Necessary conditions for mass reproduction of medicinal leeches. Earnings on the cultivation of medical leeches

Leeches that can be bred at home are used exclusively in.

Not everyone knows that several leeches can cure you of various diseases, for example, varicose veins and hemorrhoids, if a person has a wound on his body, then by applying a leech to it, he will immediately forget about his wound and pain.

Leeches live both in the aquatic environment and on land, but most often they can be found in the water. They mainly live in lakes and rivers where there are reeds and frogs. There are cases when they move to another lake after many kilometers. In order to move on the ground, leeches use suckers. They float in water and make wave motions. All leeches have the ability to sense humidity and temperature.

Medical leeches feed exclusively on the blood of animals, using fish and frogs. A hungry leech is able to suck out 20 ml. blood, but only at one time, after she drinks the blood, it immediately increases by 6-7 times.

Breeding leeches at home

A medical leech lives for a maximum of 3 years, but only if it is regularly fed and cared for. They breed only once a year, from June to August. Their reproduction takes place on land, the leeches stick together and begin the process itself.

After fertilization, the leech looks for a place for itself, mainly on the shore of a lake or river, and debugs a cocoon. The leech debugs from 5-6 cocoons. After the leeches have hatched, they are already readily looking for food for themselves, most often frogs, they drink blood from them, since they are not yet able to bite through the skin of other inhabitants of the reservoirs.

When you breed leeches at home, you must adhere to the rules and all the rules of their residence. Basically, they are kept in three-liter jars, thirty pieces each, after the water becomes contaminated, it needs to be changed.

How to be treated with leeches

Leeches stick on various characteristic features. Before sticking, they carefully choose a place, most often they stick to those places where there is some kind of disease or there is a wound. They should suck out blood for no more than twenty minutes, to unhook the leech from their body, use alcohol or iodine. Alcohol is very effective for them.

If you think that leeches are capable of transmitting any disease to you through the blood, then you are deeply mistaken. There is no danger in this, medical leeches cannot transmit any infection.


Breeding medicinal leeches will require registration of IP (code OKVED 01.49.9– “Breeding of other animals not included in other groups”). A leech is equated to a medicinal product, so it is necessary to obtain a license for cultivation from Roszdravnadzor. Your "pets" and the premises for their maintenance must pass sanitary control.

Leech breeding technology

AT artificial conditions they are kept in aquariums or ordinary three-liter jars with purified water. The container must be covered from above so that the "residents" do not run away. You will need a room with several rooms or sectors (total area - from 30-35 square meters) and racks for aquariums and jars.

You can set up such a farm at home. It is important to ensure that at all stages of growth and development, the creatures were kept separately from younger or older individuals. For example, fry are placed with fry, and adults live together.

Livestock purchase

It is not recommended to catch “wild” leeches for cultivation on your own; moreover, there may be problems with documents. The medical method provides for complete artificial content. You need a leech farm where you can buy individuals with documents confirming the possibility of using them in cosmetology and medicine.

For beginners, it is enough to purchase 500 pieces. The purchase will take approximately $ 270.

Conditions for keeping leeches

These are not very demanding creatures, but if the fluid is contaminated or one becomes ill, the entire livestock may die. Therefore, it is better to keep them in small groups: 20-40 in one container.

Climatic conditions

The main condition is clean water. You will need to purchase at least good household filters to clean it. The reservoir is half filled with liquid. It is necessary to change the water every day and at the same time clean the container from the accumulated mucus. Watch for impurities in the fluid (such as chlorine).

Other requirements:

  • Temperature - + 25-27 degrees;
  • Air humidity - from 80%.

Feeding leeches

For these animals, care should be taken in advance for regular supplies of certified bovine blood. Usually it is bought at meat processing plants. Blood is needed only from healthy livestock.

The appearance of foam signals their saturation. Then the pets are washed and placed back in the jars.

Feeding is carried out once a month and a half. Before selling, each individual must starve for at least three months, only then it is used for its intended purpose. For a breeding stock of 500 individuals, approximately 6 tons of blood and 1600-1800 $ for food for two months will be needed.

How to breed leeches

For mating, they are seated in pairs and left alone for a month (the mating season). Well-fed animals mate better, so breeding should begin after feeding.


They need a terrarium to lay their eggs. After 25-30 days, mated individuals are transplanted into it and left until cocoons are laid.

