in 10 years

INTRODUCTION
Info Mengenai Lintah.

KITA mungkin jijik atau geli melihat haiwan yang bernama lintah. Namun di sebalik semua itu tersimpan manfaat yang begitu besar di dunia perubatan moden.Menurut kajian, lintah dijadikan ubat untuk merawat pesakit dan melancarkan peredaran darah manusia. Lintah atau nama saintifiknya Hirudo medicinali dikenali sebagai sumber perubatan bermula di pusat pelatih perubatan di Jerman. dikatakan,setiap tahun kira-kira 250000 ekor lintah digunakan untuk mengatasi masalah pendarahan dan juga digunakan dalam pembedahan plastik.Terbukti kaedah rawatan dengan menggunakan lintah ini adalah sejak abad pertengahan lagi. Pada masa itu, pesakit yang mengalami masalah pada sendi lutut akan merasa lebih selesa apabila melekatkan lintah pada luka mereka selama beberapa minggu.

Kini, lintah diakui sebagai pembantu manusia. Di kerongkong tempat isapannya terdapat tiga rahang yang berbentuk seperti setengah gergaji yang dihiasi sampai 100 gigi kecil. Mengambil masa selama 30 minit lintah untuk menyedut darah dan didapati sebanyak 15 ml darah yang diisapnya. Darah tersebut sudah cukup untuk menampung hidupnya selama setengah tahun (6 bulan).Dalam air liur lintah mengandungi zat aktif yang dianggarkan terdapat 15 unsur, di antaranya zat yang terkandung dalam putih telur “hirudin” yang bermanfaat untuk melicinkan perjalanan darah dan ia juga mengandung “penisilin".

Lintah juga digunakan sebagai ubat kepada penyakit skizofrenia maupun depresi, juga untuk merangsang mata, mengempiskan lidah bengkak, dan meringankan rasa sakit usus buntu serta perdarahan. Kemampuan lintah ini menarik perhatian Manfred Roth. Maka, sejak sepuluh tahun lalu ahli zoology dan pecinta haiwan “haus” darah ini menjadi pengelola dan satu-satunya pengimport lintah di Jerman. Ia membiakan binatang ini pada bekas-bekas kaca. Lintah peliharaannya diletakkan di antara tumbuhan air, seperti bunga teratai, di kolam berair jernih dengan pengawasan kebersihan yang rapi. Sekurang-kurangnya ada 19 kolam tempat pemeliharaan.



















Tahun ini saja dihasilkan 100000 ekor lintah untuk dipasarkan kepada doktor, klinik dan tabib.Kerana keupayaannya tadi, dalam Bahasa Inggris seorang tabib pada Abad Pertengahan dianggap sebagai leechers. Orang Teuton (Jerman kuno) mengertikan leech hampir sama ertinya dengan kata “penyembuh”.Menurut pengguna lintah sebagai tujuan perubatan cara menggunakannya adalah setelah digunakan mestilah dibuang kembali ke dalam sawah kerana dikuatiri akan terkena jangkitan seperti hiv semasa merawat pesakit.

Dalam penternakkan lintah ini beberapa aspek penting yang perlu diambil oleh penternak lintah iaitu:

1 ) Keperluan Tanah dan Iklim
2) Penyediaan Tanah
3) Kualiti air
4) Penternakan
5) Penjagaan dan Pemakanan
6) Pemasaran

Harga bagi induk boleh mencapai sekitar RM 300.00/kg tidak termasuk kos penghantaran. Benih pula berharga sekitar RM0.60/ekor hingga ke RM1.00/ekor.

Makanan bagi lintah ialah darah, oleh sebab itu belut adalah makanan terbaik bagi lintah. Harga belut adalah sekitar RM20.00/kg. Ini adalah harga anggaran dimana harga anak benih lintah yang ditawarkan sekarang minimum 1000 - 5000 ekor = RM 0.60/ekor dan 5001 ke atas dalam RM0.40/ekor.

Kos untuk kolam

1. palong konkrit…..RM 150.00 /pcs…..kapasiti 2000 ekor anak lintah. 2. tangki air hitam….RM340.00 /pcs… kapasiti 3000 ekor anak.3. kolam batu konkrit…RM 2200.00 / kolam… kapasiti 10000 ekor anak>bukaan dlm10 x 30 kaki4. kolam tanah..RM11,000.00 / kolam.

