Helminthic therapy and ankylosing spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of spinal arthritis, chiefly affecting young males, that eventually causes stiffening and immobility of vertebral and sacroiliac joints.
The scientific evidence[edit | edit source]
- 2025 Mar 4 Clonorchis sinensis excretory/secretory proteins ameliorate inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis -- Full text | PDF
- 2021 Feb 25 Clonorchis sinensis-Derived Protein Attenuates Inflammation and New Bone Formation in Ankylosing Spondylitis -- Full text | PDF
For more scientific papers see Helminthic therapy research
The anecdotal evidence[edit | edit source]
The first three reports are more detailed than the quotes that follow them.
- The following two quotes are about the same individual.
A local rheumatologist diagnosed a rare autoimmune disease called ankylosing spondylitis, sometimes called bamboo spine. Wittlake’s vertebrae were fusing together. His immune system was malfunctioning and attacking his spine. He was told that once the whole spine was fused, walking would turn into shuffling, and there was no cure… In February of last year, Wittlake infected himself with parasites (hookworms)… By fall, he was walking erect. By December, he was snowboarding pain-free on Mount Bachelor. [1]
- My husband was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis 2.5 years ago after more than a decade of misdiagnoses. 1.5 years ago he took 20 hookworm and has since taken 2 more doses (each about 6 months apart). After the initial dose, he began noticing improvement in his symptoms after 6-8 months. After a year, his symptoms were completely gone with the disease seemingly in remission. It has been truly life changing for us as he was a long time professional snowboarder and the disease was completely robbing him of this important part of his life... not to mention the toll chronic pain can take on your mental health. A year ago, he could hardly walk from the bed to the bathroom some days, and now he is active, mobile, and snowboarding pain free for the first time in many years.[2]
43 y/o female with ankylosing spondylitis, raynauds syndrome, low thyroid function, mild sjogrens… AS symptoms have become negligible for the most part (after 2 doses of 25 NA) and I am AS medication free. Fatigue greatly diminished, mostly absent. Sleep quality improved beyond recognition. Plantar fasciitis 80% resolved, schrogrens symptoms at least 50% reduced, thyroid medication no longer required, depression completely resolved. Interminable, incessant, constant grinding pain gone for most of the day, only bothers me for a few hours here and there, a couple of days a week. Raynauds symptoms rarely show themselves… I am better than I have been since I was diagnosed with AS 25 years ago. A truly remarkable increase in quality of life. [3]
I have had Ankylosing Spondylitis for thirty-eight years. Twenty-four years ago I also developed A.S. related inflammatory bowel disease. My main battle at this stage of the disease appears to be centered in my gastrointestinal system… I've tried everything from the sulfa drugs to enbrel and humira and everything in between. I have been on anti-TNF drugs on and off for the past 17 years but they do not cure you, they simply keep you dependent on the drug which has a myriad of side effects… Three years ago I read about Helminthic therapy and decided to give it a go. It's been a long journey of ups and downs, disappointments and successes. What I have learned is that 1) you have to be patient and 2) what works for one person, may not work for another… I’ve come to realize that I have a very strong immune system and it works in earnest to kick the helminths out of my body… I need to inoculate every other month with 10-15 HW… For me personally, I seem to have greater success with NA than TTO… the NA help reduce bowel urgency, food intolerances, insomnia, depression, and gut pain. They just seem to calm things down. [4]
- This individual posted a further report 18 months later, after establishing an improved dosing regimen.