In the mother liquor, an imitation of the natural habitat is needed: a combination of water and land. The bottom of the mother liquor is covered with moist peat soil with moss turf. Animals dig passages in the soil and lay a cocoon with eggs.

From the eggs, threads appear weighing only 0.03-0.04 grams. They live and grow separately from adults. Young animals are also fed fresh blood from large and medium cattle.

10-30 threads appear from one cocoon. So, 500 goals will bring about 10,000 new individuals in a month and a half.

Equipment

Growing leeches will require the purchase of:

  1. Multi-tier racks (9-10) - $ 380-400;
  2. Tables for feeding and washing (2 pcs.) - $ 90;
  3. Terrariums (10-15) and three-liter jars (200-250 pieces) - $ 150;
  4. Filter for water purification - $ 200.

Investments in equipment - in the region of $ 800-900.

Costs and profits

To open a small leech house, you will need an investment of $ 1300-1500 (documents, equipment, purchase of livestock, arrangement of premises and ventilation / air conditioning).

It is difficult to cope with the daily care of "pets" on your own, therefore need to hire a worker. In addition to his salary, the list monthly expenses includes food and utilities(mainly water). Only 1300 $.

In the CIS, the average market price of a leech is $0.5. They can be sold abroad for $1.5 apiece. In the future, it is worth thinking about expanding the business and setting up supplies abroad. Selling in the CIS for 6-7 thousand individuals per month, you get from $ 1,700 in net income.

Sales

Before organizing a business, think about distribution channels of its products:

  • Pharmacies;
  • Medical centers with the services of hirudotherapists;
  • Sale for cultivation and for personal use.

Considering the growing demand for hirudotherapy, medicinal leeches are a profitable and promising business. Plus, there is not much competition in this area. And if you wish, you can earn two to three times more on deliveries to foreign medical centers.

The leech is your home doctor. Hirudotherapy for different types of people Larisa Leonidovna Gerashchenko

Secrets of breeding medical leeches in artificial conditions

As you already know, inquisitive readers, leeches, which are bred in artificially created conditions, were not always treated. Simply because the very technology of breeding leeches in such conditions, which is popular today, was developed only half a century ago. The authors of this method considered it their main task to create conditions under which leeches would regularly multiply, develop much faster and become suitable for treating patients earlier. This method is described in 1955 in the book by G.G. Shchegolev and M.S. Fedorova "Medical leech and its application":

“Large, well-fed leeches, the so-called queens, are seated in pairs in small jars of water. The mating period lasts about a month. After mating, the queens are transplanted into glass vessels filled with peat, where they lay cocoons. During this period, the room maintains a high temperature. By the time the cocoons mature, they are placed in water, where the juveniles hatch. At certain intervals, leeches are fed with clots of coagulated blood obtained from meat processing plants. When, after a series of feedings, they reach a sufficient size, they are left for some time without food in order to be made suitable for medicinal purposes. Between feedings, leeches in glass jars are thoroughly washed with water. As a result of all these operations, the period of their cultivation is reduced to a year.

The question of whether medicinal leeches grown by this method are inferior to those caught in natural reservoirs is debatable. It is hardly worthwhile to objectively compare a medical leech, which is grown under artificial conditions, with a "wild" one, because the purposes of their use are different. For treatment, as you already know, you need to use only a leech that is grown under artificial conditions.

Artificial breeding of medicinal leeches has its undeniable advantages: it significantly reduces the capture of wild leeches, guarantees the "purity" of the leech, that is, the absence of various infections in it. Certified medical "natural healer" - protecting the patient from AIDS, as well as from hepatitis, which could be infected with animals that became the last meal for this leech. It is impossible to subject every medical leech caught in natural water bodies to biochemical analysis in order to identify infectious diseases, the carrier of which it can be.

In the 21st century, biologists, physicians, cosmetologists, pharmacologists, hirudotherapists and businessmen are becoming more interested in the medicinal leech every year. Scientists argue about which of the technologies for breeding leeches in artificial conditions is better - "jar" or the so-called "closed-loop technology". They research where, how best to keep and breed leeches. These questions are relevant because the medicinal leech is an endangered species. In 1984, this species was listed in the Red Book, and by decision of the International Committee for the Protection of Species, since 1997, a ban has been introduced on catching these animals from natural reservoirs for the purpose of mass sale.

the largest modern center artificial breeding of leeches today is the International Center for Leeches, which is located in the village of Udelnaya, Moscow Region. The work of the center is described in detail in the book by G.I. Nikonov "Medical leech. Fundamentals of hirudotherapy”, which was released in 1998.