Pembiakan lintah

Seekor lintah bila matang boleh betelor dan menetas sehingga 350-380 ekor anak dan cara pembiakkan tidak susah, bila ia banyak makan lagi cepat dia bertelur.Pemasaran;boleh menjual lintah-lintah tersebut pada individu perseorangan atau mana-mana company kecil yang ingin mendapatkan benih, induk dan sebagainya. Berita dari Bernama pada 17 Julai 07 yang lalu iaitu lintah dijual RM9.3juta per ton, ini bermakna 1 kg lintah syarikat tempatan akan jual RM9300 ke luar negara dan mereka ambil daripada pembekal cuma RM60 per kg.Jenis lintah yang diternak adalah lintah hijau & coklat, akan tetapi lintah hijau lebih gemar diternak oleh pengusaha-pengusaha ini kerana faktor kualitinya yang lebih bermutu berbanding yang coklat.

Tempoh matang lintah ialah dalam masa 6 bulan andai dibela dari kecil. Risiko lintah untuk mati & penyakit memang amat kurang melainkan kawalan air yang tidak memuaskan, air masin dan jentik-jentik.Harus anda ketahui bahawa lintah Malaysia bukannya spesis Hirudo medicinalis tetapi Hirudinaria manillensis (kedua-duanya dari kumpulan Hirudin). Tapi keduanya untuk “medicinal purpose” juga. Bezanya Hirudo medicinalis ni terdapat di Eropah, saiz kecil dan semakin pupus. Hirudinaria manillensis ni atau Buffalo leech (Lintah Kerbau) yang jenis suka melekat pada kerbau.

Fakta Lintah.

* Lintah yang diternak jenis lintah perut hijau dan lintah perut perang
* Harga lintah dewasa boleh mencecah antara RM40 hingga RM60 sekilogram mengikut saiz.
* Harga benih lintah pula boleh mencecah sehingga RM300 sekilogram.
* Darah belut menjadi makanan lintah.
* 20 kilogram belut boleh menampung makanan lintah untuk tempoh enam bulan dan menghasilkan 100 kilogram lintah dewasa.

Jenis - Jenis Lintah.

Ada dua jenis lintah ternak, iaitu lintah perut hijau dan perut perang yang mendapat permintaan tinggi di pasaran apabila kedua-duanya mampu mencecah harga antara RM40 hingga RM60 satu kilogram (kg) mengikut saiz. Lintah semakin mendapat tempat dalam amalan perubatan moden kerana cecair yang dikeluarkan daripada kelenjar liurnya ketika haiwan itu menghisap darah didapati mampu menghalang darah daripada membeku, manakala histamin pada lintah mampu membesarkan pembuluh darah, sekali gus melancarkan peredaran darah dan oksigen.

Ternakan lintah tidak memerlukan kolam luas seperti ikan, sebaliknya memadai dengan kolam bersaiz 10 kaki lebar dan panjang 15 kaki. Dasar kolam pula perlu dihampar dengan plastik atau disimen dan dimasukkan pasir halus untuk haiwan itu bersembunyi.“Plastik dan pasir diletakkan dalam kolam supaya lintah tidak hilang ketika waktu menuainya yang mencapai tempoh matang ketika berusia empat bulan dan boleh mula bertelur.Haiwan ini bertelur dalam air dan seekor lintah boleh mempunyai kedua-dua organ jantan dan betina. Lintah induk membawa anak dari telur di dalam kantung yang terbentuk melalui lipatan permukaan bawah badannya. Kadangkala anaknya melekat di bawah badan induk.

Telur yang terhasil akan terlekat pada objek di dalam air seperti tunggul kayu dan tumbuhan akuatik. Oleh itu, dalam kolam ternakan, batu-bata disusun empat segi membentuk petak sebagai tempat mengumpul telur. Bagi bekalan makanan haiwan ini yang menjadikan darah sebagai bahan makanan utama, ia boleh hidup untuk beberapa bulan tanpa mendapatkan darah lagi.“Lintah boleh membesar enam hingga 10 kali ganda saiz asalnya selepas menghisap darah dan induknya boleh menghasilkan 300 hingga 500 benih lintah sekali bertelur.Namun, bekalan benih sukar diperoleh berikutan permintaan tinggi, selain negara masih kekurangan pengusaha lintah. Tidak hairan harga benih lintah boleh mencecah sehingga RM300 satu kg.
Lintah

Illustration:

K. DempseyLeeches are annelids or segmented worms, and although closely related to the earthworms, are anatomically and behaviourally more specialised.The bodies of all leeches are divided into the same number of segments (34), with a powerful clinging sucker at each end (although the anterior, or front sucker can be very small). Body shape is variable, but to some extent depends on the degree to which their highly muscular bodies are contracted. The mouth is in the anterior sucker and the anus is on the dorsal surface (top) just in front of the rear sucker.Leeches usually have three jaws and make a Y-shaped incision. The Australian land leech has only two jaws and makes a V-shaped incision. Australian leeches can vary in size from about 7 mm long to as much as 200 mm when extended.

