前苏联共合国乔治亚这一阵子流行用水蛭治疗疾病,以往欧洲人会用水蛭治疗痔疮,乔治亚人把这项疗法发扬光大,用来治疗其他疾病。# X4 r/ I# g; W) \! r1 y9 d
% u( m* d9 S# H. Q9 C" a/ Q人在德国 社区 乔治亚很多诊所都提供水蛭疗法,病人得先跟诊所买一只水蛭,更年期妇女先把水蛭放在脖子上,经过一、二十分钟,水蛭吸完血,身体膨胀4倍,就可以取下,接着医师再把另外2只水蛭放在这名妇女上下牙龈上,等吸完血再取出,医师在患者伤口上贴上绷带,就算完成治疗。接受过治疗的妇女说,她们在更年期会出现的潮红和盗汗都有明显改善。www.csuchen.de6 s( r. w8 A( r0 x( A9 q7 D
- N+ F. T4 T0 s- w5 d人在德国 社区 另外,有一些高血压或是经常性头痛病人,也会用水蛭疗法降低血压,或是治疗头痛。一名医师说,不但乔治亚人用水蛭治病,乌克兰、波兰、甚至德国,也有不少人接受这种疗法。 0 A: O: i! S* ?% s* jwww.csuchen.de人在德国 社区* M, E/ }1 B! D8 Z- i. Z1 ` , w( j1 j3 U2 C1 ^; W# H/ I
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5 s7 A- n& Q5 {0 {8 `+ rwww.csuchen.de 3 p3 h0 l* `: c* A5 _! a人在德国 社区Women turn to leeches in Tbilisi 22 June 2011 5 Q! g! A6 ?2 r / V. \, G( Q7 `Leeches have been used in medicine for thousands of years. By attaching themselves to the body, and sucking blood from a patient, they were thought to bring health benefits.7 U& [5 {6 v" t8 i8 r4 S. b
2 }; ]% i* z2 L( H& CThe idea being that disease could be banished by releasing the infected blood. 5 D( u7 n8 M# L$ g4 k2 j1 v% B4 d5 A8 \9 Z. C$ i- X. \8 h
That idea fell out of fashion during the 20th century, with the discovery of modern drugs. But today, as interest in traditional medicine grows, they are making a comeback - particularly in the former Soviet State of Georgia. $ ?2 F+ I( ], O- ? d {1 n$ A3 D% I( v4 z
Damien McGuinness in the capital Tbilisi has been finding out why.