Employees of the research laboratory of this center are intensive work for improvement and development technological process. Industrial premises where they produce, contain and store finished products - medical leeches - today occupy 2200 square meters. m. Production is certified according to GMP standards. In addition to specialized production facilities that are specially designed for growing leeches, the Leech Center has a research laboratory, a workshop for the primary processing of medicinal leeches to create cosmetics, and an experimental workshop for keeping queen leeches between cocoon laying.

All production of the International Center for Medicinal Leeches is equipped with the latest science and technology. The research laboratory has everything necessary to solve the issues of modernizing the technology of growing leeches in artificial conditions, its employees study biologically active substances produced by medical leeches, create medicinal and cosmetic preparations based on them, and popularize hirudotherapy methods. The workshop for the primary processing of medicinal leeches is equipped with freezers, freeze-dryers, homogenizers and other modern equipment. There are also technical workshops for water supply, packaging, transport and other production services in the center. The accredited laboratory of the quality control department monitors the "finished product".

In addition to the International Medicinal Leech Center, there are also other factories that breed medicinal leeches. For example, the English factory Biopharm and the French company Recarimpex.

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Breeding conditions

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Instruction

Pay special attention to ensure that artificially created living conditions leeches as close to natural as possible. If you contain leeches, pick up special dishes for their cultivation. It can be from clay: pots, jars and jugs; or glass: jars small and large. In ancient times, even wooden dishes were used.

The air must be absolutely clean, without foreign odors (especially tobacco smoke). It must be absolutely quiet, because the noise can disturb leeches and cause a slow contraction of the body. This adversely affects hungry leeches, contributing to their exhaustion.

note

In our country, the leech is officially recognized as a medicinal product, and the leech breeding farm is recognized by law as a pharmaceutical production. To engage in the cultivation of leeches for the purpose of selling to medical institutions, you need to obtain a license from Roszdravnadzor.

Useful advice

Before the advent of modern techniques, leeches were bred in ordinary open-air ponds, that is, leech breeding was part of the pond economy. This method of breeding leeches was inconvenient. The most important condition for the rapid cultivation of full-fledged medicinal leeches is their regular feeding with fresh blood, which is purchased from slaughterhouses.

Sources:

  • cultivation of leeches

Leeches have a complex effect on the body. In addition to purely mechanical damage to the skin, causing ordinary bleeding, eliminating venous congestion, the leech injects substances into the blood that have an anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. This improves blood microcirculation, reduces the likelihood of thrombosis, and removes puffiness. Also, leeches have a reflex effect due to the fact that they bite through the skin only at biologically active points.

You will need

  • - leeches;
  • - glass container;
  • - river, lake, rain water;
  • - river sand;
  • - charcoal;
  • - duckweed, trefoil, water cabbage.

Instruction

After acquisition leeches and delivering them home (or to the place of their further maintenance), they need to create conditions that imitate natural conditions as much as possible.

It is not recommended to fill the containers with well, spring, and boiled water, which contains the smallest particles of lime. Leeches react sharply to their movement, they are worried, which negatively affects their health and can lead to mass death. Best of all rain, river or lake water.

A little river sand and coal can be added to the water, thanks to which individuals can clean off mucus from themselves, and the water does not rot longer. Changing the water causes them great anxiety. During the period, water should be once a day. In warm - twice, in the heat - daily. It is recommended to plant special plants in a container with leeches, such as water cabbage, shamrock, duckweed, etc.

Hungry and full leeches should not be kept in the same container.

Regularly monitor the health of the wards. From one patient, everyone contained with her in the same container can die. Affected individuals are usually nearly immobile and appear as a simple dark stripe, while healthy individuals have a rounded appearance.

note

Despite the wide range of diseases amenable to hirudotherapy, there are contraindications to its use - hemophilia, anemia, hypotension, pregnancy, individual intolerance.

Useful advice

The use of hirudotherapy is very diverse. If earlier the main indication was hypertension, then modern studies of the therapeutic effect suggest their use in many diseases.

Tip 4: Hirudotherapy. How leeches help people treat diseases

Why are doctors increasingly using such an outdated method of treating certain diseases as hirudotherapy? The fact is that this technique in some cases brings more positive results than taking pharmaceuticals. After all, leeches are a medicine created by nature.

Hirudotherapy has been known for several centuries. When it first began to develop, almost all diseases were treated by bloodletting. Leeches have brought variety to the methods of therapy. In those days, nothing was known about the properties of the saliva enzyme. Their effect was only to reduce the amount of circulating.

