World's Weirdest - Creepy cures

NARRATOR: Bloodsucking, poisonous, flesh-eating pests. They're really already going to town. They make our skin crawl. Once the eggs get into the body, the eggs hatch. NARRATOR: Yet they're healing our wounds and curing everything from our allergies, headaches, to maybe even our most deadly diseases. They suck your blood. We're going to put one of these right inside of your belly button. You're ready? Yep. I can feel that stinger injecting into me. NARRATOR: This is the 21st century, and this is cutting edge modern medicine. Quick - what comes to mind when you see a slew of flies? Bet your answer includes this word - death. But flies can be precious lifesavers if you're a diabetic with an open wound on your foot. The stats are dramatic. One in almost twelve Americans has the disease, and every 20-seconds around the world someone loses a limb to diabetes. If you're at risk, this is the man you want on your team. Called the world's thought leader in amputation prevention, Dr. David Armstrong goes to extremes to save extremities. Dr. David Armstrong: We have nothing better to actually clean up a wound than larvae, than maggots. NARRATOR: You heard correctly. A fly's hatched eggs may be your best chance to keep toes intact. Steve Frederick: Dr. Armstrong, how are you? Dr. David Armstrong: it's really good to see you. NARRATOR: Diabetic Steve Frederick has been told by previous doctors that his foot should be amputated. Dr. David Armstrong: let's see what we can do about this today. NARRATOR: Steve's infection goes deep down to the bone; but now he'll try anything because this is a special year. Steve Frederick: I want to walk at my son's wedding. Dr. David Armstrong: God bless you. Steve Frederick: It's coming up this year. Dr. David Armstrong: That's awesome. It's going to happen, right? Steve Frederick: You better tell those things get going. I used to be a lot more active. I've been in a wheelchair for the last two years because of the foot infection. Dr. David Armstrong: Steve is a man that's had everything thrown at him in the past from stem cell therapy to fancy biologics to skin grafting and others and now we're going old school. First we're just going to take these out and what we're going to do is we're going to try and coax our other little friends out here. You like that? NARRATOR: This particular fly species loves dead flesh. The larvae remove only the necrotic or infected tissue. Plus they're "warriors" on another front. Dr. David Armstrong: Right now we're in an anti-microbial arms race. There are some bacteria that are now completely resistant to all antibiotics. What is wonderful about larvae is that they may help to reduce the need for the unnecessary use of antibiotics. This is the most environmentally correct way to heal a wound in a lot of ways. This is great. So here they are, a couple more in there. They're really small here. You can see them crawling on here. But after just a couple of days, they're going to be many, many tens of times this size. It's really extraordinary. Steve Frederick: They're going to be eating me for a meal. That is amazing. I was grossed out at first cause that's all we think about. We see a dead animal, maggots in it. Dr. David Armstrong: Don't worry they're not going to turn into flies. Steve Frederick: They're not going to crawl in my mouth? Dr. David Armstrong: I don't think they will. Steve Frederick: They're not going to fly away? Dr. David Armstrong: It would make a funny story, but I don't think that's going to happen. All too often in medicine there's this element of arrogance. And how can we be so arrogant as to discard some therapy that's been around for a while only because it's been around for a while, not because it doesn't work. This isn't hurting you at all, is it? Steve Frederick: No. Dr. David Armstrong: Awesome. NARRATOR: Maggots have cleaned wounds and rid the body of infection since long before the civil war; but with the invention of penicillin and other antibiotics maggots were discarded and forgotten, until now. Dr. David Armstrong: The use of maggots were thought of as passé, and so they sort of fell out of favor, not because they didn't work, but just because there was this amazing wow factor with penicillin. NARRATOR: The larvae will eat away the dead flesh over the next 48-hours, leaving behind healthy skin ready to heal itself. Steve Frederick: I've had this limb for 56 years. I'm not ready to depart with it yet. Dr. David Armstrong: Let's just make this better, alright? NARRATOR: Dr. Armstrong has hundreds of success stories to back up his optimism. This patient came into the clinic last October. She's another diabetic with a festering foot ailment. This is the evolution over 3-1/2 months. Or even more dramatic, check out this woman's recovery over the span of five months. Diabetic amputations may eventually be a thing of the past, thanks to a grisly past remedy. Steve Frederick: Thank you very much. Dr. David Armstrong: You, me and our little friends. To be sent home with maggots in my leg, I don't know if I could do it. I couldn't do that for two days. No way. I wouldn't like to go to sleep and know that they're still there. I would do it just because, I mean if someone was asking me, "What happened to your gangrene?" I could be like, "Maggots man, maggots cured me." NARRATOR: Fast-forward two days. Maggots are already proving proficient as little surgeons. Dr. Armstrong: Do you remember how necrotic these were? Now look at that beautiful granulation tissue. Steve, it looks just great. Yeah NARRATOR: This professional headshot is real, magnified 70x to show off this "doctor's" toothy grin. It might not be a meal fit for a king, but it's one that should get a father back on his feet in time for his son's wedding. While maggots work their magic for diabetics, another squiggly microbe may someday soon help the one-in-five Americans with autoimmune disorders. Dr. Joel Weinstock: Diseases like ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Type I diabetes, have mushroomed in the 20th Century, possibly because at least in part, to the loss of our exposure to intestinal worms. Helminths are usually painted as being evil. Things to kill. Things to despise. Did you ever see the movie, Alien? The alien is a big helminth that gets into the GI track, grows into a beast that comes out of you and destroys you. NARRATOR: But in reality, some parasites may coexist and even help regulate our immune system. Chad Aman suffers from Crohn's Disease which has ravaged his GI track for more than eight years. Chad Aman: Round one. My intestines ruptured. It happened right here in my living room, and I. My wife was asleep on the couch and I woke her up and I said, "I think we need to go to the hospital right now." The next thing I know I woke up after surgery and they had taken out a chunk of my colon. NARRATOR: Chad is one of the 70% of Crohn's patients who requires surgery to remove a diseased section of the colon. This is what a healthy colon looks like; and here's one destroyed by Crohn's disease. The clamp points to a tear in the intestinal lining that led to emergency surgery. In this case, 85% of the colon required removal. Chad Aman: The easiest way to understand it is, it's just ulcers that run your entire digestive track from your mouth all the way down. And the ulcers get so bad that they eat right through one organ and into another at times; and even in some situations outside of you. Therefore, it's one of the most painful diseases on the planet. NARRATOR: Crohn's deteriorates your joints, causes fatigue and constant fevers. Chad describes it as having the flu 24/7, but life goes on. Chad Aman: It definitely is *** you as a musician because I have been on stage and in enormous amounts of pain. I act like everything is fine. I call it putting on the mask. And the second I am done, I am gone and in the bathroom and doubled over in pain. Dr. Joel Weinstock: These are not easy to treat diseases. You're facing diarrhea, abdominal pain, surgery, treatment for life. What are people taking today? Chad Aman: There's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 bottles right now. Dr. Joel Weinstock: They're taking Prednisone. They are taking immune suppressants that can cause cancer and make them susceptible to infections. NARRATOR: Chad has saved almost every bottle of meds he's taken since diagnosis. Chad Aman: What's terrible about it is that it's gotten no better. NARRATOR: So how might pig whipworms resolve what appears to be a hopeless condition? Dr. Joel Weinstock's "aha moment" came when he discovered an odd coincidence in modern history. Dr. Joel Weinstock: Helminths have been around in our environment for at least 60-100 million years. Dinosaurs had helminths in their GI track. So these are very long-lived relationships. But in the 20th Century we take these long relationships, we break them, and there can be negative consequences. NARRATOR: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases seemed to spike at the same time as the de-worming of the population. Dr. Joel Weinstock: Back in about the 1950's, Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's disease were perhaps one in every 5-to-10,000 people. Today it's approaching 1 in every 250 people. Can you imagine what life was in 1900? What was the most common form of transportation? Horse! Can you imagine what streets were like? And what was on your shoes? What you brought into the house and the dust in the air? So what soil is today is not the soil of the, um, the last generation. NARRATOR: In our haste to rid ourselves of filth and purify our plumbing, the industrialized world helped eliminate exposure to parasites. Dr. Joel Weinstock: You swallow an egg. Where's the egg? It's in the soil. It's in the pig's waste. People are shoveling it. Kids are playing in the soil. Billions of eggs all over the place. Because when you touch soil you bring things to your mouth