I can’t think of anything less appetizing than a drink filled with thousands of worm eggs — but if it meant beating a serious and life-wrecking disease with limited options, I’d swallow it all without thinking twice.

I know — as far as the gross-o-meter goes, this one is off the charts… but a series of new studies finds that stomach worms can actually help defeat multiple sclerosis.

In one small study, four of the five MS patients who drank a solution of 2,500 pig whipworm eggs every two weeks for three months had fewer of the brain lesions that mark the condition.

In an upcoming study, 70 patients will let researchers infect them with hookworms. Instead of drinking eggs, these worms will burrow into the shoulder and wriggle their way to the stomach.

Both lines of research are promising, but there’s at least one big difference between the two: Your body will take care of whipworms on its own, but you’ll need de-worming tablets to flush out the hookworms.

So, of the two, it would seem as if the worm juice might be the better option — but I’m sure most MS patients would eat a plate live earthworms if it meant a cure for the disease.

I don’t think a trip to your doctor’s office will ever resemble an episode of “Fear Factor,” but stomach worms might be part of the mainstream care for this disease soon enough — because if earlier studies are any indication, the research under way now should get some serious results.

In one study out of Argentina just a few years ago, researchers compared 12 MS patients who suffered a parasite infection to 12 with no worms. Those with the worms had just three relapses over an average follow-up of 4.6 years
versus 56 among those without the parasites.

The worm patients also had less disability, fewer brain lesions as revealed on MRI scans, and measurable beneficial changes in the blood.

MS isn’t the only autoimmune disorder that you can worm your way out of. Other studies have shown that the creepy-crawlies can help fight Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome along with asthma and even some allergies.

These are all tough-to-beat conditions… yet some of the simplest creatures on the planet may be able to stop them cold.

That’s humbling… and yes, a little bit gross.

We’ve all seen about a million television shows or movies where it seems like the villain is about to get caught, and then he somehow makes a daring escape.

I’m often reminded of that frustrating plotline when I read medical research. Sometimes the researchers are so close to understanding a fundamental truth… to uncovering the real culprit behind a disease… that it breaks my heart when they don’t.

Case in point, researchers from the West Virginia School of Medicine recently took a group of kids with allergies and asthma and moved them from an Italian city to the countryside for a week of camp.

After just one week in the countryside, they all improved. They were able to breathe easier, and their lungs functioned better in clear and measurable ways, according to the results published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

Unfortunately, the researchers were achingly close to making a conclusion that would have helped an awful lot of asthmatics… but they didn’t. Instead, they concluded that we need to improve air quality in cities and reduce pollution so that our children can breathe better.

That’s an admirable goal – but for all the folks suffering from asthma right now, it’s not going to be of much use.

The real message of this study should be that asthma is an autoimmune disorder, triggered by allergens. So if you live in a city and have asthma, there may be some allergens in the air (or just in your home, for that matter) that are helping cause it. Get yourself away from those allergens, and you could start to feel better.

Now, as a longtime resident of Montana, I have to say I’m a little biased towards fresh air and open skies. But we have folks here who suffer from asthma and other illnesses because they’re allergic to ragweed pollen. Or all the timothy grass you’ll often find on the vast ranches and prairies. Or the majestic elms that dot our great state.

See, battling asthma isn’t about urban areas versus rural ones – it has more to do with identifying the specific allergens in your life, and removing them. In this case, rather than remove the allergen, they removed the people. That can work, too, as long as the allergen is not present in your new location – but it’s not really a practical solution for most people.

So for the rest of us, we need more accurate and thorough testing for our allergies, so that we can better understand what is triggering our symptoms. Then, rather then moving away, see if you can remove those allergens.

Much like the kids in this study, I think you’ll see improvements, and relatively quickly. Our bodies have an amazing capacity to heal themselves when given the chance, and you don’t need a vacation in the Italian countryside to enjoy that everyday miracle.