Sweetened water can be used as bait for leeches. It should be applied to the place where the leech should be.

Leeches should be in a jar of clean, preferably filtered water.

Preparation for hirudotherapy

Before you start using leeches, you need to properly prepare. In particular, pay attention to lifestyle and adherence to a special diet. So, for the duration of hirudotherapy, it is necessary to give up alcohol and cigarettes. Exclude fatty, sweet, spicy, salty and fried foods from the diet. The best option for this period is light or dietary food. It is advisable to adhere to such a diet a week before and a week after hirudotherapy sessions.

If you have any wounds or insect bites on your body, treat them thoroughly with a disinfectant to prevent the spread of infection.

In no case do not use common marsh leeches for hirudotherapy, as they can be a carrier of various infectious and viral diseases.

During treatment with leeches, it is recommended to drink more fluids, at least two to three liters per day. Be sure to include freshly squeezed beetroot juice in your diet. It is enough to drink at least half a glass of juice per day. It is also useful to drink non-carbonated mineral water with lemon juice. To do this, squeeze one lemon into one liter of water.

When treating with leeches, you need to eat cereals, best of all oatmeal or from a mixture of cereals. Be sure to add slices of apple, orange, banana and other fruits to cereals. You can also diversify the taste with raisins, dried apricots, seeds and nuts.

Regular, at least once every two or three days, cleansing enemas help the body cleanse itself faster, and, accordingly, increase the effect of leech procedures.

How to use leeches

Leeches do not like different flavors. Therefore, on the day of their installation, you should not take a bath, use soap, perfumed products for personal hygiene. The same applies, which will work with leeches. Also, the patient should not drink alcoholic beverages. It is advisable to stop smoking 3-4 hours before the hirudotherapy procedure.

Before setting the leech, you need to carefully treat the skin area with medical alcohol, and then with a cotton or gauze swab dipped in hot water, wash off the smell of alcohol, which can scare away the leech. After that, the leech is taken with bare hands, so as not to frighten, and placed on the skin. Then immediately cover the leech with a clean glass or jar so that it does not run away. When the patient feels the bite, the jar can be removed. And leave the leech for 30-60 minutes. After this time, the leech will increase by about 2-3 times. It must be carefully removed and discarded, and the bite site must be disinfected.

Reuse of a leech for staging to another person is prohibited. To eliminate health problems, different schemes for setting leeches are used.

Treatment with leeches is far from new way recovery. The drawings on ancient Egyptian vases and the walls of the tombs of the pharaohs indicate that the benefits of leeches were known long before our era. The method of treatment with leeches in modern medicine is again at the peak of popularity, largely due to scientific research, which explain the mechanism of action of these little doctors on the human body.

The therapeutic effect of a bite of a medicinal leech

In one session, a leech can drink blood twice its weight, which is about 10 ml. The first and most primitive useful property of hirudotherapy is the mechanical removal of blood from the bloodstream. After the procedure, blood continues to flow from the bite site. Until the wound heals, about 50 ml of blood can flow out of it.

For treatment, buy leeches only in a pharmacy. Choose a leech with even skin and a uniform color. As a rule, the most active drink the most blood.

The therapeutic effect of bloodletting helps with high blood pressure, stagnation of blood and bile, high, migraines.
Leeches make their bites in biologically active points of a person; their use is akin to acupuncture. Mechanical stimulation of these acupuncture points has a beneficial effect on various organs and systems.

You can store leeches both in river and tap water, having previously settled it for a day.

Useful properties of the leech secret

The composition of leech secretory secretions includes more than 100 components. Protecting itself from bacteria, the leech produces biologically active substances that disinfect the blood. Together with saliva, these substances enter the bloodstream and there they continue their beneficial effects on the body, helping various diseases.

To make the blood that the leech drinks easier to swallow, its secret contains a biologically active substance - hirudin. This substance reduces clotting, therefore, increases blood flow and oxygenation of cells.

Hirudin promotes the dissolution of existing blood clots in the vessels and prevents the formation of new ones. The use of leeches for varicose veins has gained recognition thanks to this particular component. Hirudin thins the blood that has stagnated in the dilated veins and prevents the formation of clots.

For some, the mere sight of leeches causes fear, while others look at them with disgust. But these swamp creatures can be a real salvation for many people, because they have been helping in the treatment of various diseases for more than one thousand years.