or you may eat vegetables that are not well-washed. And these microscopic eggs get into your mouth and into your GI track. And it's possible that some of these exposures are healthy. NARRATOR: Dr. Weinstock put his theory to the test. DR. Weinstock: This tube contains about 5000 eggs. In one clinical study, 21 out of 29 Crohn's patients actually experienced remission when taking whipworm eggs. DR. Joel Weinstock: What if I told you that you can drink a small liquid that contains an invisible agent that can arrest the disease and you only have to take it once every two weeks and it doesn't cause diarrhea, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't cause cancer. What treatment would you select? Chad Aman: I would be willing to try it because honestly nothing else has worked and because I do believe that that is why Crohn's has become so prevalent in America. NARRATOR: The FDA has the final word, but if approved, millions of people with all sorts of autoimmune disorders may be trading their pillboxes for bug juice within five years. Dr. Joel Weinstock: We could be on the verge of a major discovery, not only to treat these terrible diseases but also to prevent them. NARRATOR: For some, waiting seems like an unnecessary evil. Dr. Joel Weinstock: And I do not wish to see people running to a less developed country to be exposed to potentially dangerous organisms. People need to be careful. We need to wait. NARRATOR: But if you are one of the 44,000 people experiencing an asthma attack today, you may be anxious enough, like these people, to let parasites pierce your skin and crawl to your gut in a desperate search for relief. Don Donahue: So girls, are you a little bit nervous for this trip here? Sam: ( Laughs) There's a little apprehension, but it's just the unknown. NARRATOR: Don Donahue and his sisters, Samantha and Penny are among the 60-million Americans who suffer from asthma and allergies. Years of breathing problems and pain make them desperate enough to try a parasitic experiment that's illegal in the U.S. Don Donahue: We've been taught all of our lives these are horrible parasites. You don't want them anywhere near you. NARRATOR: All three siblings want to avoid taking any more nasal steroids and are willing to introduce themselves to hook worms for a chance at clear sinuses. Don Donahue: I tried just about everything that traditional medicine had to offer. I was pretty much fed up with the whole thing. NARRATOR: This will be Don's third visit to a small holistic clinic in Tijuana. He credits the bugs for relieving his nasal congestion and allowing him to smell again. Penny Hadley: I have been taking medicine for years. I've had two surgeries on my sinuses and I've been getting migraines since then, so a long time. Samantha Donahue: I've exhausted all possibilities of healing myself. The medications don't make, uh, me feel any better. NARRATOR: Hookworms are very much in the experimental stage. While small doses in controlled studies show some promise, they can cause some severe anemia, protein deficiency, even mental slowness. These are not the same worms as the ones in Dr. Weinstock's research. Hookworms are found in our dogs and cats and other mammals. Penny Hadley: We are almost there. Don Donahue: Time to go. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Hello Don. How are you? Good to see you. NARRATOR: Dr. Jorge Llamas refers to himself as a holistic practitioner. Penny: I'm Penny. Dr. Llamas: Hi Penny. NARRATOR: Don and his sisters are ponying up $2300 each for a round of treatments. Samantha Donahue: A little bit of nervousness and anxiety but I'm ready, I'm ready. I want to get it done. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Follow me please. Penny Hadley: I've tried so many traditional therapies and I haven't gotten good results. I am so ready to be healthy again. Dr. Jorge Llamas: OK, It's going to be safe and it's going to itch. Penny: Okay. Dr. Llamas: Other than that, I really don't expect any problems. Penny Hadley: Okay. Moment of truth. No backing out now. Dr. Jorge Llamas: You cannot see them. They're microscopic but this, this is, what it's all about. Alright, let's do this okay? Penny Hadley: Okay. Make me better. NARRATOR: The procedure itself is quite simple. Dr. Llamas places worm larvae on an adhesive patch. Penny Hadley: It's kind of scary to be putting things in your body that most people are trying to get rid of. Penny Hadley: How long do I leave this bandage on for? Dr. Jorge Llamas: Three hours. Penny Hadley: Three hours. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Tell me when it starts itching. Okay. That is important; and that's it. Penny Hadley: It's a little weird but I'm still very hopeful that it's going to give me good results. NARRATOR: The worm larvae begin to burrow through the skin after 5-minutes, and soon enter into the bloodstream leaving a tell-tale sign. Penny Hadley: It's itching. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Already? Well, I guess they were hungry. Penny Hadley: I guess so. That's good. It's almost like a pinching itch. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Uh huh. Penny Hadley: It's definitely setting in my head that it is living organisms going in. I don't want to visualize it. It might make me queasy. NARRATOR: The larva's journey through the body takes less than a week. First stop, the lungs. You don't feel it, but the larva prompts the lungs to create phlegm. You are likely to clear your throat and that brings the phlegm and the larva to the mouth and then down the esophagus. The larva comes to roost in the small intestines approximately 3 days later. They munch on bacteria and grow for three weeks, at which time they earn their name and hook into the intestinal wall and that is when they jumpstart your immune system. Don Donahue: People say we are experimenting with these and we are. On the other hand, the big experiment that I see was done a hundred years ago when we got rid of all the helminths out of our bowels. NARRATOR: Worms typically live 1-to-2 years laying eggs daily that pass through the body before hatching. Dr. Jorge Llamas: It's so nice to see you again, Don Donahue: Yeah, It is, isn't it? My worms are getting a little old I think, so it's time to maybe re-inoculate. Dr. Jorge Llamas: Uh huh. That would be wise. Don Donahue: This is important to me because I can breathe, I can smell, I can sleep better and I feel much healthier. Dr. Llamas: They like to live and they want to live inside of you, but they don't want to kill you. They, actually, they want to eat out of you, so they want you alive, to be happy and prosperous, because if you do, they do too. Penny: I guess we're the worm club or patch club. Don Donahue: Something like that. I'm lucky. I can go to Mexico and be treated by a Mexican doctor in a country that is maybe less squeamish about worms in their intestines. NARRATOR: Don is "hooked." As someone who has suffered with severe allergies and asthma for his entire adult life, he's never felt better. Don: Let's go! NARRATOR: Still squeamish? I would absolutely not take worms if the doctor prescribed it. Yeah, totally icky man. I think if I could clear my asthma, I would try just about anything. I will stick with allergy pills. NARRATOR: Something mysterious is drawing new customers to Yvonne Le's Day Spa in Arlington, Virginia. Even men are curious. Her male clientele has increased 30% since the creatures from the deep arrived. Yvonne Le: How can I help you today? Morgan Corpe: We have an appointment for the fish pedicures. NARRATOR: These minnows known as the Garra Rufa are ready to exfoliate. Morgan Corpe: I think the fish are going to be doing a little bit of nibbling, I expect? Um, I hope it's not too much nibbling. I'm scared. Yvonne Le: Scared? Morgan Corpe: Yeah. Little bit. Yvonne Le: Don't be. It's more exciting. Morgan Corpe: My boyfriend complains about my feet a lot. He says that they're too rough and I don't take good enough care of them. Ryan Dumond: She's wanted to get a pedicure and I told her I would go with her because her feet are pretty disgusting, but I wouldn't go unless my brother went with me. Bernard Dumond: I told him he was a chicken and I'd go with him. Yvonne Le: Oh, you're the worst one. Look at this. It's a crackin' right here. Ooh, my goodness. Morgan Corpe: I'm always the one that gets a hard time about having rough feet but after seeing BJ's feet, I think that he needs it more than I do. NARRATOR: This is not a treatment for the squeamish. Yvonne Le: Let me count 1, 2, 3 and put in. Ok? One, three. No, it's one two three. I'm just teasing. Go ahead. Don't be scared. Just go ahead.... Morgan Corpe: Are you sure? Yvonne Le: Don't be nervous. Don't worry. All the way. Lift up a little bit. Okay. Ooh. Keep going. Morgan Corpe: It's cold. Yvonne Le: Just go. Are you scared? Don't be. You oh, look at Ryan, look at Ryan. Oh my god. Its buffet, all you can eat buffet! Ryan Dumond: Does it hurt? Bernard Dumond: No, it doesn't hurt. NARRATOR: Forget the loofah sponge. These tiny carp fish will make your feet as smooth as a baby's bottom simply by gnawing on dead skin. Ryan Dumond: They're all over me. Bernard J Dumond: Yeah. Ryan Dumond: I'm a fireman. The guys I work with have no idea that I'm here. I was trying to keep this low-key, but I'm sure they'll find out about it and give me a hard time about it. NARRATOR: It's often believed that the fish eat the skin. Morgan Corpe: Oh my God, it's so weird. NARRATOR: In reality, these toothless carp are foraging for algae, sucking and peeling off skin in search of food. Ryan Dumond: It's just kind of unexpected as to where they're going to get you next. NARRATOR: They then lather your skin with saliva. It's believed to have an enzyme with healing powers, leaving the skin smoother and softer than you could ever imagine. But those with ticklish feet, be forewarned. I would not like fish nibbling on my feet. Not in a