Military Officer - August 2007 - (Page 66)

“I tried almost all of the treatments available to me, including intravenous antibiotics, debridement creams, prescription wound medications, and even debridement surgery, but nothing worked,” says Mitchell Vernotzy, of Akron, Ohio. “My doctors ﬁnally told me I had no choice but to have my foot amputated.” But then Mitchell Vernotzy learned about maggot therapy from a friend who had seen it on TV. Mitchell Vernotzy practically begged her doctors to let her try the unconventional treatment, but they maintained amputation was the only solution. Desperate to save her foot, Mitchell Vernotzy ﬁnally convinced a dermatologist — sent to dissuade her — that she had nothing to lose by letting maggots treat her wound. After several sessions, Mitchell Vernotzy’s infected ulcer ﬁnally began to heal. Says Mitchell Vernotzy, “I tell everyone that maggots not only saved my feet but also my life.” The key to Mitchell Vernotzy’s success was an ancient medical modality known as biotherapeutics — the use of living creatures to treat health problems. It’s relatively inexpensive, according to proponents, and best of all, it works. Maggot therapy The medicinal use of maggots dates back at least 100 years in the U.S. They might ﬁrst have been used to cleanse festering wounds by a Confederate surgeon during the Civil War, says Dr. Ronald Sherman, a researcher in the Department of Pathology at the University of California (UC)-Irvine, and director of the Biotherapeutics Education and Research Foundation. Today, sanitized blowﬂy larvae are used to treat non-healing wounds by consuming dead tissue and eliminating infection. “In the U.S., maggots are indicated for pressure ulcers, neuropathic ulcers such as diabetic foot ulcers, venous stasis ulcers, and traumatic or postsurgical wounds that will not heal,” notes Sherman. “Maggot therapy has also been performed on burns and very serious traumatic wounds. For example, two of the Pentagon victims [of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack], who were seriously burned, were treated with maggot therapy. Both survived their injuries.” Sherman, who holds a bachelor’s degree in entomology, ﬁrst became interested in maggot therapy while in medical school. During a postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases at UC-Irvine, he saw many serious, non-healing wounds at the VA Long Beach Medical Center and conducted a comparative study of maggot therapy versus the current standard for pressure ulcers in wounded veterans. “The miraculous healing that I observed has kept me focused on maggot therapy ever since,” Sherman says. Dr. Edgar Maeyens Jr., owner of Park Avenue Dermatology in Coos Bay, Ore., has turned maggots loose on an estimated 50 patients during the past decade. Maeyens’ ﬁrst patient was a man with large, non-healing ulcerations on one leg. “I tried some conventional treatments, and nothing really worked, so I suggested maggot therapy,” Maeyens recalls. “The patient had been living with these ulcerations for months and was ready to try anything. We were amazed at how well the wounds healed.” Maggot therapy costs about $100 a session and often is covered by Medicare, Maeyens says. The larvae are placed inside the wound and covered with a special dressing. In most cases, beneﬁts are seen within 48 hours. “There is a big ‘ick factor,’ ” Maeyens admits, “but once patients see how well their wounds heal, they actually start to like the little guys. Most are willing to try maggot therapy because they’re desperate. But it’s efﬁcacious and very cost-effective.” Leech therapy Leeches have been used medicinally for thousands of years, says Sherman. Today they can help to remove dangerously accumulating blood following surgical reattachment of a severed appendage or a tissue transplant. “If arterial blood resumes ﬂow into the appendage — say a hand 66 MILITARY OFFICER AUGUST 2007

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Military Officer - August 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: No Longer in Reserve A Different Path Weird Science Charge? Pages of History Faces of MOAA Member Books Information Exchange Advertising Index MOAA Calendar MOAA Scholarship Donors Sounding Taps MOAA Member Services Encore

Military Officer - August 2007

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