As we tidy away the Dracula capes and glow-in-the-dark plastic fangs for another winter, one notorious blood sucker has had a particularly good year. In Ireland, the leech was driven to extinction in ...

Medical bills are often littered with bizarre line items. If you're in Russia, those little charges might include half a dozen slimy, slithering leeches. About 10 million of the blood-sucking ...

Medicinal leech numbers have declined dramatically due to habitat loss and historic medical use A rare breed of blood-sucking leech is being bred at London Zoo in a bid to save the UK’s largest native ...

Learn about a 480-million-year-old leech fossil that revealed that ancient leeches didn’t have the biological components necessary to suck blood. It’s the beginning of the spooky season, which means ...

Leeches might make you squirm, but these small, blood-sucking creatures are making a big comeback in modern medicine. Once a staple of ancient healing methods, leech therapy is now gaining renewed ...

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. It’s not exactly the kind of therapy you’d expect to get at the ...

When most of us think about leeches, we picture slimy creatures lurking in murky water, or the vampire-like creatures in horror films. Yet, these little blood-sucking organisms are quietly staging a ...

The sensation is certainly a curious one. It feels like someone is trying to clean my hand with the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner, but every now and then I feel a sharp prickle as though I’ve brushed ...

Receive emails about upcoming NOVA programs and related content, as well as featured reporting about current events through a science lens. Mark Siddall: Dear Inge, Yes. Stay very very still. They are ...

Yelena Titova shakes a jar holding a few dozen leeches writhing in slightly murky water. When one of them sinks to the bottom, motionless, she plunges her hand in and retrieves the late bloodsucker.

Udelnaya is a sleepy town southeast of Moscow, full of muddy roads lined with brightly painted wooden houses. Behind a frozen stream there is one large brick building that looks a little out of place.

Leeches suck blood from a young patient's during a therapy session in India. Credit: FAROOQ KHAN/EPA/REX/Shutterstock Medical bills are often littered with bizarre ...