I am 40 and have been dealing with the classic symptoms of AS for 5 years: puffy hinges at left base of spine, transient stiffness in either Achilles, sausage digits, golf ball sized Baker cyst behind left knee which has bursted 2x. When flares hit knee explodes like a balloon and I'm on elbow crutches or worse unable to even move in bed, but after 5 NA 12 weeks ago I have essentially seen nearly all pain and stiffness subside. My knee actually has some definition to it and it seems the cyst is slowly deflating- this is my barometer. I am in disbelief that I have been going for runs for the first time in 2 years and sprints for the first time in 5! [6]
- The same individual posted a year after first hosting NA:
The biggest improvement I have found (5 months into using NA for ankylosing spondylitis) is in my sleep habits. I take one celecoxib 200mg tablet to sleep at nights where even with the medication I still struggled to get a full nights sleep, often waking up at 4.30am. Now I can last the night without discomfort. Also, notably, I’ve had less down periods with my AS, in that I’ve had less bouts of sciatica, and flare ups are rare. It’s still a work in progress as I still have a constant level of soreness in my neck and lower back but it’s manageable. Not only that I don’t have to take medication during the day. Activities such as golf I’m still able to play but do have a degree of stiffness the next day. [8]
Thank you helminth therapy! I am a 41 time marathon finisher including one ultra marathon, completed dozens of triathlons including a Half Ironman and completed several other shorter running races... then ankylosing spondylitis hit in 2017. I was unable to walk without crutches for extended periods of time. I started with NA in January of 2020 and added TSO in July of 2020, and it took me about a year to start noticing a difference. I wouldn't say I'm completely symptom-free but I'm so much better. This latest race would not have been possible even just 1 year ago. Today, I completed a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and a short run. If there's hope for me, there's at least hope for everybody else too! (Edited from three posts: [9] [10] [11])
- Two year update (November 2022)… I’m happy to report I've been virtually symptom-free from ankylosing spondylitis for over 2 years, during which I've completed many runs of double digit distances (10+ miles!), several triathlons and I've even been been able to play ice hockey again." [12]
- Two year update (November 2022)…
I took NA for widespread pain/soreness/stiffness from AS. After inoculation both times I experienced increased chronic fatigue and low energy that lasted for weeks. Now it’s passed and I have great energy. Normal bowel movements. Asthma disappeared. Pollen allergies disappeared. Strange headaches that were chronic are gone! Sleep is great. Sexual function is even boosted. (A year later) in April 2022, I inoculated with 7 NA after a big break from inoculating, and the transition that happened in my gut was kind of severe. 4 or 5 weeks in I got crazy loud gurgling belly for over a week among other bad reactions. I think my gut biome was transformed. Then I just started feeling better. Then better, and more better. Inoculated some more NA early October (and) after 8 long years, I’m gaining muscle. Not fatigued. I feel that the NA brought my body back into balance. I don’t eat carbs or sugar but that wasn’t curing me. I needed the helminth therapy to do the job that nothing else could do. It just took 2.5 years to make the difference with chronic widespread inflammation. [13] [14]
A gentleman have celiac disease and something called ankylosing spondylitis (...) so this patient notice that if he eat gluten he would have digestive problems and he would go into an ankylosing spondylitis flare that eventually had to increase so he not only was eating a zero gluten diet but he was eating a zero grain diet that was low in carbohydrates of all kinds even non green carbohydrates even while on this low carbohydrate no grain gluten-free diet he would have two or three or four flares of ankylosing spondylitis per year that would leave him in bed unable to work his job as a carpenter or do much of any other things for a couple of weeks at a time so this is a big drain on his quality of life we gave him an initial dose of 10 Necator americanus larvae and then another redose just like in the study started gradually reintroducing gluten we didn't weigh out micrograms like they did in the study but he would just have a crumb of this a little bit of that and started gradually gradually introducing reducing the doses. I followed him for about three years after that it's been about five years since I treated him and for that entire three-year period he found his quality life getting better and better and it has been years since he's had an inkling spondylitis flare and he can consume gluten now if he wants you he doesn't go crazy with it all the time but if he feels like having a sandwich or drinking a beer he does with apparently no consequences his inflammatory markers didn't go up for the time I followed him and his symptoms well he just had zero flares of a digestive disturbance or his back pain or lack of mobility. (Mark Davis ND, auto transcription, YouTube)
Selecting a suitable helminth for ankylosing spondylitis[edit | edit source]
Reports received to date from individuals who are self-treating with helminths suggest that NA and TSO can both be effective against AS, with NA showing a somewhat greater effect. For more details about helminth selection, see the following page.