The benefits of hirudotherapy


You can list only a few that are treated: hypertension, headache, angina pectoris, varicose veins, infertility, endometriosis, arthritis, prostatitis, obesity, glaucoma, and pancreas, psoriasis, acne and many other diseases.


Hirudotherapy successfully lowers blood pressure. The hypotensive effect is achieved by relieving vasospasm due to the substances that make up the saliva of the leech. Days, and sometimes weeks, this effect is retained. Once a week, and then less often, it is advisable to carry out such procedures to reduce pressure.


The body is rejuvenated naturally when blood is lost as a result of stimulation of the synthesis of new red blood cells. Leech saliva helps reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, and also contributes to weight loss, resorption of scars and adhesions, improves immunity and removes toxins from the body.


You should not be afraid of leeches, as the feeling of a slight prick or tingling during the session quickly passes, since analgesic substances are contained in the saliva of the leech itself. A well-fed leech is removed after about half an hour and a sterile bandage is applied to the wound.


Hirudotherapy has several contraindications: acute infectious diseases, poor blood clotting.


Related videos

Sources:

  • Biting doctor. What diseases does the medicinal leech treat?

Hirudotherapy is a treatment with leeches, which are bred in conditions of absolute sterility on biological farms. The salivary glands of medicinal leeches contain hirudin, which in its composition can be compared with the periodic table.

When is it rational to use hirudotherapy?

The effect of treatment with leeches is that during the bite, hirudin is injected, which is instantly distributed through the bloodstream and affects all human tissues and organs. Blood suction is an additional therapeutic effect, and not the main one, as was previously believed.

Hirudotherapy is prescribed for osteoarthritis, arthritis, rheumatic diseases, almost all diseases of the hematopoietic and circulatory organs, respiration, digestion, endocrine pathologies, gynecological problems, skin diseases, neurological and ophthalmological.

In addition to a wide range of indications for hirudotherapy, there are a number of contraindications that must be considered if the patient is prescribed treatment with leeches.

The main contraindications for hirudotherapy

Leeches not only secrete the valuable biologically active substance hirudin, but also suck out a large amount of blood. One leech is able to increase in size ten times in a session. Therefore, hirudotherapy is contraindicated in anemia, since additional blood loss leads to an increase in the symptoms of the disease.

Hemophilia is a disease associated with impaired blood clotting. Hirudotherapy for hereditary pathology is also contraindicated, since the main action of hirudin is blood thinning, and this can lead to serious blood loss with the slightest injury received by the patient.

In addition, hirudotherapy is contraindicated in hypotension. Additional thinning and loss of blood will lead to a decrease in pressure, which can provoke an acute attack of angina pectoris, heart rhythm disturbances and heart failure.

Hemorrhagic diathesis is a whole group of hematopoietic diseases. With the disease, the patient suffers from increased bleeding. Hirudotherapy in this case is strictly contraindicated, as it can cause a sharp exacerbation of symptoms and can provoke additional blood thinning.

Pregnancy also refers to absolute contraindications for hirudotherapy. It is impossible to be treated with leeches after a cesarean section.

Hirudotherapy is not carried out for children under seven years of age, people with individual intolerance, cancer patients. If the patient was prescribed hirudotherapy, the doctor must take into account all

finicky leeches

Leeches are grown on farms specially designed for this, where everything is absolutely sterile. Hirudotherapy is a fairly simple method of treatment. It is intended for outpatient or home use. It is worth knowing that the leech “sits down” in different ways on different parts of the skin of different people. In order for it to stick better, it is necessary to wipe the skin area with an alcohol solution applied to gauze. This is important because the gauze irritates the capillaries and activates them.

It happens that the leech does not want to stick. Often this is due to extraneous odors, therefore, when going to a hirudotherapist, it is better not to use flavored products. An unscented baby soap is well suited for washing. Leeches are finicky, therefore they can refuse to interact with the body of a person who has recently drunk and smoked.

Interestingly, each leech is intended for single use only. After the procedure, she is killed.

How to plant a leech

A leech is planted on the skin with a glass vial - it is overturned on the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe skin on which it will be located. Sometimes the replanting procedure takes quite a long time. If for a long time it is not possible to plant this particular leech, then you can try to do it with another one. There are known methods in the field of hirudotherapy, when several leeches are trying to plant at the same time. It is believed that at least one of them will definitely attach.

