Maggots may have kept rotting woman alive

[KamaAina]

Not even close to The Onion.

http://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Police-Maggots-may-have-kept-rotting-Auburn-4624559.php

An Auburn, Wash., woman accused of doing nothing while maggots gnawed at her elderly mother now faces a felony elder-abuse charge....

Deputies and medics arrived to find the older woman stuck to her bedding. According to charging papers, a deputy looking into the bedroom window saw maggots crawling in a large open wound on the woman’s leg; the bed sheets were soiled with the byproducts of injury and covered in bugs....

“The maggots may have helped keep (the woman) alive due to the fact that they were eating the rotting skin that was infected and helping to slow the infection,” King County Sheriff's Det. Marylisa Priebe-Olson said in court papers, recounting a statement from a paramedic....

Checking on the older woman the day she was rescued, the witness said she “noticed ‘hundreds of maggots’ covering her exposed sores, describing it ‘like a horror movie,’” Priebe-Olson told the court. The purported witness ultimately convinced Morton to call the police.

[Xyzse]

1. I think I just lost my appetite...

Thanks, I need to lose weight any way.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Leeches

For venous engorgement in cases such as a certain types of corrective plastic surgery. Maggots are actually used for the purpose in the article at certain hospitals
(Not mine, we use leeches though)


It's still a sad situation

[Paulie]

3. I recall lots of stories over the years on therapeutic use of maggots

For diabetic and bed sores that won't heal, maggots eat the necrotic tissue giving the healthy a chance to grow.

[Wounded Bear]

4. While this is in a non-clinical environment, and deplorable...

Maggots will eat decaying flesh and leave the healthy tissue alone. For this reason, they have been in the past and are still, in some cases, used for this purpose.

You would certainly prefer, should one even want to do this, that it be done under medical supervision. Having it happen at home is abuse.

[In_The_Wind]

5. ew

[nolabear]

6. While this is the most godawful thing I can imagine, they may be right. We saw it in vet medicine.

Back in my pre-wildlife rehab days I worked for a couple of veterinarians. We'd get animals in with maggot-infested injuries (I got really good at not barfing) and indeed the vets said the maggots were good at eating the necrotic flesh and helping slow or even stop gangrene. I've heard of it being used on humans in the past.

They should still put that daughter UNDER the jail.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

7. I saw another story like this on either a NOVA or a Nature show some time ago.

It was fascinating in a way.

They were also talking about how Leaches can dramatically help people keep reattached parts line fingers.

Doctors were using Maggots to help get rid of bad flesh due to gangrene. The doctor was saying they could clean it out better due to there size. That they could clean it out so it was truly all gone. He said they could clean it out other ways but no where the way and speed the Maggots could.

They even said it really was not new. That such things were around for ages.

Wish I could remember which show it was so I could get a link. It was fascinating, for those of strong stomachs.