Hirudoid forte
A natural substance to regenerate skin tissues
OLIC (Thailand) Limited
14g

To understand the process of healing, we need to have a basic understanding of the way skin functions. The skin has three major layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutis. 

The top layer of the epidermis is actually dead skin. Every few days this layer is sloughed off and is replaced by new cells. New cells are produced at the bottom layer of the epidermis. As they grow they push other cells upward to the surface where they become flattened and lose most of their water content.

The dermis is a supple layer of connective tissue matrix which make up 90% of the skin’s thickness. This matrix consists of ground substance composed of acid mucopolysaccharides and other proteins. Running through this dense meshwork are fibres made up of collagen and elastin. Collagen fibres give skin its strength and elastin fibres maintain the skin’s elasticity. With age, the collagen begins to deteriorate causing the skin to become thinner and sag and the elastin breaks down causing wrinkling. The connective tissue matrix also contains specialised cells such as hyaluronic acid which hold water in the skin. These cells are the skin’s true moisturisers. The acid mucopolysaccharides play an important role in the tissue regeneration of the skin as they have a stimulating effect on the connective tissue cells.

The subcutis is made up of mainly of fat and is responsible for insulating the body but has no role in the repair of tissue. 

[ Active ingredient of Hirudoid is MPS ]

MPS stands for mucopolysaccharide and the MPS in Hirudoid is similar to the body’s naturally occurring mucopolysaccharides. The healing tendency of the skin relies on the presence of MPS in the tissue. The effectiveness of any skin cream depends on its absorption and scientific studies have shown that the MPS in Hirudoid penetrates the skin and is able to reach the dermal layers in effective concentrations. That’s why doctors and pharmacists have been recommending Hirudoid as a healing agent for decades. MPS accelerates healing in the following way:

• Improves blood flow to the area. 

• Promotes tissue regeneration by increasing collagen and elastin fibres in the connective tissue matrix.

• Improves moisturising capacity of the skin by increasing the hyaluronic acid content.

• Accelerates the absorption of bruises.

• Reduces swelling and inflammation.

[ Assist in the healing of wounds ]

The activating influence of Hirudoid has a beneficial effect on how the skin heals a wound. The MPS in Hirudoid is able to attract water and therefore loosen the connective tissue preventing a dense accumulation of the fibres which create a thick scar. This cream is applied after the wound has closed so as to influence the scar formation.

[ Anti-inflammatory effect on veins ]

Doctors know about the powerful anti-inflammatory effect of Hirudoid and recommend it for inflammatory conditions of the veins. Many women suffer from superficial thrombophlebitis of the veins. Pregnant women are especially prone to thrombophlebitis due to the influence of hormones and the effects of pressure within the abdomen. Symptoms are tired, painful legs with swelling and inflamed veins. Many studies have shown that the MPS in Hirudoid reduces the inflammation of superficial thrombophlebitis.

[ Dissolves bruises up to 50% faster ]

It’s a fact that women bruise more easily than men. Plastic surgeons are aware of the excellent results achieved with Hirudoid in bruising and swelling and recommend it for their patients after surgery. Studies have proven that Hirudoid can reduce the healing time of a bruise by up to 50% and is also effective for treating the swelling. 

[ Reduces the healing time of sprains ]

The pain of sprains and other minor injuries is a common problem and frequently causes absence from work. Hirudoid increases the blood flow by dilating the peripheral blood vessels. This promotes speedier absorption of fluid from the tissues. In one study 83% of patients who used Hirudoid were fully mobile within one week.

[ Hirudoid heals ]

Because Hirudoid penetrates into the deepest layers of the skin, it is the health and beauty product that goes beyond the cosmetic and brings real science to healing so that you can have better looking skin.

[ Other medicinal value of leeches ]

Leech, so-called Ma Huang, is a natural and famous material for Chinese herbal medicine. The earliest application was recorded on Shen Nong's Herbal Classic. So far there are mainly three kinds of leech which are used as Chinese herbal medicine, namely, whitmania pigra, acranulata and hirudo nipponica. As a traditional material of Chinese herbal medicine, leech is mainly used in treatment of diseases in heart, brain and blood vessels.

As ageing problem has been so strikingly in both domestic and international societies, and unreasonable structure of meals has been there, sufferers of cardio-cerebral vascular diseases are getting more and more, thus causing requirement of leech is increasingly both at home and abroad. Along with the continuous development of science, the medical value of leech have been found and developed as well. Medical experts point out that there is an anticoagulative substance - hirudin existed in leech's saliva, which has obvious effect upon cardio-cerebral vascular diseases, and can keep venous vessels unblocked after operation of transplantation. Medicines which take leech as main material have remarkable effect upon cerebral thrombus etc.

At present, various kinds of Chinese traditional medicine which take hirudin as main material are put into market continuously, and magical effect of hirudin has brought about great response over the whole medical circle. In addition, leech also contains heparin and anti-thromboxane which can treat diseases such as apoplexy, amenia, paraplegia, angina pectoris, innominate swollen pain, tumor, lymphoid tuberculosis etc. The medical value of leech has been also widely noted by international medicinal circle and various medicines have been developed by pharmacologists in many countries and good effects have been obtained.

The leech belongs to the class of legless, backboneless animals called annelids or the ringed ones. Of the over 130 species of them, the one used in medicine is called Hirudo medicinalis. This quaint, dark cylinder of 33 body rings has 5 pairs of eyes, several pairs of testes and two suckers — both on its front and backside. The head sucker `searches' and penetrates while the tail sucker holds fast to the host. Young hirudo feed on frogs and not mammals, since their jaws are not strong enough to cut through mammalian skin, while adults feed on mammalian blood. The Hirudo is a sparse eater, though. In a full meal lasting 30 minutes, it takes in about 15 ml of blood, bloating up to 10 times its size, and when done, simply drops off. It feeds only once in 6 months, taking all this while to digest the blood. Bacteria that live within the leeches' body help keep the blood from decaying. Sometimes, when blood is not easily available, it may go even longer on a fast, digesting its own tissues!

The bite of the Hirudo is painless. It has an anesthetic that makes the bitten host feel nothing. Biologists are studying this substance in order to understand its chemical nature and mechanism of action. Besides this, the leech saliva has many other molecules of great medicinal interest. One of them is a vasodilator, a histamine that increases the diameter of blood vessels, helping to promote blood flow. Another is an enzyme called hyaluronidase, which breaks down hyaluronic acid, the bonding material of connective tissue, thus fostering the flow of blood and fluids from affected areas.

By far the most interesting substance in leech saliva has been hirudin, a molecule that is the most potent inhibitor of blood clotting known to date. Hirudin in leech guarantees continued blood flow, by breaking off the aggregated fibrin plugs that clot and seal blood leaks. Hirudin also shuts off the mechanism of Factor VIII - mediated blood coagulation. Indeed, even after the leech drops off after feeding, blood is seen to flow for a while from the animal, thanks to hirudin. Genetic engineers in England have been able to clone the gene for hirudin and manufacture it using recombinant DNA technology.

See:

1. Medicinal leech oil for men