million years, ever. How do we know that's all they eat is dead skin? I don't know if I could deal with the tickling. My feet are so ticklish. It's not like piranhas are attacking you. Get out of the water and you'll be silky smooth. The results are better than a foot scrub. Yvonne Le: Ok, let me see Ryan Dumond: Here comes the true test. Yvonne Le: Let me see. Let me see. Wow, look at this. Feel it. Ryan Dumond: Whoa. Yvonne Le: Wow. BERNARD J DUMOND: Look at that, it's completely different. Yvonne: Yeah! Look at that. Ryan Dumond: I'd probably tell the guys at work about it and I'm sure someone would be interested, after they're done laughing at me. NARRATOR: Some US states banned the practice citing sanitation concerns, but the fish pedicure fad continues to spread. When I went to Greece this past summer they were everywhere, literally on every street corner. It was like the new Starbucks over there. It's soothing feet in Japan, France and England, just to name a few. But in Turkey, it's a full-body feeding frenzy. The Garra Rufa - or doctor fish are native to Kangal, Turkey. Selenium rich waters, along with the fish, not only exfoliate the body, but potentially help alleviate skin conditions. Psoriasis sufferers come by the thousands. They visit again and again for relief that no modern medicine has brought them, and the results are astonishing. Legend has it, in 1917, a shepherd bathed in the waters and accidentally discovered their therapeutic effects. The pools have been expanding ever since. From arms and legs to mouths. It's a full-body treatment. But if your ailment is more localized, you can benefit from something that gets the blood flowing. This is a leech and its job is simple, to suck your blood Oh! That's a lot of leeches. That's wild. They're good for fishing with. I would not believe that leeches were a cure in this day and age. Dr. Harry Hoyen: The most people think of leeches as from the middle Ages. If you had tonsillitis, they would drop a leech on a rope down into your throat to attach to the tonsil and suck the evil blood out of your tonsil. NARRATOR: But this isn't just medieval science gone mad. Dr. Harry Hoyen: This is real medicine that goes back 3500 years. NARRATOR: And Dr. Harry Hoyen of Cleveland's Metro Health Medical Center always has a stash on call. This is one of over a thousand hospitals worldwide that use leeches. They're not just infesting swamps, lakes and rivers. They're taking over our bodies and saving life and limb. Dr. Harry Hoyen: Here's a cut of the finger. This would be reattached or replanted in this fashion, and then reattach the arteries. NARRATOR: Dr. Hoyen is reattaching a finger to a hand. Usually his patients come through the ER doors. Today his patient is a cadaver. Dr. Harry Hoyen: We can sew an artery back together and bring the blood in. We've reattached the artery here, but it's hard to bring the blood out of the finger. The tiny little veins in the back of your hand here, uh, often you can't sew. NARRATOR: That's where the little suckers come in, to get the blood flowing and veins working again. Most patients respond in disbelief. Dr. Harry Hoyen: I always tell them we may have to use leeches. I don't think anybody ever listens to me. NARRATOR: But panic surrenders to compliance when it means saving a finger. Dr. Harry Hoyen: He's looking for some blood. We'll see if he likes it. Look at that. He's all the way on. He's hanging there perfectly and that's exactly what they do. That's perfect. NARRATOR: The leech's 300 teeth pierce the skin. It then produces a secretion that stops blood from clotting. This freak of nature then gorges itself on fluid, as much as five times its weight. This keeps fingers alive until veins can naturally reestablish themselves. Dr. Harry Hoyen: This is really modern medicine right here, using nature to improve the blood supply to a finger and keep it alive NARRATOR: Factory worker Darrell Kirkwood Junior knows firsthand of the bloodsucker's value. Darrel Kirkwood: Ya know, the EMTs come in and they stick the morphine drip in me and I'm asking them, you know, "Am I going to be okay?" NARRATOR: Employed at an industrial fan blade plant, Darrell caught his hand in the equipment, severing three fingers. Unfortunately only one could be re-attached. Darrell Kirkwood: Hey Doc. Dr. Harry Hoyen: Hi Daryl. How are you? Good to see you today. So this is a little follow-up. When we used the leeches, they were here at the nail weren't they? Daryl Kirkwood: Yes they were. Dr. Harry Hoyen: When he saw the leech, he's like just wow, This is just... It's Twilight Zone. I mean... I'm going to wake up at some point and this is all going to be gone. I think after the second day he sort of accepted the fact that wow this thing is keeping my finger alive. Darrell Kirkwood: So, they're just sitting there sucking and you see them get fatter and fatter and fatter and fatter Well... Obviously when they are full, they fall on my bed and I have to like get up