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The surprising comeback of leeches in treating illness

The surprising comeback of leeches in treating illness

Ellsworth Toohey
Aug 29, 2025
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The surprising comeback of leeches in treating illness
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Hirudotherapy is making a comeback (Vershinin89/shutterstock.com)

Alexandra Balwit's article, "Leeches and the Legitimizing of Folk-Medicine" explores how leeches, once dismissed as medieval quackery, are gaining new respect in modern medicine. "Men would rather pop Viagra forever than let a leech near their body," Dr. Andrei Dokukin tells Balwith. Dokuk…

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