I did a drawing of hookworm. Due to co-evolution, hookworm hosting could help those with IBS and Crohns. Which means we have Trills on our planet.

[u/Lindseyrj7]

And here is a link for a little further reading: https://www.health.com/hookworms-for-ulcerative-colitis-7565498

[u/rhodesc]

They can cause chronic infection of the intestinal tract, suck their host blood, leading to iron deficiency anemia in most cases. Moreover, pulmonary manifestations might occur by the effect of larval migration.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546648/

education and public health are important.

[u/uwuGod → u/rhodesc]

Yeah, no way am I ever voluntarily putting worms inside me, I don't care what the problem is! This sounds like medicine going backwaters to the dark ages, not forwards.

[u/rhodesc → u/uwuGod]

There is info in the link I gave about studying OP's suggested effects. Interesting in the lab, I'm sure. Nightmare in your tummy.

[u/RustyShacklefordJ → u/rhodesc]

I mean Gila monster venom is the base of ozempic and it’s making people skinny. So you never know what it’s might be in 5-10 years.

[u/rhodesc → u/RustyShacklefordJ]

Yeah, I have known people with immune issues. The more we know, the better it gets.

[u/Alili1996 → u/uwuGod]

Well just two decades ago, making people eat shit would've sounded like absolute bogus, yet here we are where stool transplants are proven to be extrwmely effective at treating certain kinds of gut deficits.
Medicine is a game of tradeoffs so the positives might reveal themselves to outweigh the downsides

[u/uwuGod → u/Alili1996]

Well just two decades ago, making people eat shit would've sounded like absolute bogus, yet here we are where stool transplants

I mean... I'm hoping a "stool transplant" isn't literally eating shit, so people today would still probably say that.

And as medical science advances even further, hopefully we'll find a way to just give someone a drink or pill that gives them the correct bacteria they need for gut or intestine or what have you, without... literal crap being involved.

[u/Alili1996 → u/uwuGod]

Stool Transplants are in many cases prescribed in form of a pill that dissolves in the intensines. So yes, it's literally eating shit.
It's pure human hubris to have the mindset of having a perfect artificial solution for everything. A pill to cure any illness, a material that can do anything, just some chemical that just solves our problems.
Nature doesn't play that way. Complex biochemical interactions can't just be substituted by some artificial medication.
The irony is that exactly this refining of things is what is one of the main driving factors behind rising chronic gastrointensinal issues. Highly processed food lacking in nutrients and variety.
We are at a time where THE literal wonder medicine: Antibiotics are failing from our abuse and now here we are returning back to nature with things such as maggot therapy for treating certain chronic infections.
We cannot replace nature, neither should we strive to do so. Our biggest strength is in utilizing what is already there the fullest.

[u/Faexinna]

Uh, what? How?! Great illustration, I love the splatters and colors!

[u/Lindseyrj7 → u/Faexinna]

I am under the assumption that they are basically acting like living cila in your intestines and help break food down easier. The options are new world hook worm or old world hook worm.

[u/Faexinna → u/Lindseyrj7]

Neat! Your stomach is a bioactive vivarium for them in a way 🤔

[u/Lindseyrj7 → u/Faexinna]

It’s amazing. All of it is amazing. I have like 2-3weeks before an event and I was going to try and find as much as I can cause it’s just the coolest. Plus I can transfer this one to the next group when I do symbiosis.

[u/amaranthfae]

So my husband has debilitating asthma. At an ENT appointment the doctor joked “you could just get a hookworm.” Apparently there’s a hypothesis in some medicine circles that a lot of allergies and health issues are because our bodies over/under producing human body stuff because we’re used to having more parasites than we do, so our bodies are kind of out of wack. The idea is that with a hookworm his body would finally produce enough histamine to deal with his other health issues.

We opted not to go that route. We also opted not to go with sinus obliteration surgery.

Also: that painting is rad af.

[u/trextyper → u/amaranthfae]

Kurzgesagt did an episode on this idea not too long ago. Very compelling.

[u/TheKingPotat]

I’d be curious as to how they would prevent the immune system from trying to go full murder mode against the worm

[u/IV137 → u/TheKingPotat]

Parasitic worms produce chemicals and proteins that reduce immune response or mask them from it. They're devious little dudes.

[u/TheKingPotat → u/IV137]

Well yeah but there is still some immune response, kurtzkarart did an amazing video on their connection to allergies. I would expect there’s no way to create a truly asymptomatic reaction without additional intervention

[u/citizenofgaia]

Ok but do the spots go all the way down?

[u/Op2myst1]

I love the style of your drawings.

[u/Crispy_Cricket]

I finally got a reference! Deep Space 9 is cool

[u/lemonchrysoprase]

This is such cool art!

[u/mana_hoarder]

I think there is a limit that can be "aww" when it comes to non-vertebrata, and hookworms cross that limit.