Sometimes very narrow bubbles with a piston are used. This is justified when leeches are placed on mucous membranes, for example, in the vagina. Sometimes bleeding is observed after the use of leeches. Often this happens when using leeches on the labia minora. It is worth knowing that leeches always cause only venous bleeding, so the wound should be pressed hard.

The duration of a hirudotherapy session is often regulated by the leech itself - until it disappears. On average, this is from 30 to 60 minutes. Sometimes the doctor intentionally shortens the session to a certain period. To interrupt the session, it is necessary to apply cotton wool moistened with alcohol, acetic or iodine solution to the leech. This will irritate her, and her suckers will open.

Sometimes during a hirudotherapy session, the leech is inactive. In this case, stroking her skin with a finger dipped in warm water will help. In winter, cotton pads are applied to leeches, this is the so-called “fur coat”. In heat, leeches work faster.

The leech bite site on the human body should not be additionally disinfected. It is usually sealed with adhesive tape to avoid scratching. The patient is not forbidden to take a shower.

Hirudotherapy is based on the fact that the therapeutic effect is due to the protein-enzyme mixture found in the saliva of leeches. This extract includes various enzymes that contribute to the disinfection of the incoming fluid and improve its quality. Also, this extract affects the walls of blood vessels and blood flow.

Hirudotherapy at home

Most often, treatment with leeches is carried out in a hospital. However, situations are not uncommon today when hirudotherapy is arranged at home. True, in order for such a procedure to be effective and efficiently performed, a number of rather strict conditions must be observed.

So, for example, you need to buy leeches only in specialized and certified medical facilities. In this case, there will be a guarantee of their quality and health.

Hirudotherapy can only be performed on clean skin. Any creams, deodorants or perfumes can scare away the leech, and it simply will not stick.

Most often, hemorrhoids, osteochondrosis, gout or liver disease are treated with leeches at home. In each situation, you must be clearly confident in the diagnosis and use the number of leeches that is provided for in the instructions - no more and no less. So, for example, for the treatment of hemorrhoids, you will need 4 worms, osteochondrosis - up to 10 worms, for gout - up to 20 blood-sucking ones, and for the treatment of the liver - about 5 leeches.

Carrying out the hirudotherapy procedure in is possible only for patients with a mild form of the disease. If your situation is complicated, you need to trust only a doctor and only in a hospital setting. Under conditions of hirudotherapy performs nurse familiar with this technique.

Rules for hirudotherapy at home

For the procedure, you will need pure alcohol, a glass of hot - about 55 degrees - water, clean oilcloth, sterile medical equipment. It is also advisable to prepare a clean and dry towel.

First you need to cleanse the skin - for this you will need water and cotton swabs. In addition, hot water allows you to increase blood flow to the skin, which makes the procedure more effective. The skin is then disinfected with alcohol. After that, the alcohol must be washed off again with water.

Hirudotherapy is carried out mainly in the prone or reclining position. The patient sits in those moments when the leeches are placed behind the ears. However, after setting all the leeches, the patient should lie down. The treatment process lasts from half an hour to an hour and a half. And taking hirudotherapy in the supine position is not a whim, but a necessity.

The leech for setting is taken with bare hands, but tweezers can be used to remove it. Remember that leeches for hirudotherapy Leech is a blood-sucking annelids that lives in fresh water. For medical purposes, they use a special type of leeches (jaw leeches or medical), which are specially bred on biological farms.

The leech is used only once. After the procedure, it is destroyed.

The therapeutic effect of hirudotherapy is due to several factors. When a leech bites a person, it secretes a small amount of a special secretion of the salivary glands into the wound on the skin. The composition of this liquid contains a huge amount of biologically active substances. One of the main components of saliva is hirudin (a natural anticoagulant). It prevents blood clotting, and when it enters the human bloodstream, it improves blood flow and serves to prevent thrombosis.

The medicinal leech is extremely sensitive to odors. Before the procedure, it is not recommended to use perfumes, caring cosmetics and soaps with strong fragrances.

That is why one of the main indications for hirudotherapy is the treatment of vascular thrombosis, their prevention. For example, it is advisable to apply the treatment procedure with leeches in persons suffering from chronic venous insufficiency of the lower extremities (or varicose veins). During the recovery period after acute vein thrombosis, hirudotherapy is also performed to prevent relapses. In addition, another indication for the appointment of a medicinal leech is the treatment of conditions associated with increased blood clotting.

In microsurgery, hirudotherapy has also found application. Treatment with leeches is indicated to improve the process of engraftment of transplanted tissues in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Hirudotherapy is also used to treat trophic ulcers.

