PREMIUM --

The International Medical Leech Centre in Udelnoye, near Moscow-Russia in February 17, 2004, has two floors filled with jars of leeches, parasites about the size of a finger wich clamp themselves to skin, drinking blood to keep themselves alive. The 'leech farm' is making a tidy profit shipping them to doctors worldwide. As many discarded elements of traditional medicine, leeches have made a come-back as doctors rediscovered their pain-killing properties, which come from the chemicals they inject into the skin when they bite it. Hirudinization (the treatment by medical leech) becomes a new branch of modern medicine. It succesfully used in treatment of cardio-vascular, neurological,gynecological, urological and many others widespread chronic deseases. One leech could cost about three dollars in France and up to 25 dollars in Canada. Photo by Eastnews/ABACA.