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| Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood |
Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood. Leeches, these are animals that are certainly familiar to all of you. This worm-like animal is so famous for its habit of sticking to human skin to suck its blood.
As a result of this habit, leeches are often considered dangerous animals and should be avoided. However, it turns out that not all leeches are considered disturbing humans. In fact, there are leech species that humans have sought out for thousands of years because they were considered useful.
Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood
Medicinal leech or in scientific language Hirudo medicinalis is the type of leech referred to in my article this time. In terms of appearance, these leeches are basically no different from other types of leeches in general. Its body is long and slightly flattened.
Dark skin with internodes totaling about 34 pieces. His stomach was pale with black spots. This leech also has reddish brown stripes extending on its back. When touched the skin feels soft and slimy at the same time.
Medicinal leeches are amphibians, meaning they can live on land as well as in fresh water. In order for leeches to breathe smoothly and not die from dehydration, the leech's skin must always be kept moisturised. That is why leeches make water areas such as rivers and ponds full of mud as their habitat.
Medicinal leeches can be found from Western Europe to the Ural Mountains and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Because the leech's habitat is concentrated in Europe, this animal is also known as the European medicinal leech.
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| Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood |
The medicinal leech does not have legs, but has suckers on its head and tail. To move, the leech will apply its rear suction to a flat surface, then stretch its body forward while applying its front suction.
After that the leech will lift its rear sucker while wrinkling its body. Thanks to the presence of these two suckers, the leech can hold onto the skin of its victim without falling while sucking its blood. Leeches can swim in water by contorting their bodies.
Maybe not many people know, but it turns out that leeches also have eyes. Especially for medicinal leeches has five pairs of eyes. With this eye, the leech can detect changes in the light around it.
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| Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood (source) |
Leeches are known to be very sensitive to light, especially when hungry. When the leech is suddenly hit by a shadow, the leech will immediately move towards the shadow because it assumes that the image is a sign that the victim is passing. Leeches in the water can also detect the victim's presence by feeling vibrations in the water.
Uninvited Passenger Creature
Medicinal leeches are blood-eating animals that live on the blood of large mammals, including humans. As soon as the leech attaches to the victim, the leech will bite the victim's skin and cause it to bleed.
In order not to find out its whereabouts, the leech bites while injecting special saliva so that the victim does not feel pain when injured. At the same time, the leech also injects an anticoagulant substance called hirudin so that the victim's blood does not clot.
That's why if someone pulled a leech from his skin forcibly, the blood would continue to flow for some time. The time it takes for leeches to suck its own blood varies. In a state of extreme hunger, medicinal leeches are known to stick for up to 83 minutes.
However, in most cases, medicinal leeches only take between 20 and 40 minutes to suck the victim's blood. Medicinal leeches can suck up to 15 ml of blood at a time. When finished sucking blood, leeches can grow up to 11 times their original size.
Leeches that have finished sucking the blood of their victims can live without food for 6 months. Leeches that are very full tend to be less sensitive and will not even show any reaction when parts of their bodies are injured and cut.
So that the blood they contain does not rot for a long time, leeches have special bacteria in their bodies. Although food is hard to find, leeches can still survive by digesting their own body tissues.
Leeches are hermaphrodite animals, aka animals that have multiple sexes. Each leech has a pair of ovaries (female genitalia) and several pairs of testes (male genitalia). The medicinal leech breeding season usually occurs from June to August.
Marriage between medicinal leeches takes place on land. When mating occurs, two leeches stick to its stomach and secrete mucus. Through this mucus, one of the leeches releases sperm which is then absorbed by the other leech to fertilize its own egg.
Leeches that have been married will release their eggs in a kind of egg bag (cocoon) that is placed not far from the water. After about two weeks, the eggs will hatch. Like adult leeches, young leeches also live by sucking blood.
However, because their size and strength are still not as large as adult leeches, they usually only suck the blood of smaller animals such as frogs. Medicinal leeches can grow up to 8 centimeters and live up to eight years.
Favorite Creatures of the Past
Medicinal leeches have this name because they have long been used for medicinal purposes by humans. In Ancient Egypt, leeches are known to have been used for medicinal purposes in the 13th century BC although it is not known whether the leeches used actually came from the Hirudo medicinalis species.
In Europe in ancient Rome, Pliny the Elder (23 to 79) in his writings advocated leeches as a therapy to treat disorders of the blood vessels. The use of leeches for medicinal purposes in Europe continued into the Middle Ages.
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| Medicinal leeches, useful animals that thirst for blood (source) |
The widespread use of the leech cannot be separated from the concept of the four humor that was widely adopted by European society at that time. According to a concept that originated in Ancient Greece, the human body is made up of four types of fluids: blood, mucus, yellow bile, and black bile.
If the four fluids are in an imbalance condition, then humans will fall ill and must be cured again by rebalancing the composition of the fluid. Intentional bleeding is one way that can be done to restore the balance in question.
Because leech saliva contains substances that can prevent blood clots, leeches were used by doctors at that time to remove some of the patient's blood.
Due to the popularity of medical techniques using leeches, the number of leeches used in Europe in the 1830s and 1840s is reported to have reached more than 60 million. However, since the last half of the 19th century, the medical practice of using leeches has been abandoned because it is feared that leeches also carry germs.
Since the 1970's, leeches began to be used again in the medical field. Especially in plastic surgery and replacement surgery of limbs (for example fingers) because leech saliva has been proven to be effective in helping blood flow to parts of the body that have blocked blood flow.
In certain cases, leeches can also be used to treat nervous disorders in the limbs. It is estimated that the benefits of leeches in the medical field will continue to increase in the future because besides containing anti-clotting substances, leech saliva also contains anti-inflammatory and pain relieving substances.
In the wild, the medicinal leech's fate is not very encouraging. The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies medicines as endangered because they are no longer found in some of their old habitats.
The large number of leeches taken from wild habitats in the Middle Ages is thought to be one of the main causes. Currently, the medicinal leech population is also threatened by environmental pollution, development and decline in frog populations, which are very much needed by young leeches as a source of food. By: Ochie
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