you know and move around, and find the leech. Dr. Harry Hoyen: They will live until they're done sucking. They sort of die a glorious death of blood engorgement. Keep on working on getting it bending. And then let me see you in a couple months. Okay? Darrell Kirkwood: Okay. Honestly, I still feel that they are nasty creatures. But when it comes to a medical science thing, I would recommend it because it worked, it saved my, it save the tip of my finger. NARRATOR: You don't need to lose a limb to appreciate a leech prescription. These healers offer a host of health benefits for any of us. Today, leeches are gaining popularity for everything from skin grafts to facials. Would they take away wrinkles? If they did I would definitely try that. I don't know if I would want that on my face. I would be worried it would harm it in some way. I wouldn't personally do that for beauty because I don't really need to. NARRATOR: But for others, this is tried and true medicine. Irina: Hello girls. Come. Woman: This is the famous leech doctor. This is Victoria my friend. Irina: Nice to meet you. Woman: She wants to get some healing. Irina: Okay, good. NARRATOR: Clinician Irina Brokowsky is a staunch believer in an old wives' tail. Irina Brokowsky: From my country, from Eastern Europe, everybody remembers their grandma having the little jar with leeches on the window and she would use it for her varicose veins or hypertension or for her knee. So it was a common home remedy. It's a wonderful decision. You know. Prevention is the most important thing. So how are you feeling? A little bit nervous? Victoria Gauliaeva: I'm a little bit afraid of them. NARRATOR: Her patient, Victoria, is a heavy smoker who's looking to heal her body from years of cigarette abuse. Irina Brokowsky: And don't worry. It's going to be a very good experience. Okay? So, let me show you my little healers. They are real healers. They are real healers. I love them.... Is... My heart and soul is with them. Victoria Gauliaeva: Oh my God. I'm afraid of them. They look a little bit scary. But I heard they are cute and they not painful when they bite. Uhhh... NARRATOR: Irina begins with Victoria's liver. Victoria Gauliaeva: [sings] Irina Brokowsky: Are you afraid? Victoria Gauliaeva: No, no, no Awww.... Irina: Don't worry... Victoria: No, it's kind of fun. Irina Brokowsky: She found the right spot. Victoria Gauliaeva: Oh, I feel it. Irina Brokowsky: You feel it. So. What do you feel? Victoria Gauliaeva: Actually it's not painful. It's a little bit like a burn. Like a small, small, small burn. Irina Brokowsky: Like stinging? Victoria Gauliaeva: Yeah. NARRATOR: Holistic medicine believes leeches are nature's mechanics, draining the blood of impurities and releasing beneficial chemicals that reduce swelling and relieve pain. Irina Brokowsky: Leeches came back really big time in Europe and Asia, and it is still in kind of embryonic stage in this country. Nasty, I thought the leeches were going to be a lot smaller. But they're pretty big. That's gross. Okay. Yep. Nope. Uh uh. Oh gosh. It's awfully bloody. Oh no, I would not put them on me. They're getting really big You're ready? Uhmmm... NARRATOR: The full tune-up takes an hour. Irina Brokowsky: They're almost done. They became big. Victoria Gauliaeva: Wow. Irina Brokowsky: They're working. NARRATOR: And leaves the customer 100% satisfied. Irina Brokowsky: Oh, oh, oh, he's going out. Okay. Thank you, thank you darling for your wonderful work. Victoria Gauliaeva: I feel so good. Irina Brokowsky: You feel good? Victoria Gauliaeva: Uhmm.. I'm relaxed, I was sleeping. I love them. I fell in love with them. I feel so good and relaxed. Wow, I like it. I like it very much. NARRATOR: More than a third of Americans and two-thirds of the rest of world depend on or dabbles with alternative medicine. Maybe it's because the latest science is proving that nature and even its most loathed creatures bring comfort to inflamed joints, weakened immune systems, and even headaches. Chris Kleronomos: I've been doing natural medicine for about 12 years and I'm still amazed. I'm just amazed at the power of nature. NARRATOR: Chris Kleronomos at the Comprehensive Pain Center in Salem, Oregon, specializes in bee venom therapy. Chris Kleronomos: Bees and the medicine derived from bees is probably the oldest form of medicine known on the planet. It's documented on cave painting walls. This is really an old, old therapy and still well-utilized, well-received in almost every other part of the world except the United States. Bill Lewis: So we're putting on our protective gear. NARRATOR: Beekeeper Bill Lewis is his own lab rat when it comes to bee therapy. Bill Lewis: One time I had bad pain in my elbows, joints because of playing tennis or what not and I had to move an angry colony at night, and I probably got 40 stings in each elbow. NARRATOR: But forget the Advil. Bill Lewis: The amazing thing was that the very next day, all that pain in my joints was gone. NARRATOR: