Maggots Heal Chronic Diabetic Wounds After Other Methods Fail in Study, Kaiser Permanente Reveals

Maggots healed the wounds of diabetic patients where traditional medicine had failed, according to a report that suggests the ancient therapy may offer an alternative for clearing severe ulcers. Medical-grade versions of the fly larvae, placed on the sores of 27 diabetic patients, helped close the wounds in 21 cases, said Lawrence Eron, associate professor at the University of Hawaii’s John A Burns School of Medicine, in Honolulu, and an author of the report. Some of the wounds had been open for as long as five years, he said.