Different TypesLeeches are grouped according to the different ways they feed. One group (the jawed leeches or Gnatbobdellida) have jaws armed with teeth with which they bite the host. The blood is prevented from clotting by production of a non-enzymatic secretion called hirudin. The land leech commonly encountered by bushwalkers is included in this group.Jaw drawings, after M. Stachowitsch The Invertebrates - an Illustrated GlossaryA second group (the jawless leeches or Rhyncobdellida) insert a needle-like protrusion called a proboscis into the body of the host and secrete an enzyme, hemetin which dissolves clots once they have formed. Leeches which live on body fluids of worms and small freshwater snails possess such an apparatus.A third group, (the worm leeches or Pharyngobdellida) have no jaws or teeth and swallow the prey whole. Its food consists of small invertebrates.

RespirationRespiration takes place through the body wall, and a slow undulating movement observed in some leeches is said to assist gaseous exchange. Aquatic leeches tend to move to the surface when they find themselves in water of low oxygen content. As a fall in atmospheric pressure results in a small decrease in dissolved oxygen concentrations, rising leeches in a jar of water provided nineteenth century weather forecasters with a simple way of predicting bad weather.

Sense OrgansSensory organs on the head and body surface enable a leech to detect changes in light intensity, temperature, and vibration. Chemical receptors on the head provide a sense of smell and there may be one or more pairs of eyes. The number of eyes and their arrangement can be of some use in Identification, however to properly identify a leech, dissection is required.The Rhyncobdellids are capable of dramatic colour changes, and although not an attempt at camouflage, the significance of this behaviour is unknown.

ReproductionAs hermaphrodites, leeches have both male and female sex organs.

Like the earthworms they also have a clitellum, a region of thickened skin which is only obvious during the reproductive period. Mating involves the intertwining of bodies where each deposits sperm in the others' clitellar area. Rhyncobdellids have no penis but produce sharp packages of sperm which are forced through the body wall.The sperm then make their way to the ovaries where fertilisation takes place. The clitellum secretes a tough gelatinous cocoon which contains nutrients, and it is in this that the eggs are deposited.The leech shrugs itself free of the cocoon, sealing it as it passes over the head.The cocoon is either buried or attached to a rock, log or leaf and dries to a foamy crust. After several weeks or months, the young emerge as miniature adults. Studies show that the cocoons are capable of surviving the digestive system of a duck. Leeches die after one or two bouts of reproduction.


FeedingMost leeches are sanguivorous, that is they feed as blood sucking parasites on preferred hosts. If the preferred food is not available most leeches will feed on other classes of host. Some feed on the blood of humans and other mammals, while others parasitise fish, frogs, turtles or birds. Some leeches will even take a meal from other sanguivorous leeches which may die after the attack.Sanguivorous leeches can ingest several times their own weight in blood at one meal. After feeding the leech retires to a dark spot to digest its meal. Digestion is slow and this enables the leech to survive during very long fasting periods (up to several months).
Foraging - How does a leech go about searching for a blood meal?

A hungry leech is very responsive to light and mechanical stimuli. It tends to change position frequently, and explore by head movement and body waving. It also assumes an alert posture, extending to full length and remaining motionless. This is thought to maximise the function of the sensory structures in the skin.In response to disturbances by an approaching host, the leech will commence "inchworm crawling", continuing in a trial and error way until the anterior sucker touches the host and attaches. Aquatic leeches are more likely to display this "pursuit" behaviour, while common land leeches often accidentally attach to a host.
The BiteWhen a jawed leech bites it holds the sucker in place by making its body rigid. Using its semi circular and many toothed jaws like minute saws, it then makes an incision in the skin and excretes a mucous from the nephropores (external openings from the kidney-like organs). This helps the sucker to adhere. A salivary secretion containing the anticoagulant and a histamine floods the wound and the leech relaxes its body to allow the blood to be ingested. This mixture allows the blood to flow and also prevents clotting once inside the leech. A bacterium in the gut of the leech assists the digestion of the blood, and it has been shown that the type of bacterium varies with the type of host on which the leech feeds.