It's well-known that beekeepers rarely suffer from joint pain. Chris Kleronomos: There's been some interesting research done, the most recent coming from Germany where they looked at beekeepers all over the country and compared their rates of chronic illness to the normal population and it was significantly lower. NARRATOR: A bee sting a day might just keep the doctor away. Bill Lewis: I've got a lot of bees up here. NARRATOR: And just this morning, Bill Lewis: I got a call from a woman looking for bees because she has some kind of a medical condition. I've had people with multiple sclerosis and have heard some amazing results on how that sting relieves symptoms. Chris Kleronomos: Erick, Good morning. Erick Carlsen: Hey, how's it going? Chris Kleronomos: Good, good to see ya. Last treatment, sixteen stings. Erick Carlsen: Yep Chris Kleronomos: How did we do? Erick Carlsen: Um, pretty good. NARRATOR: Erick Carlsen has suffered chronic pain for twenty years. Erick Carlsen: I can't do anything I used to do. Mmm used to lift weights. I was bench pressing just over 300 and now just day to day sitting in front of a computer, my thumbs swell up so bad I cannot use them. Chris Kleronomos: It's really noticeably decreased since I first started seeing you. NARRATOR: He's tried a long list of pain meds over two decades, but today's treatment is the one offering the best relief. Chris Kleronomos: Erick's one of my newer patients. He has a genetic condition called Ehrlos Danlos Syndrome that is a disorder where your joints are unstable, your muscles are painful, they stretch. Erick: As a little kid, I could fit into little boxes. I could fold my feet up to my head. I could just twist in ways that nobody could imagine. All of that as a kid is torture on me now. NARRATOR: Ehrlos Danlos Syndrome appears with various severity in about 1-in-5000 people, and Erick has finally found some relief Erick: I can't believe I'm paying somebody to sting me with a bee. Chris Kleronomos: (laughs) Alright. NARRATOR: That's right. A wild, buzzing, stinging honeybee. I prefer not to be stung because it really hurts. I would get up and run. Isn't the bee dying after it stung you? Hmm. It's kind of a moral question. Dr. Chris Klerononomos prepares Erick's treatment. Erick: I'm a little nervous about a bee just stinging me. Most people in the world would run screaming from a bee. Chris Kleronomos: We'll start with the left shoulder, okay? Erick: Hmm-hmm. Chris Kleronomos: Ok. Erick: I was sitting there just waiting for that big sting, the immense pain, the swelling. Chris Kleronomos: You're Ready? Erick: Yep. Chris Kleronomos: Here is one. Alright. What do you think? Erick: Yeah. NARRATOR: As the bee attacks, its stinger and its venom sac are left behind and its toxins pump into the skin for up to a minute after the bee is gone. Whether straight from the stinger or harvested and injected by needle, Chris Kleronomos: Alright. Are you ready? Marjorie: Yeah. NARRATOR: Bee venom releases a component that reduces inflammation. Some believe it's as much as 100 times more potent than hydrocortisone. Chris kleronomos: Rafaela was one of my toughest cases. She suffers from mixed chronic headache disorders. Fibromyalgia Syndrome as well, all of which are all horrible in their way. She really had no break from them. We just could not get it under control. We ran her through the gamut of every Western medication combination there was, and just nothing worked. And finally I broached the subject of bee venom with her, and now her pain level is consistently 60% less than it was. Rafaela Burton: I didn't have a life. I was not living, I was just existing, and the bee venom treatments are helping with my headaches and with my fibromyalgia. Chris Kleronomos: Remember, lots of water, vitamin C, rest right? Rafaela Burton: For me it's like a miracle Chris Kleronomos: Good. Alright. I'll see you later. Rafaela Burton: See you next time. NARRATOR: The bee's honey, royal jelly and bees wax also help with healing, but they're not nearly as foreboding as the sting. Erick Carlsen: Great, you saved the maddest bee for last. Chris Kleronomos: Well of course. And three. Erick Carlsen: Yeah, he was the maddest. Chris Kleronomos: He was the angriest. Erick Carlsen: When the bee stung me, it was nothing like I expected. Chris Kleronomos: How are you feeling? Erick Carlsen: Fine. I expected that stinger injecting into me and the venom pumping in, and it wasn't the case. It was a little prick in the shoulder, a little bit of an irritant, and that was the end of it. Until they're done twitching; and make sure the venom sacks are empty and you've gotten a full dose. Alright, here we go. Erick Carlsen: All of the pain meds, you read the side effects and its death or loss of limb or blind. And with bee venom injections, it's sore and itchy. I'll take that any day. Chris Kleronomos: Okay. Those are out. Feeling ok? Erick Carlsen:Yeah. My biggest concern was am I going to grow wings? Am I