Leeches? That’s Barbarism. Hookworm, On The Other Hand…
British scientists infect themselves with hookworms to cure allergies, asthma and Crone's disease.
My favorite quote:
Professor David Pritchard and his team at Nottingham University's School of Pharmacy administered different amounts of the hookworms to themselves to prove that it would be safe. Pritchard himself stuck 50 of the larvae onto his skin. 'It was fairly itchy when they first go through the skin,' he admitted. 'After that you don't really notice them.'