The bacterium also prevents growth of other bacteria which may cause the ingested blood to putrefy.
HabitatMost leeches are freshwater animals, but many terrestrial and marine species occur.Freshwater leeches prefer to live in still or slowly flowing waters, but specimens have been collected from fast flowing streams.Some species are considered amphibious as they have been observed in both terrestrial and aquatical environment.

Uses in MedicineFor over 2000 years, leeches were needlessly applied for many ailments as an adjunct to blood letting. Their use in Europe peaked between 1830 and 1850, but subsequent shortages led to a decline in their use. Today there is a real clinical application in that they are of great value to plastic surgeons when venous congestion of skin and muscle flaps is a problem.Leeches are treated in the same way as blood products and are reused only on the same patient.Medical use of leeches also includes treatment of black eyes, and hirudin is used in the treatment of inflammation of the middle ear.

Hirudin is also being developed for experimental use as a systemic anticoagulant, and may prove useful in invitro blood sampling.
RepellentsThe most common enquiry regarding leeches concerns repellents. It is unknown whether a specific preparation is commercially available but there is a plethora of tried and tested, but unproven leech-protection ideas. These include a lather of bath soap smeared on exposed parts and left to dry, applications of eucalyptus oil, tropical strength insect repellent, lemon juice and impenetrable barriers of socks and pantyhose.

The WoundThe presence of hirudin in the wound following a leech bite may cause oozing to continue for several hours. Although inconvenient, blood loss is not significant.Gut bacteria can cause wound infection. In the post-operative use of leeches this is closely monitored and dealt with by use of the appropriate antibiotic.There may also be a delayed irritation and itching after a bite. There appears to be no support for the theory that mouthparts left behind after forced removal of the leech causes this reaction.Can leeches transmit disease? There is no evidence to suggest that they do. The presence of trypanosomes, (malarial parasites), in the gut of jawless leeches has been noted, but jawed leeches do not appear to be hosts.Allergy to leech bite has been reported. Medical opinion should be sought, depending on the severity of the reaction.
ReferencesMann, K.H. 1962. Leeches (Hirudinea) Their structure, Physiology, Ecology and Embryology. Pergamon Press LtdWilliams, W.D.Australian Freshwater Life. Globe PressSawe, R.T. Leech Biology & Behaviour (reprint). Neurobiology of the Leech, 1981.

Cola Spring Harbour LaboratorySeliznev, K.G. et al. Use of the medicinal Leech in the treatment of ear diseases. Relat. Spec. (Switz) 1992 54 (1) 1-4Wills, M.D. et al. The Medicinal Leech: an old treatment revisited. Microsurgery (US) 1993 14 (3) 183-6Richardson, L.R. Observations on the Australian Land Leech, Chtonobdella Libbata (Grube, 1866). Aust. Zoologist V. XIV (3) 1968Davies, R.W., Linton, L.R., Wrona, F.J. Passive dispersal of Four Species of Freshwater Leeches (Hirudinoidea) by ducks. Freshwater Invertebrate Biol. 1982 1(4) 40-44Richardson, L.R. Trypanosomes in the crop of an Haemadipsid leech. 1968 Aust. Journal of Sci. vol 30 (9)
Leeches Facts

Did You Know...?

1. There are 650 known species of leeches.
2. The largest leech discovered measured 18 inches.
3. About one fifth of leech species live in the sea where they feed on fish.
4. The leech has 32 brains - 31 more than a human.
5. The Hirudo leech lays its babies within a cocoon; whereas the Amazon leech carries its babies on its stomach - sometimes as many as 300.Leech cocoons on moss.
6. Not all leeches are bloodsuckers. Many are predators, which eat earthworms, etc
7. At Biopharm we mainly deal with three species:- HIRUDO MEDICINALIS,European Medicinal Leech,HIRUDINARIA MANILLENSIS,Asian Medicinal Leech,HAEMENTERIA GHILIANII,Amazon Leech
8. The Hirudo leech has three jaws with 100 teeth on each jaw - making 300 teeth in all.
9. The Amazon leech uses a different method of sucking blood. They insert a long proboscis into the victim.
10. The bite of a leech is painless due to its own anaesthetic.
11. The Hirudo injects an anti-coagulant serum into the victim to prevent the blood clotting.
12. The leech will gorge itself until it has had its fill and then just fall off.
13. The leech will gorge itself up to five times its body weight.
14. After the Hirudo leech drops off the wound it leaves will bleed, on average, for ten hours.
15. The first leech was used in medicine about 1000 B.C., probably in ancient India.
16. Wales was once one of the major leech collecting areas of Europe.
17. People would stand in the lakes and pools dotted around the country and when the leech attached to their legs they would put them in baskets and sell them. Today the Hirudo leech is an endangered species.
18. The original surgeons were barbers and they used leeches to cure anything from headaches to gout!
20. The barber pole is coloured now but originally barber - surgeons used to hang their bandages on a pole in front of the shop. Hence the red and white stripe of the pole.
21. HIRUDO MEDICINALIS is the leech mostly used in plastic and reconstructive surgery.
22. In plastic and reconstructive surgery BIOPHARM® LEECHES have helped to save the limbs of patients in 29 different countries.
23. By extracting the anti-clotting serum from the leech researchers are isolating new pharmaceutical compounds for eventual treatment of heart diseases.
24. The nervous system of the leech is very similar to the human nervous system and is of enormous benefit to researchers in their quest for the answers to human problems.25. The nearest relatives of leeches are earthworms.
About leeches

