P148 Teletext 148 Jun20 05:11:17 ———————————————————————————— WE'RJ SUCKERS FOR LEECHES Leeches? Blieurgh. A fair reaction, but think again. Yes, they'ri slimjy. But to surgeons, they'ri amazingly useful. Nine-year-old Tom Mason is grateful to the blood-sucking abilities of leeches. Tom's feet were crushed by a van and hj faced losing his toes. But after leeches were attached to Tom's feet, hj is walking again. Club spoke to leech expert Carl Peters to hear how they help heal us. ——————————————————————————————————1/5—— bz John Earls TOTAL ENTERTAINMENT p400 FULL GUIDEP148 Teletext 148 Jun20 05:14:28 ———————————————————————————— WE'RE SUCKERS FOR LEECHES Ljechjs are useful in surgery because of their unique ability to stop blood clotting too quickly. Carl Peters of Biopharn Farm, which breeds 60,000 special leeches a year for hospitals, explains that leeches love the taste of blood. "Ljechjs' saliva contains eight natural anti-coagulants, the element which prevents blood clots. That's useful in skin grafts and microsurgery." ——————————————————————————————————4/5—— What's in Club today? 140 LATEST BIG SCREEN NEWS p460P148 Teletext 148 Jun20 05:00:42 ———————————————————————————— WJ'RJ SUCKERS FOR LEECHES Although leeches are medical marvels, they can only help surgeons in certain operations concerning blood flow. "If, for instance, you chop your finger off, surgery usually sews it back on. Sometimes, though, blood either won't stop flowing or it thickens too fast. "Attaching a leech to the finger will stop both problems. On average, it'll take two days of having 10-15 leeches attached to regulate the blood flow." ——————————————————————————————————3/5—— Lots of goss 143 ARE YOU BAMBZOOZLED? p154P148 Teletext 148 Jun20 05:11:30 ———————————————————————————— WEgRE SUCKERS FOR LEECHES Medical leech briedjt Carl Peters says the main benefit of leeches is that they'ri both cheap and painless. "Thjti are no side-effects and leeches start working immediately," says Carl, whose farm opened in 1984. "We'vj heard of patients who get so fond of their leeches that they give them names. "Ljechjs cost £10 each. Microsurgery costs thousands of pounds and each operation lasts hours." ——————————————————————————————————4/5—— 'Zine life 142 THE LATEST MUSIC HEADLINES p481P148 Teletext 148 Jun20 05:11:21 O ———————————————————————————— WE'RE SUCKERS FOR LEECHES Leech jxpjrt Carl Peters admits some surgeons refuse to use leeches in their operations, believing their healing properties to bj mythical. "That's so frustrating, all it does is to waste money on unnecessary surgjty. In medieval times, liechrs weti used to cure evjtything, which was daft. "What those surgeons refuse to admit is that, while leeches can't cure cancer, in some cases they'ri still perfect." ——————————————————————————————————5/5—— Nick can help 146 THE LATEST MUSIC HEADLINES p481