dixonpete
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Celiac.com - Celiac Disease & Gluten-Free Diet Support Since 1995
Everything posted by dixonpete
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A huge failure and a huge success with hookworm incubation
dixonpete posted a blog entry in Pete Dixon
I had an interesting experience today. I set up 3 practice jars 8 days ago. The first of the large jars was ok, maybe a little light in larvae. The second large jar was BARREN! I think I saw one larva in my sample. The third, small jar was a surprise though, it was booming! Squirming larvae hanging from the chandeliers, partying like it was 1999. Huge... -
John has compiled a number of HT related books in the Wiki: https://www.helminthictherapywiki.org/wiki/Helminthic_therapy_in_the_media#Books.
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Very few people seem to be making money with helminths and I agree, selling 10 might be an ambitious number for that book! The majority of people I know involved with HT are simply converts who have been saved from grievous conditions and are trying to help others. I don't talk about the other 3 helminths used in HT because I don't have any experience...
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When I first got into hookworms to treat my several severe GI immune conditions, I was confused and filled with trepidation. Six years later, it all seems pretty simple, but I suppose perhaps everything is like that when you are starting out. The first step is to purchase larvae from a provider listed in the Helminthic Therapy Wiki and when they arrive...
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I bought a doohickey to attach my cell phone to my microscope
dixonpete commented on dixonpete's blog entry in Pete Dixon
In case it isn't obvious, the cell phone sits inside the device and held in place by a spring. Above the holder you can see sort of a hole. That's where it is positioned on the microscope eyepiece. The screw is then tightened to keep it in place. The next trick is to swivel the cell phone such that the camera is looking down the microscope. You can't... -
I bought a doohickey to attach my cell phone to my microscope
dixonpete posted a blog entry in Pete Dixon
It took watching a YouTube video to figure out how to use it, and it's a bit touchy, but it does allow me to take pics and video of what I see under the microscope. The device came from AliExpress and costs under $5. Here's a video of a particularly active larva. Let me know in the comments if the link isn't working. This larva was from... -
Day 2, the day after incubation, I found 1 inactive larvae after sampling both jars. By sampling I mean inspecting about 15 mls of water extracted from each jar. Day 3, nothing. Day 4, I saw one larva in each jar. Day 5, I estimate there were 15–20 larvae in each jar. Enough to inoculate. So I guess that's the answer. 5 days. Waiting l...
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I was in a bit of a rush and didn't finesse the job as well as I would have liked. I ended up using too much stool in one jar and not enough on the other. The overweight one might tear through the threads and sink into the water, and the light one might not have enough stool to generate many larvae. This experience tells me there's some technique to this...
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Probably more concise than reading through my blog entries. Note, I'm now doing 10 larvae every 2 months. Hookworms successful against colitis and celiac disease after medicine fails ⚭Home>Personal stories>Detailed stories>Hookworms successful against colitis and celiac disease after medicine fails I currently inoculate with 25 Necator a...
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About those cheap microscope alternatives
dixonpete commented on dixonpete's blog entry in Pete Dixon
A red filter arrived today from AliExpress and I tried again. I could see the larva but only because it was moving. So still a bust, but slight progress. Probably this form factor could work with much better optics, maybe at the $150-$200 price point instead of the $16 I paid for this toy. Again, the only reason for trying this for portability. A real microscope... -
This afternoon I tried the last one of those AliExpress sub-$20 microscopes. All told there were four, and I'm including a pic of the most promising one where the tube is suspended above a platform. Even with top and below lighting and a sample where I knew there was a larva directly in the center of the drop, I still couldn't see it. I could sort of...
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A video showing another person's hookworm incubation method
dixonpete commented on dixonpete's blog entry in Pete Dixon
Ted also has a video where he shows himself performing his first self-inoculation: -
A video showing another person's hookworm incubation method
dixonpete posted a blog entry in Pete Dixon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHRZkZ_b1sg Ted Simon uses an incubator and vermiculite. His channel offers several other hookworm related videos, including one where he shows using a microscope to harvest the larvae. My method doesn't use an incubator or vermiculite and I get good results, but I can't claim consistency as I don't have that much... -
Final thoughts on that practice incubation
dixonpete commented on dixonpete's blog entry in Pete Dixon
I forgot to mention that there are likely many different, effective methods for hookworm incubation. The common theme of all of them is that the larvae must eventually hit the water after climbing out of the stool and be available to be collected for examination under the microscope. The larvae want to live and continue to play out their life cycle. ... -
I forgot to address the 'gross' factor you mentioned. Over these last six years that I've been doing HT I've come to greatly respect Necator americanus. It's supremely adapted to humans, and I believe its presence is actually a requirement for good health for many people. I think I read that most all mammals carry hookworms in their gut in nature. It...
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Hi Diana, The hookworms are a must for me as the improvement in colitis is life changing. Not having to worry and gluten or gluten contamination is simply a huge plus. You might remember the last time when I wrote about being without hookworms and consumed a meal of non-gluten-free oatmeal. I suffered a complete bowel evacuation and darn near passed...
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Final thoughts on that practice incubation
dixonpete commented on dixonpete's blog entry in Pete Dixon
Also, I think I'll try reducing the amount of water in the jar from 1/4" to 1/8". There just has to be enough water so the stool doesn't dry out and harden, and for the larvae to have a place to swim when they climb down the filter. 1/8" of water would still be an ocean for them. Less water means less time searching for larvae. -
I just had a last look at those two jars and this is what I came away with. The first jar's water probably had about 100 larvae total, the second had substantially more, in the order of 200-300. This estimate is based on how much water was in each jar and how much water I pipetted out of each into a petri dish and scanned. In the second jar that I launched...
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Both were successful. I think I have incubation down pat now, though I can see how a few refinements of technique might lead to larger larvae yields, not that such increases are necessary if I'm only going to be using 10 larvae at a time. Once again, the technique is pretty simple. Just use a hermetically sealable jar with 1/4" of mineral water (not...
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I should have added, an every two month inoculation cycle isn't something I would have considered pre-being able to incubate as the cost would have been prohibitive. ~$200 a pop X 6 = $1200+ a year is a lot. But now that hookworm larvae are free, I can pick whatever inoculation cycle I think might suit me best. Monthly seems too much of a hassle. 5...
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For long time followers of this blog will remember my account of my time at the start of my GI-trouble journey, which largely started in 2005-2008 when I was hit with an abscess, multiple corrective surgeries, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease. This was a particularly bad time in my life. After going gluten-free things got much better, I healed, but I...
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I've ordered several el-cheapo, tiny microscopes off AliExpress that claim to be able to do 40X, as well as a couple of battery powered microscope LED light sources. I'm interested in seeing if they could work in a pinch when travelling and lugging along my microscope would be awkward.
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It was pointed out on the HT Discord Server that hookworm larvae can live up to 4 months sitting in water after incubation. That would mean that a person inoculating monthly could potentially only need to incubate 4 times a year.
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It's been a rapid few days of learning about hookworm incubation. Here's what more I've learned. Most importantly, any microscope that can do 40X will suffice. That's because it turns out the concern about the distance from the lens to the plate for pipetting was a red herring. All one needs to do is lay down a bunch of very small drops on the slide...
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I should have added that the jar and anything else that might come in contact with the hookworm infested water needs to be disposed of with great care. It's recommended that the jar be frozen for 7+ days before its contents flushed. While hookworm eggs in stool are easily killed by the sanitation system and pose no threat, live hookworm larvae are an...
