Leech pictures and effects

Do you get goose bumps when you see the word "leech"? I believe many of my friends have been bitten by leeches before. Once bitten, the area will swell for several days, which is really painful. But you never thought that the annoying leeches can be made into Chinese herbal medicines, and they can also bring benefits to our human body. What are the effects and functions of leeches?

What are leeches?

It is flat and spindle-shaped, with most stages, 4 to 10 cm long and 0.5 to 2 cm wide. The back is dark brown or black-brown, slightly protruding. After soaking in water, gray-black spots can be seen arranged in 5 longitudinal stripes; the ventral surface is flat and yellow-brown. The sides are yellow-brown, the front end is slightly pointed, the back end is blunt, and there is a glass cup on each side. The front glass cup is not obvious, and the back glass cup is large.

It is brittle, easily broken, and has a collagenous fiber-like cross section. Slightly fishy smell. It lives in paddy fields and canals, sucking and storing blood. The distribution range is very wide, and it can be found in most areas of our country.

Leeches are actually called leeches in many cases. If you have ever been in a paddy field before, you will most likely be attacked by leeches. After being bitten by a leech, do not try to pull it out with force. The glass suction cup on the leech's mouth has a very strong adsorption force and you cannot defeat it with just force. Sprinkling salt on it will make it fall off.

The efficacy and function of leeches

Thrombolytic effect

Hirudin has the effect of anti-platelet aggregation and dissolving venous thrombosis caused by thrombin. Hirudin is an alcohol extract that has the effect of activating the fiber-dissolving system both inside and outside the body; the leech's throat secretion has a strong anti-thrombotic effect after intravenous injection into rats.

Termination of pregnancy efficacy

This effect has only been studied on experimental mice. Of course, modern science is so advanced that it is impossible for a pregnant woman to have an abortion using leeches. But this also happens to remind many pregnant women that although leeches can prevent and alleviate many diseases, pregnant women should definitely not eat them.

Anti-platelet effect

Hirudin can inhibit the fusion of thrombin and platelets, promote the dissociation of thrombin and platelets, inhibit the release of platelets stimulated by thrombin and the reaction induced by thrombin.

Effects on blood rheology

Giving animals 0.45 g/kg of leech extract by gavage can reduce blood viscosity and shorten the electrophoresis time of blood cells. Oral administration of leech decoction can also cause abnormal blood rheology, such as a decrease in whole blood viscosity, blood viscosity, hematocrit and fibrinogen component in rats.

Lowering blood lipids

Nowadays, there are many people with high blood lipids. Many of them do not pay attention to their daily diet and like greasy or animal offal foods. If you want to soften blood vessels, leeches are a very good choice. It reduces cholesterol and triglycerides, which in turn helps keep blood sugar under control.

Effects on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases

Intraperitoneal injection of 30 g/kg of hirudin can continuously increase the ability of mice's heart to absorb 86Rb, indicating that it has the effect of increasing the heart's nutritional blood volume.

Effects on experimental brain abscess and subcutaneous hematoma

Leech extract has the effect of promoting digestion and absorption of experimental brain abscess in rabbits. Experimental results show that leeches can promote the absorption of brain abscesses and subcutaneous hematomas, relieve peripheral inflammatory mediators and edema, reduce increased intracranial pressure, improve local blood circulation, protect brain tissue from necrosis and promote the repair of autonomic nerves.

Effects on experimental renal damage

Using 30% leech liquid 15ml/Kg, gavage twice, has a significant preventive effect on the initial subacute renal tubular damage and necrosis in rats caused by intramuscular injection of vaseline, and the increase in blood urea nitrogen and blood creatinine values ​​is significantly lower than that in the control experiment. The histological changes in renal tissue were greatly improved. Its mechanism of action may be related to improving blood rheology and hypercoagulation, thereby improving the renal blood circulation system.

Leech's approach

Water scalding method

Wash the leeches, put them in a basin, pour in boiling water, and let the boiling water submerge the leeches 3 centimeters. After 20 minutes, pick up the scalded leeches and dry them. If it is not scalded to death the first time, you can scald it again.

Alkali Calcination

Put leeches and edible alkali powder into a container at the same time, roll the leeches back and forth, rub them while turning them over, and wait until the leeches shrink, then wash and dry them.

Ash Burial Method

Bury the leeches in lime powder for 20 minutes. After the leeches are dead, sift out the lime powder, wash them with tap water, and air dry them. You can also bury the leeches in grass ash. After 30 minutes when the leeches are dead, sift out the grass ash, wash them with water and dry them in the sun.

Cigarette Burial Method

Bury the leech in the pipe tobacco for about 30 minutes, and then clean and dry it after the person dies.

Wine

Pour a high ratio of wine into a container filled with leeches, submerge them, cover and seal for 30 minutes. After the leeches are dead, pick them up, rinse them with cold water and dry them.

Salt production method

Put the leeches into the container, add a layer of salt and then a layer of leeches, until the container is full. Just salt the dead leeches and dry them.

Summary: After reading the article, are you surprised about leeches? Although it is very hateful that they always suck the blood of others to survive when they are alive, it is good that they still have many uses after they die. But everyone must not catch leeches and make medicinal leeches by yourself without any experience and protection. This is very dangerous. You can buy medicinal leeches directly at the pharmacy.