In rich, more developed countries with good hygiene, we and our children are much less exposed to pathogens such as parasites. This causes some people’s immune system to attack their own body. Based on this hygiene hypothesis, Coronado Biosciences Inc is trying to develop a new treatment method for autoimmune diseases.

Autoimmune diseases

Our body’s immune system attacks pathogens and other foreign substances. This keeps us healthy and most disease-causing substances have no chance to harm us. In someone with an autoimmune disease, the immune system attacks their own body. This attack can target specific organs or the entire body. The most common consequence of this attack is inflammation in the body. These inflammations often cause general complaints such as fatigue and vague pain.

Current treatment for autoimmune diseases

Current treatment for many autoimmune diseases depends very much on the autoimmune disease. The medication is mainly aimed at inhibiting inflammation and suppressing the immune system. By inhibiting the immune system, real pathogens are given the opportunity to take hold in the body. For this reason, medicines against pathogens are often given.With current treatment of autoimmune diseases it is often possible to live longer. Yet this is a difficult life for many people with an autoimmune disease.

The whipworm

This parasite is white to light yellow in color and can grow between 3 to 5 centimeters in length. Whipworms live in the intestines of our animals. When they live in the body of humans, they live in the large intestine. A female whipworm can lay between 3000 and 10000 eggs per day. By checking for eggs in the feces of an animal or person, it can be determined whether an infection with whipworms has occurred.In the Netherlands and Belgium, people almost never have whipworms in their large intestines. This is due to good hygiene, such as washing hands and vegetables. These worm infections are still common in tropical and subtropical areas . People who carry whipworms are often not bothered by the worms. Only in severe cases do symptoms such as (bloody) diarrhea and abdominal pain occur.A whipworm infection can be easily treated with a wormicide such as mebendazole or albendazole. In some cases, another course of a wormicide must be taken after a few weeks.

Treating autoimmune diseases with whipworm eggs

Patients of autoimmune diseases may benefit from ingesting whipworm eggs, which can be obtained from pig feces. The whipworms that live in pigs usually cannot survive in the intestines of humans for more than two weeks. During the time the parasites are in the human body, they appear to alter the human immune system. In the test subjects on whom the treatment was tested, the body stopped attacking organs.