Leech saliva has an analgesic, vasodilating effect, improves blood circulation and tissue nutrition, and the hirudotherapy procedure relieves swelling.

Medical leech is also used in cosmetology for anti-aging procedures.

Arterial hypertension is another indication for hirudotherapy. During the procedure, one leech sucks out about 5-8 ml of blood. After the bite, bleeding continues and the person loses a small amount of circulating blood. This effect lowers blood pressure. In addition, a small blood loss leads to stimulation of hematopoiesis and blood renewal.

Contraindications for hirudotherapy also exist. It is strictly forbidden to carry out the procedure during pregnancy and children under 7 years of age. People with malignant or benign neoplasms should not undergo hirudotherapy.

The impact exerted by a leech can lead to the growth of a benign tumor or to a recurrence of cancer.

The procedure is contraindicated in persons suffering from chronic diseases in the final stage, anemia (anemia), hemophilia and other diseases with increased bleeding (thrombocytopenia, hemorrhagic diathesis, thrombocytopenic purpura, etc.). Exhausted patients medical leech is also contraindicated. With caution resort to this method of treatment in people with an unstable psyche and suffering from mental illness.

Breeding leeches could be a profitable legal business, but officially this kind of activity is equated with the production of medicinal pharmaceuticals. This means that a license from Roszdravnadzor is required for its implementation, and the leeches themselves and their production must undergo certification. Of course, government agencies impose a number of stringent requirements, including the education of personnel, sanitary control of premises and devices needed for work, feeding regimes, and much more. Therefore, only 4 companies conduct their work legally in this area. farms in Russia. Their owners received licenses back in the 90s, when it was much easier.

The market demand for medical leeches is met mainly by illegal producers. But in the aggregate they do this by no more than 30-40%. So the daredevils, who are not embarrassed by the difficulties that the content of leeches directly causes and all those related to the sale of products, are waiting for a rather unclaimed niche.

Despite the development of science and the introduction of the most advanced medical techniques, hirudotherapy is reviving its popularity. Basically, the supporters of this method are attracted by the action of the leech extract, which contains the enzyme hirudin. In addition, the dosage in blood loss and a complex of body responses to a bite, which can have a beneficial effect, useful in a number of diseases, the treatment of which will be greatly simplified.

Our business valuation:

Starting investment - 50,000 rubles.

Market saturation is low.

The complexity of starting a business is 2/10.

What should not be believed?

Information that this requires registering an individual entrepreneur, and OKVED must indicate 01.49.9 - “Breeding other animals not included in other groups”. Everyone decides for himself how to build relations with the state, but it is hardly necessary to draw too much attention to himself. If an entrepreneur is able to obtain a license, then he will definitely be able to solve the issue of registering activities. Otherwise, you need to proceed from the reality of the situation.

It is also impossible to say something definite about what the room should be like and how many containers and other equipment will be required. It all depends on the ambitions of the manufacturer, his experience and how successful he is in finding outlets for selling his products. Many seek to buy medical leeches, but this does not mean that it is so easy to organize an independent retail sale. It should not be considered as a rule the stories that you need a room with an area of ​​​​100 square meters. meters. For a beginner, an ordinary rack is enough, which can accommodate 50-60 three-liter jars and a couple of aquariums.

What do you need to know?

First of all - to have the practice of breeding itself. Beginners are encouraged to treat it as a hobby. Let's write down the first steps in this fascinating business.

We prepare containers. For starters, a few three-liter cans may suffice. But ideally - the presence of an aquarium and several dozen jars of different sizes - two-liter, three- and five-liter ones, you can also prepare something like a terrarium, since there are no clear rules here. We think over where all this household will be located - on tables or racks, some kind of wall shelves. Useful and additional containers needed to defend ordinary tap water. To prepare it, you can use any dechlorination methods that aquarists use.

In one three-liter jar, you can not keep more than 10 leeches, and in an aquarium of 10 liters, you can safely settle 50 worms of this species. It is a good idea to add some vegetation to jars, aquariums and other containers, for example, the usual floating Riccia.

In this case, we are talking about the development of the process itself. If the business is on a grand scale, then a real, fully medical pharmaceutical factory for growing leeches has other approaches. Everything happens under stably regulated conditions, with strict adherence to the technology of the process, much of which is automated. True, the specialized company Gerudo-Med LLC, which exists in Russia, is a completely official leech farm, also uses the canned method of breeding these useful vampires.

