The discrediting of general "bleeding" as a treatment for everything from hysteria to syphilis in the 19th century largely put an end to this history. However, in 1884 leech saliva was identified ...

However, doctors determined that the leech had been inside Xiaoxiang's lungs for a significant period of time, causing a serious infection. His treatment involved a deep clean of his lungs ...

The conditions for the trial arms were not even close to being comparable: Only patients in the leech therapy group received treatment that included intensive, individual direct physician contact ...