going to start stinging people? Chris Kleronomos: Just a little salve to calm it down. Erick Carlsen: Bee venom definitely made me a believer in more Eastern medicine versus Western medicine and just handing pills out. Chris Kleronomos: I incorporate both Western medicine, biomedicine that most people would expect when they go to an M.D. as well as Eastern traditional medicine. I've done apprenticeships in China as part of my Chinese medicine training. Erick Carlsen: Thank you much. NARRATOR: Word is spreading and fear is fading. An estimated 65,000 people use bee sting therapy in the U.S. Now imagine if another kind of venom -- from the creature you likely fear the most could fix almost anything. In the natural world, there are many kinds of venom that can both kill and cure. Dr. Sean Bush: Snake venom is being used in lots of conditions and mainly big conditions that affect us like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, pain. I mean, basically venom can be used for some of almost all the major scourges on our health. Jessica: She said watch out for snakes, I said I will. Turned back to look at her and as soon as I put my left foot down, I felt something grab it. Jessica went to feed some horses when a rattler lunged at her leg. Jessica: Everything started to go real numb; my tongue, my cheeks, my fingers, my arms. Over here on that side is where the bite is, closest to my toes. NARRATOR: Snake venom attacked Jessica's body, destroying her blood and tissues. Jessica: It's painful, really painful. NARRATOR: When she landed at Loma Linda Hospital, ER doctor Sean Bush had only one way to save her life. Dr. Sean Bush: Alright, that's what we're waiting for. NARRATOR: Antivenom. Dr. Sean Bush: So the plan with her is, uh, so she'll get this dose in, we'll transfuse her and then we'll recheck the serial platelet counts until we feel like they're stable. I am an emergency physician and a snake bite specialist. I also developed, help develop anti-venoms and test them in clinical models. Doctor: So. That's it, that's the first 10 cc Dr. Bush: Alright.... We're going to increase the rate. Make sure you tolerate it, if you do, then we're golden. It's a potion that combats the deadly effects of venom. Dr. Sean Bush: The power of venom is like a two-edged sword. It can make you really really sick or it can save your life. NARRATOR: But the key ingredient needed to make the drug? Venom itself. Dr. Sean Bush: Anti-venom is a medicine that is used to combat the effects of venom and the way it is made is you get the venom from the snake and inject it into a host animal like a sheep, and the sheep build up immunity; and then you harvest that immunity from the sheep and that is anti-venom. NARRATOR: There are over 20 million toxins in nature. Only 500 of them have been studied. But with shocking findings. Dr. Sean Bush: The more we look, the more we are going to find something that we can turn into a medication that we can help ourselves with. So don't squash that spider. It could save your life. One way the venom is used in medical systems is if the cardiologist puts a stint in your coronary vessel, to keep that open, they give a medication that is derived from pygmy rattlesnake venom. There is another venom derived medication that is being used to bust up clots, uh, in the brain when someone has a stroke. That is from the Malayan pit viper venom. Another one is a medication, they're called ace inhibitors, it's a whole class of medications that are used to treat high blood pressure. That is also derived from venom. NARRATOR: Beaded lizard venom is now being used in drugs to treat diabetes. Dr. Sean Bush: the Chilean Rose haired tarantula, there is a venom derived medication that helps with heart arrhythmias. The highly toxic cone snail venom is used to treat pain syndromes. Scorpion venom can be used to limit the spread of cancer cells in the brain as well. There is actually a venom that is being researched to treat erectile dysfunction. So we kind of have a venom ***. And comically enough it's from the banana spider. NARRATOR: Epilepsy, kidney disease, heart failure, the list of conditions that venom can now heal is ever growing. Dr. Sean Bush: I think that venom has extraordinary importance in the discovery and the development of medications and drugs that can help all of humanity. NARRATOR: Eight days and 36 vials of anti-venom later, DR. SEAN BUSH: Those are the first steps to a very long road to recovery. NARRATOR: Jessica walked again. DR. SEAN BUSH: Jessica's snakebite took months of physical therapy to bring her back to baseline. I don't think Jessica had lasting damage. She did tell me that she had bad dreams and I think one of her dreams was a giant snake was chasing after her; so it left an impression on her for sure. NARRATOR: But for every person that dies of a snakebite, there are 350 more being saved by or treated with drugs based on venom. Scientists have only scratched the surface of the toxins' potential.