Things are normal...

Daily maintenance activities should include a change of water and compliance with general conditions of detention, monitoring the condition of pets. If the leeches do not like something, then they "dirty" the water. And everyone is happy - they cling to the walls and hang in an upright position. At the same time, they protrude halfway out of the water. It also needs to fill the container up to about half.

You should strive to ensure that in one bank there are leeches of the same age. Therefore, another action is the transplantation of leeches from one dwelling to another. We should not forget that they can be active, so aquariums and jars should be closed with lids that allow air to pass through. Suitable for regular gauze strapping.

The most important...

More responsible actions are feeding and reproduction. If we assume that the cultivation of leeches is carried out strictly officially, then first of all, the inspection commissions will be concerned about the question of where the blood comes from for this purpose. For a small home complex, you can buy blood clots on the market. Some farmers sell them to make blood sausage. Higher volume production will require ordering blood from the slaughterhouse. At the same time, legal production requires not only compliance with the rules of sanitation, but also strict documentation.

Private practitioners advise this method. The blood clot is wrapped in a sticky film, which is used in stores to wrap meat or fish, and hung in a container with leeches. This method is suitable for feeding young and mature individuals. This is done once every 2-3 months. Before the delivery of medicinal leeches to retailers begins, they must starve for about the same period.

Reproduction of leeches is a more complicated matter. For mating and the copulation process, you need to prepare peat, check it for the possible presence of impurities, and then fill it with infused dechlorinated water. It is important to keep the proportions right. If the mixture is too thin or too dry, then the leeches will not be able to make the moves needed to deposit cocoons. Half-adult leeches of similar size, which have already been fed 3-4 times, are placed in jars of water in pairs. They wrap around each other, stick together and the process of fertilization begins. Mating can last about a month. Leeches do not have females directly, but in a pair, one of them will play its role.

Then they are transplanted into jars with the composition of the diluted peat, you need the consistency. After a certain number of days, it will be possible to find cocoons in it, which are similar in structure to foam rubber, and somewhat smaller in size than a quail egg. Cocoons can be found inside the passages made in peat and even on its surface. When they are examined in the light, small leeches that are inside the nutrient will become noticeable.

Newborn leeches appear in the bank after about thirty days. From each cocoon, from 10 to 15 threads are obtained, as the young are commonly called. At the same time, some inheritance dies from time to time.

It's time to think about income

Having received a general idea of ​​​​the features of the content of these toothy worms, we will think about how to open a business in the breeding of medical leeches. The first thing that should interest us is its profitability. Let's assume that our microfarm has about 500 individuals permanently. This is 250 pairs, which can bring about 4-5 cocoons per mating season. From one cocoon, on average, 15 threads will be obtained, which means that the offspring of one pair is 75 new individuals. Since we have 250 pairs, we will have 18.750 young leeches.

Since we do not plan to engage in retail ourselves, and most likely we will have to start our production unofficially, it will be very good if each one goes for 30 rubles. In total, this will give 562,500 rubles. Of course, in a year... But the monthly income from such an enterprise will be higher than the average salary in Russia for representatives of many professions - not only doctors and teachers, but also engineers and other specialists. At the same time, one person, with experience, patience and love for this business, will be able to serve about 1000 main individuals. This is usually how they are divided. A certain number are considered as permanent producers of offspring, and some leeches feed several times, then starve and go to sales points. After the mating season, the "population" of the farm reaches its maximum mark. 20 thousand leeches will require 2000 three-liter jars. This is not so much when it comes to commercial breeding. 200 jars will fit on one medium-sized rack, and in a large room it will not be difficult to place 10 such racks. Of course, no certification commission will even go into such an impromptu economy.

Breeding leeches at home can only be considered as a business that will always be semi-legal or illegal at all. There are two main components of success in it - sales points and own diligence. And the wholesale cost of medicinal leeches in this case becomes a relative concept. The main problem is that the usual wholesale buyer may suddenly refuse to purchase goods. For example, state inspection and control structures will set more stringent requirements for the availability of certificates for products sold by a pharmacy, as its owner will immediately demand the relevant documents from the seller.

Because of this, all novice businessmen need to realistically assess their strengths in terms of ensuring that the sale of leeches in bulk is completely legal. If there are not enough of them, then it is hardly necessary to aim at breeding in large volumes. It does not matter at all how much leeches cost if the inability to obtain a license and certify products will not allow one to be sold.