be removed immediately to prevent septicemia.
Septicemia can be fatal because the infection can spread through the blood to other parts of the body. Traditional medicinal practices can do little for a person who is affected with septicemia, and the condition is fatal in most cases. However, an alternative form of health medicine uses maggots to cure septicemia. Maggot therapy is the introduction of maggots into the wound. The advantage of using maggots is that these larvae eat only the dead tissue and leave the living tissue unharmed.
Even the skills of the best surgeon will not help in removing only the dead tissue and leave the good tissue. The maggots do this work. They are introduced into the wound under sterile conditions. The maggots eat away all of the dead tissue, then the maggots are removed, also under sterile conditions. This therapy had been used for ages, but has seen a resurgence now in medicine.
Maggot therapy may help in preventing amputations and may even prolong the life of a person suffering from infected diabetic ulcers. This unique role played by maggots in health is simply amazing.