The leech was indispensable in 19th Century medicine for bloodletting, a practice believed to be a cure for anything from headaches to gout. Leeching was largely abandoned as medical science advanced, only occasionally being called upon to treat bruising and black eyes.

However, the medicinal leech is making a comeback in modern medicine thanks in part to the work of Dr. Roy Sawyer, an American scientist who established the world's first leech farm.Based at Hendy near Swansea, South Wales, Biopharm is home to over 50,000 leeches which are supplied to hospitals and research laboratories around the world.Thousands of patients owe the successful reattachment of body parts to miraculous technological advances in plastic and reconstructive surgery; at least some of these operations might have failed if leeches had not been reintroduced into the operating room.

The appendages reattached include fingers, hands, toes, legs, ears, noses and scalps.The pioneering use of leeches in modern plastic and reconstructive surgery can be attributed to two Slovenian surgeons, M. Derganc and F. Zdravic from Ljubljana who published a paper in the British Journal of Plastic Surgery in 1960 describing leech-assisted tissue flap surgery (in which a flap of skin is freed or rotated from an adjacent body area to cover a defect or injury). These surgeons credit their own use of leeches to a Parisian surgeon, one Philippe-Frédéric, who reported in 1836 that he had used leeches to restore circulation following reconstruction of a nose.The rationale behind the use of leeches in surgical procedures is fairly straightforward; nonetheless, it is subject to misunderstanding, even by clinicians.

The key to success is the exploitation of a unique property of the leech bite, namely, the creation of a puncture wound that bleeds literally for hours. The leech's saliva contains substances that anaesthetise the wound area, dilate the blood vessels to increase blood flow, and prevent the blood from clotting. Microsurgeons today are adept at reattaching severed body parts, such as fingers. They usually have little trouble attaching the two ends of the arteries, because arteries are thick-walled and relatively easy to suture. The veins, however, are thin-walled and especially difficult to suture, particularly if the tissue is badly damaged. All too often the surgeon can get blood to flow in the reattached arteries but not veins. With the venous circulation severely compromised, the blood going to the reattached finger becomes congested, or stagnant; the reattached portion turns blue and lifeless and is at serious risk of being lost. It is precisely in such cases that leeches are summoned.

INFO:

Lintah-Lintah banyak digunakan untuk ramuan kosmetik dan industri perubatan.
-Lintah liar semakin sukar ditemui di sungai kerana banyak bahan kimia terenap manakala di sawah padi, penggunaan mesin bajak menggantikan kerbau menyebabkan habitatnya semakin pupus.
-Bekalan lintah semakin berkurangan menyebabkan harganya melambung sehingga mencecah RM120 sekilogram.
-Untuk 100 kilogram lintah yang diternak, ia memerlukan 30 hingga 40 kg belut.
-Lintah juga boleh mendapatkan sumber pemakanan daripada anak katak, larva terampai dalam air serta spesis umbut daun tertentu.
-Lintah boleh membesar enam hingga 10 kali ganda saiz asalnya.
-Induk lintah boleh menghasilkan 300 hingga 500 benih lintah sekali bertelur.
-Lintah adalah hermapordit (jantan dan betina dalam satu badan), tetapi perlu mengawan untuk membiak. Kedua-dua lintah akan menyalurkan sperma ke badan pasangan.
-Lintah akan melepaskan gigitan selepas darah yang dihisap mencukupi.
-Lintah boleh menghisap darah lima kali melebihi berat badannya.-Lintah dikutip dengan cara pengumpul berdiri dalam tasik atau kolam dan apabila lintah melekat di kaki, mereka mencabut dan disimpan dalam bakul untuk dijual.